7 Filipino Convenience Store Food Choices To Make You and Your Tummy Happy

by Brenda Gimotea / September 25, 2019

Petsa de peligro na! What’s for lunch?

A lot of the time, everyone wishes that they had the income to eat at five-star hotels and fancy buffets. Good food is good life, after all, and having a full belly is one of the quickest and simplest ways to lift anybody’s mood. 

On mosts days, though, you don’t care much for fancy fare. What you need is tasty food that you can have right here, right now. Most important: you need food you can afford, with whatever amount is in your wallet at that very moment. To sum it all up: convenient. 

Indeed, when urgent hunger calls, convenience often trumps swank. Especially when your stomach growls at three in the morning when you are up for an all–nighter to chase a deadline, or nursing a hangover after a night out with friends you see only a few times a year because #adulting.

Here are seven comfort food selections that you can find at convenience stores, at any time of the day, at pretty much any location.

1. Uncle John’s Fried Chicken

Whenever anyone would mention the words “convenience store comfort food,” it’s MiniStop’s Uncle John’s Fried Chicken that comes to mind first! Its crispy chicken skin has not yet met a match in any other fried chicken offered by any of the other establishments, and it deserves number one status.

Uncle John’s Fried Chicken is now also available via GrabFood, so this well-loved convenience store fried chicken is now even more convenient! 

2. 7-Eleven Chicken Nuggets

We were all kids once, and every kid loves chicken nuggets.  Thank goodness you can now have this delightful treat whenever you stop by your nearest 7-Eleven. One serving of nuggets has four pieces in it, and it comes with a packet of sweet barbecue sauce that balances out the salty umami taste of the nuggets. Best eaten with a cup of hot, steaming rice, of course!

3. Lawson Soft-Serve Ice Cream

For only Php 25, and a bit of soft-serve ice cream swirling skills, you can have a tower of ice cream as high as as your dexterity and space in the stomach for dessert will allow! If you have a hard time choosing between the flavors available, you can go right ahead and mix two flavors in your cone! Lawson has several ice cream flavors available, but the most popular and curious one is the bamboo charcoal, followed by the cherry blossom and Japanese honeydew flavors. They also have the classic variants such as chocolate, strawberry, and ube.

4. Tender Juicy Hotdog with Rice

You can never go wrong with Tender Juicy hotdog! Whether it’s the classic variant, the jumbo, or the one with cheese that you are in the mood for, it’s always a good ulam to pair with rice! If you are hankering for just a snack rather than a full meal, you can have one on a stick, as well!

Tender Juicy hotdogs are available at practically all big chain convenience stores, too, so these are probably the convenience store food that’s easiest to get a hold of.

5. 7-Eleven Chocolate Champorado

When it’s raining hard and you can’t go very far to enjoy something hot, you can walk to a nearby 7-Eleven branch and get their champorado! The dried fish flakes topping complement the creamy, chocolatey sweetness of the porridge base. The champorado is a wonderful breakfast option as well if you want something sweet and light compared to your usual rice and savory fried viand.

6. Johnsonville Sausage

If you want to feel a bit sosyal but you’re on a tight budget, you might enjoy Johnsonville sausages from FamilyMart! They are available in cheese, garlic, and smoked variants, and are quite flavorful, very much like the meat products you can find at a deli. Just like the Tender Juicy hotdogs, you can eat them on their own, or as a meal with rice and a drink. When you’re done reminiscing your childhood days with a hotdog, you can eat a Johnsonville Sausage next to make you feel that you are all grown up and have come far in life–at least, when it comes to your palate.

7. Lawson Kani Salad Sandwich

This is another option for those who want something light, especially for people who are in a rush to get to work or to their next class! Soft Japanese bread, kani, and Japanese mayo. Nothing more needs to be said. This sandwich is great served warmed, but it also works unheated because kani salad or sushi is typically served cold. In fact, eating the sandwich straight out of the chiller brings out some flavors that heating it conceals. Japanese food fans who want the distinctly Japanese flavor but who don’t want to shell out a lot of cash will have their cravings satisfied with the Kani Salad Sandwich.