Whilst I know this is not the highest thing on people's lists when they think of Japan and its cuisine, it is something which surprised me in its popularity when I came here. Fried chicken, generally a fillet, is cheap (generally about 165 yen per piece, roughly £1.35) and plentiful in Japan, and all of the different konbinis (Japanese for convenience store, they sell almost everything you need under one roof, albeit in small quantities, sort of like a petrol-station mini-mart thing, but better) have a selection of yummy, hot, fried food by the check-out. They have hot dogs and chips and chicken nuggets and all that, but the only thing worth getting is the fried chicken; it's SO good.
 |
| My standard fried chicken-eating face |
In light of the popularity of this delicacy amongst both Japanese people and foreigners, as well as the competition between konbinis, I thought I would save anyone in Japan reading this the tremendous struggle of sampling each konbini's offerings, by reviewing the chicken of the five konbinis local to me and then giving you a recommendation; how generous am I?! For comparison, I give KFC 8/10.
5th Place: Lawson
Quite simply because they're the only konbini I know of that don't sell it! I'm sorry Lawson, I know I do most of my weekly food & ingredient shop at you, but pull your finger out and sell some fried chicken for 105 yen a piece, like everything else in your shop costs. 0/10
4th Place: Familymart
The only konbini I've been to which sells it on the bone. It's good to be different, but not when your chicken's dry and bland. 3/10
3rd Place: Mini-Stop
It was a nice twist to see some chicken with a squeeze of lemon on it. It was a little dry, but the seasoning was alright (maybe a little too much lemon on). 6/10
2nd Place: 7-Eleven
Absolutely gorgeous. Nice sized portions, very juicy chicken, and always piping hot. The seasoning was nice, too. 9/10
1st Place: Sunkus
My definite favourite. Pretty similar to the 7-Eleven chicken, with all of its positive points. The deal-breaker is the slightly nicer seasoning, plus the inclusion of a little sachet of extra seasoning, in case you like it a bit more seasoned. They call it consumer choice; I call it an extra point. 10/10
Another thing in Sunkus' favour is the fact that it is on my route home from the train station, and it certainly does the trick after a sozzled evening out in Tokyo, with it being open 24/7.
So next time you're in a Sunkus (or a 7-Eleven), whisper the magic words to the cashier: "フライドチキンを一つお願いします", Furaido chikin o hitotsu onegaishimasu; you'll like the result. Just have 165 yen to hand.
James
Photo of the Day
 |
| Not the nicest place to put a drinking-water fountain, ICU |
No comments:
Post a Comment