This time: fish & chips in a microwave bag, from the Seven-Eleven convenience store.
For Brits living in Japan, finding 'fish and chips' that make the grade is a serious problem. You don't even need to feel homesick or nostalgic at the time - you see some, you go 'oh maybe I'll try that tonight!', and you end up disappointed. Or if it's the real deal, you're going to pay through the nose.
First, the fish. Some places have the whole chunk for you to cut up, other serve what looks more like fish nuggets. Okay, whichever works. What kind of fish is it? No idea. If it is, in fact, a 'proper' fish like cod or haddock, get ready to cry when you hand over your cash. There's an 'authentic' place in central Tokyo that charges the equivalent of close to £10-15 per portion.
Not that it matters - the chips are always the bigger problem.
To someone like me, chip shop 'chips' have a certain shape, texture and softness that it's impossible to recreate in any other environment. Fish and chips from anywhere that's not a chippy can't compete by default. But it's like Japan was given a different recipe book, or had to Google translate the instructions, or something.
Try Hub, that British pub chain, or an izakaya, or wherever, and the plate that's set down in front of you is 99% certain to have potato wedges sitting on it. I know how picky this sounds, but those aren't chips. And it's not 'fish and chips' if they're not chips.
The example in this post is also 'fish and wedges'. Damn.
When it comes to conbini chains, they each win at something different. People tend to like Family Mart better for fried chicken, and Lawson's got desserts they sold over a million of within 3 days.
Seven-Eleven? In summer, it's their iced lattes for sure. Outside of that... rice balls, maybe? Pizza-flavoured steamed buns? I'll have to think about it.
You can also take cash out with a foreign card at Seven-Eleven's cash machines and not be charged a transaction fee. (By the machine, anyway, your bank might beg to differ.) Thought that might be useful for anyone planning a trip to Japan soon.
And now Seven-Eleven is, so far, the first convenience store I've seen selling mini microwaveable packs of fish and chips. I had to give them a try.
Here's what it looked like after warming and saucing:
The fish is... passable. A bit chewy. Better with the sauce, as there isn't much flavour otherwise. The batter is more like a softer fried chicken coating, no crunch and no secret blend of herbs and spices.
The not-proper-chips were seasoned well enough in comparison, didn't go too soggy in the microwave, and tasted fine. I think I would've preferred ketchup with those.
It isn't going to satisfy anyone's longing for the stuff they used to eat. I got a lot of 'aha, you're such a foreigner' looks for eating this, so I told those people as much. Maybe they'll still try this, but at least they know they're not getting the 'real' experience when they do.
Verdict: 7/10. What else can I give Seven-Eleven but a 7 this time? It was alright, but I really hope they don't try and branch out into a separate chain of chip shops.