Conbini Snacks: the Lawson Edition

A conbini in Japan is basically a convenience store, though that comparison does not do it justice. It is more convenient than an American convenience store. It's more like a mini Target. Prices are not double what they are at a regular store just because you might pay more in a pinch, as is so often the case at convenience stores. 

Lawson, Family Mart, and 7-Eleven are the most common conbinis. They are ubiquitous - you will rarely be more than a few steps away from one. They sell bentos, cooked foods from steamed buns to fried chicken, pastries, skin care, toiletries, and so much more. Dave Chang reportedly lived (quite well) off conbini food for a year (or maybe it was years?) while living in Japan. 

This post is about some of the snack foods I got from Lawson. I'm saving other things for a separate post. Here is a bag of rice crackers, some Moomin-themed mini donuts, and a soft baguette thing topped with what I thought was cheese. 

 

The bread was covered in mayo, specifically Kewpie mayo, and pieces of ham. It was ok, but I would rather it be cheese than mayo. Bread was processed to fluffy perfection as expected. 

The Moomin donuts were not good. They tasted very shelf-stable. Packaging was cute, so at least my kids loved it. 

Assorted veggie chips and peanuts covered in a cracker shell. The veggie chips were good! It sounds silly to say packaged chips tasted fresh, but they really did. It carrots, kabocha (pumpkin), and some type of yam. They were crunchy but still soft enough for my one year old to eat easily, and each veggie flavor was distinct. 

The peanut crackers came in four different flavors: crab, shrimp, squid, and bonito (tuna). These are pretty common at Asian-American supermarkets in the States. These were also good, though no different from what you can usually get in the U.S. 

I bought this out of curiosity. It's jamón-ish. It didn't look bad, though I still had low expectations. This cost only $1.50 USD. It tasted not as bad as expected, but I wouldn't buy it again. Very salty and not a lot of flavor. 

With the weather already getting warmer, I have my sights set on trying the ice cream soon. There is also a Lawson Natural, which is a larger, slightly fancier Lawson with some organic items. They have a good bakery section too, which is all the incentive I need to go there once this quarantine is over.