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Which Japanese convenience store sells the best beef stew?【Taste test】

Oona McGee Dec 1, 2021
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Lawson, Family Mart and 7-Eleven battle it out for victory over our taste buds.

As we head into the deep, dark depths of winter, our bellies are beginning to crave warming meals like hearty stews.

For Mr Sato, our expert in all things edible, nothing hits the spot like a good beef stew, and he reckons the most convenient way to cook one up at home is by purchasing a retort pouch from one of the top convenience store chains.

To prove his point, he hopped online and visited the 7-Eleven website, hitting the “most popular” tab in the “chilled meal” department on the Seven Premium Improvement Committee page.

There, in the number one spot, with 543 hearts to indicate its popularity with the public, was the Seven Premium Gold Beef Stew (circled below).

We were surprised to see beef stew sitting in top spot as the most popular chilled meal at 7-Eleven, but Mr Sato has long sung the virtues of konbini meals, so he was keen to show us how good it was.

The only way to do that, of course, would be to test it out alongside the beef stews from the two other top convenience store chains, so Mr Sato headed out and returned soon after with the following:

Gold Beef Stew (230 grams [8.1 ounces]), priced at 397 yen (US$3.49) from 7-Eleven
Premium Beef Stew (230 grams), priced at 399 yen from Lawson
Rich Beef Stew (225 grams), priced at 398 yen from Family Mart

▼ Left to right: 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart

All three are sold in retort pouches, so Mr Sato popped them all in a pot of water together and brought the water to a boil, heating them for around nine minutes.

▼ So convenient.

Given that the weight and price of the three different packs were pretty similar, Mr Sato would only be able to judge them in terms of taste. And after pouring the contents of each one out and carefully testing a spoonful of each, his verdict was in.

In third place we have…

▼ Lawson’s Premium Beef Stew!

Lawson’s stew uses a demi-glace sauce that’s been simmered for three days and a brown roux that contains red wine, but overall it was the sweetest of the three. This sweetness was a little off-balance, though, making it a little cloying, and looking at the ingredients list revealed that caramel was used for sweetness and colour.

The caramel notes might make it a good pairing for white bread, but on its own, this stew didn’t have the moreish depth of flavour that Mr Sato was after. The meat, however, was delicious, although the sweetness overpowered the meat, but hey, if you love sweet stews, this might be right up your alley.

Now, in second place we have…

▼ 7-Eleven’s Gold Beef Stew!

Mr Sato was surprised to find this popular stew wasn’t the winner, especially when you consider the attention to detail given to the demi-glace sauce, the decisive factor for the taste, which is said to have been cooked with meat and vegetables for more than seven days.

This long, slow-cooking process creates a mellow flavour profile, where you can taste the soft sweetness of vegetables. However, rather than being cloying, the aftertaste was bright and refreshing, which is a hallmark of a good quality stew.

That means our first place winner is…

▼ Family Mart’s Rich Beef Stew!

Mr Sato says there really wasn’t a lot of difference between his first and second place stews, but after a lot of time stewing it over in his mind, he decided that Family Mart just edged out the competition today.

The demi-glace sauce was well-made, and the taste of red wine was slightly more pronounced. In addition, it’s made with anchovies and capers, which give it more body and a slightly more sophisticated flavour profile.

7-Eleven’s stew is lighter while Family Mart’s is richer, so if you’re like Mr Sato and prefer a rich stew with a good depth of flavour, the Family Mart stew is for you.

Still, Mr Sato says you can’t go wrong with any of these beef stews, especially on a cold winter’s day when you want something to fill you up that doesn’t involve you spending hours slaving away in the kitchen.

If you prefer to eat convenience store fried chicken, though, Mr Sato has some recommendations there too, and he’s got some clear winners when it comes to convenience store margheritas and onigiri rice balls as well!

References: 7-Eleven , Family Mart , Lawson
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