Ryuji Gives an Honest, No-Holds-Barred Review of 10 Products Lawson Employees Are Proud Of

The first item is Hokkaido whelk, which Ryuji had also raved about in a previous video. According to the employee, because the ingredients are limited to whelk from Hokkaido, the aroma of the shellfish comes through directly. The included soy sauce is a "seasoned soy sauce" flavored with amino acids.

Eating it with wasabi soy sauce, Ryuji said, "It's delicious every time," praising how well it was boiled and how it retained a crunchy texture. Ryuji then immediately recommended an arrangement: adding the included soy sauce to melted butter. This makes a "superb sauce," Ryuji said, and it is also delicious tossed with boiled pasta. Laughing that it made the drinks go down too easily, Ryuji gave it an S+. The reasons cited were that Ryuji had praised it just as highly in the original video, that the included soy sauce is absurdly good, and that Ryuji always buys it whenever going to Lawson.

The second item is frozen abura soba (320 yen). The employee explained that soupless noodles are trending and they wanted to capture that trend in frozen form as well, and said it is in fact selling well. Ryuji also praised the fact that the dish it is served in heats up, so it doesn't cool down quickly.

On tasting, sesame oil comes through in the aroma, and the noodles are on the thick side. Ryuji said it was "better than a mediocre abura soba." As for the included garlic vinegar, Ryuji explained that it isn't very sour and tastes as if you'd simply added garlic, and the staff all agreed that "you should definitely add it." Ryuji suggested that adding even more sauce to make it stronger might also be good.

The rating was A+. While saying it is quite high in quality among convenience-store ramen and abura soba, Ryuji judged that making it any saltier would mean some people couldn't eat it, so this level of saltiness is the best for a product.

The third item is bite-size salad chicken. According to the employee, they figured women would feel embarrassed biting into a conventional block of salad chicken at the office, so they made a bite-size version targeting female customers, but it turned out to resonate with demand for drinking snacks more than expected. Also, while salad chicken stops selling during the cold months, this product can be eaten warmed up, so it sells even in winter.

The meat is thigh rather than breast; they switched to thigh about three years ago. In addition to being boiled, it is grilled to give it char marks, and Ryuji also remarked, "It has that savory grilled flavor." As for why the herb aroma is so well infused, Ryuji speculated that it may be because each piece is small, so it absorbs the flavor easily.

Ryuji confessed, "Honestly, I don't like block salad chicken," and called whoever made it possible to eat warm "a god." Ryuji was also surprised by the 134 kcal figure and welcomed it as someone who watches calories. The rating was S. Citing the price, calories, ease of handling, and the convenience of just 30 seconds of heating, Ryuji summed it up as a good product closely tied to daily life.

When the fourth item, frozen takoyaki, came out, Ryuji was wary, saying, "I don't think this is going to work" and "I don't really trust frozen takoyaki." The employee explained that this is the No. 1 seller among their frozen foods.

Its features are a strong dashi flavor and a gooey interior. Even after heating in the microwave, the outside keeps its shape and only the inside deflates, by design. It is round rather than dome-shaped, and comes with sauce and bonito flakes. According to the employee, in addition to demand as a drinking snack, it is also frequently bought by women in their 30s to 50s.

Ryuji had predicted that it would fall short on texture for people with a strong image of a certain takoyaki chain, but the verdict changed after eating it. Whereas the frozen takoyaki Ryuji had eaten before tasted like "okonomiyaki," this one was gooey inside, like freshly grilled takoyaki. When a staff member from Osaka tried it, their reaction was, "You can't tell (that it's frozen)."

Laughing, "It's frustrating" and "I wanted to give it a C or something," Ryuji gave it an S. Surprise outweighed everything else at getting this flavor for as little as 350 yen, and Ryuji apologized: "I underestimated you. I'm sorry."

The fifth item, charcoal-grilled chicken, is a product Ryuji and the staff had long enjoyed. One staff member reportedly bought it almost every day whenever coming over to Ryuji's place. However, the flavor changed for a while, and Ryuji had called Lawson a "traitor," saying, "They turned my beloved charcoal-grilled chicken into that."

This time, the employee said "the flavor is back," and when it was heated, a charcoal-like aroma filled the air. Ryuji guessed from the texture that it was mature hen, and the employee confirmed it was. The production method involves placing a mesh drum over binchotan charcoal and grilling the chicken inside while rotating it and exposing it to smoke, and they are also particular about the type of charcoal.

After eating it, Ryuji and the staff confirmed that "it's the same flavor as back when we were saying it was super delicious," recalling that "sometimes there were ones without this aroma." The rating was S+. Ryuji recommended it, saying the first feeling would surely be amazement that you can eat something this delicious at a convenience store.

The sixth item is frozen japchae. Seeing how thin and flat it looked, like a board, Ryuji was at first surprised: "I can't believe there's japchae in there." According to the employee, it was planned as a sister product to the existing fried rice vermicelli by an employee who loves japchae a little too much. The ingredients are green pepper, komatsuna, onion, bamboo shoots, and carrot, and it has 236 kcal. It is made by Kenmin Foods. It was explained as a product that is "just getting started," about a year since its launch and freshly renewed in September.

Ryuji praised the chewy texture of the glass noodles as hard to believe for a frozen product, and said it genuinely tastes like japchae. Ryuji also pointed out that because it is dry rather than saucy, it goes very well with drinks, and that for 300 yen it is just the right amount for two or three people to share over drinks. The rating was S+; while admitting to being a little tipsy—"I'm feeling kind of good, too"—Ryuji said it was personally very highly rated.

Before even eating the seventh item, pork harami (skirt), Ryuji said, "Honestly, I have an image of it having a bit of a smell." The employee also explained that pork harami is a cut with a strong odor, and that they suppress it with black pepper and yakiniku-style seasoning. The price is 350 yen and the contents about 70 g, and Ryuji acknowledged the quantity: "I thought it'd be mostly empty, but there's quite a lot in there."

As for the flavor, however, Ryuji judged that the odor had not been fully eliminated and the masking was insufficient. While noting it was tender and could work for people who like this kind of meat, Ryuji said they wouldn't feel like eating it as a drinking snack. The rating was C. In addition to the smell, the price and seasoning didn't match up, and Ryuji suggested it could have used a bit more sauciness. The qualified conclusion was that since the seasoning is quite simple, people who don't mind the flavor of the meat itself would probably enjoy it.

The eighth item is cream cheese wrapped in prosciutto, which Ryuji has eaten many times. While declaring it "the best drinking snack at Lawson," Ryuji pointed out from the start that its flaw is the 570-yen price. According to the employee, it is all made by hand, and Ryuji laughed, "So it's the labor cost of handwork."

There is plenty of both cream cheese and prosciutto, they are well balanced, and it goes with wine. Ryuji said this is what to buy when you absolutely don't want to go wrong picking a snack, and that anyone who eats it will be happy. A conversation with the staff about how it costs as much as a bento drifted into reminiscing about how 10 years ago they couldn't afford anything and used salt as a drinking snack.

The rating was A+. Ryuji summed up that, with most drinking snacks priced in the 300 to 400 yen range, it is positioned as somewhat of a luxury, but the taste is tremendously good, so if you're stuck for a snack you can definitely buy it.

The ninth item is frozen jjigae udon in an aluminum container. Ryuji introduced the manufacturer as a long-established company that has been making udon in aluminum containers for years. To prepare it, the first 3 minutes must always be on low heat, then switch to medium, because overheating can burn it. The toppings are two dumplings, fried tofu, meatballs, pork, and vegetables. According to the employee, it is the spiciest of the products this time, and the package also carries a warning about the heat.

Ryuji noted that a bowl at a ramen shop now costs around 1,000 yen, so this is relatively affordable. On tasting, it has a rich soup with a strong dashi flavor, and the spiciness is about 3 to 3.5 on a 5-point scale. Saying, "On days when I come home tired, this one thing is totally enough," Ryuji gave it an S+, saying the soup is absurdly good, the udon is good, and it has every topping you'd want.

On the other hand, Ryuji also pointed out that the package is too plain to convey how delicious it is, and that half of it is instructions—"what a waste." Ryuji then demonstrated an arrangement of adding unheated rice to the leftover soup and simmering it into a jjigae gukbap–style dish, urging, "Definitely add rice and eat it." Ryuji even said, "Couldn't you just sell this soup on its own?" and asked that stores make POP displays to promote it.

The last item is frozen garlic fried rice, which the employee presented saying, "We'd like you to eat this as a finisher." Ryuji noted the boldness of the package's sole selling point being its addictive garlic aroma, and also mentioned that the fried rice Lawson had previously released in collaboration with Tenkaippin was delicious. The employee explained that while there are many ordinary frozen fried rice products, few advertise themselves as garlic fried rice.

When heated, the garlic smell was intense, and Ryuji described it as "so strong it might as well be sold as garlic rice." Separate from whether it's delicious or not, it's a flavor that makes you really crave it. It isn't upscale deliciousness but a down-to-earth taste, which Ryuji said is also what makes it good, adding that it hits a little too hard for Ryuji after drinking. The employee said the price was 292 yen including tax at the time of broadcast, and Ryuji was also surprised at how cheap it is.

Regarding the package, Ryuji half-jokingly suggested that since it looks gentle and doesn't suggest this much punch, it should have a "vicious" look, such as a pitch-black border. The rating was S+. The reasons cited were that this texture is difficult to make at home, that it "hits the sweet spot" of having a certain cheapness yet tasting incredibly good when you eat it, and that although it depends on how you feel about the emphasized garlic aroma, Ryuji loves it.

After all 10 products, it turned out to be an episode with a string of high ratings. The only thing that left Ryuji puzzled was "I don't understand why they brought the pork harami," and otherwise Ryuji looked back on the products as generally quite delicious. The most memorable was the jjigae udon; Ryuji said they hadn't really had the impression that Lawson was strong in frozen foods, but realized there are some incredibly delicious ones. Including the takoyaki, Ryuji said this time they felt the power of frozen foods.

The featured products are reportedly set to be displayed in stores with POP signs carrying Ryuji's comments. Ryuji urged shoppers to eat plenty of everything except the pork harami—especially the japchae, takoyaki, and garlic fried rice—and concluded by expressing admiration for the overall high quality of Lawson's products.