Anyone who has wandered into a 7-11 in Taipei was probably immediately dazzled by the array of drinks, snacks, bentos, tea eggs and buns.
Not to mention the coffee and Icee machines.
Milk, juices, teas, jelly drinks, coffees, yogurt drinks. This doesn't even include the sodas and waters...
7-11 should just be called snack heaven.
Strawberry flavored items collected for your perusal....
Crispy, salty, crunchy Asian snacks...
Or Western chips like Lays or Doritos with Asian flavors like bbq seafood or seaweed....
I have yet to try their thousand year old egg with congee or braised pork bentos, but their rice triangles are pretty decent in a pinch. The way they wrap it separates the seaweed from the rice and keeps it crispy until you wrap it yourself.
Instant noodles that come in their own styrofoam bowls- a starving student's dream selection.
Sometimes they have sticker promotions where you get a sticker for spending a certain amount (usually around NT$70) by a certain time and then if you collect enough stickers you can get a prize or coupon for free Coldstones or something like that.
If I ever run out of restaurants to eat at, I'll start a 7-11 Taipei Snack Heaven blog and feature an item a day. That would be hilarious.
21 comments:
7-11 in Taipei got more stuff compared to 7-11 in Malaysia. But in general, I like the Slurpee! (also my remedy for headache caused by heat ~ by brain freezing :p) I bought some instant noodles from 7-11 when I was in Taipei.. love em! (only to find out later I got no utensils .. and desperately used 2 teaspoons to eat noodles..lol)
7-11 in Taiwan IS indeed snack heaven, it's even better than the 7-11 in Denmark, although those have the BEST pasta/chicken salat EVER ;)
YESSSS, I've been waiting for this post. Any post promoting 7-11 is an automatic success in my book haha.
very much like Japan as well! nice one:)
Awesome! How did you get photos without being kicked out? I once tried to take a couple with my Blackbird Fly, a toy camera that looks like a little box, but I attracted an employee's attention within two seconds.
My favorite 7-11 thing is what I called the "boiled food" section (the Chinese name is more appetizing, but I can't remember it right now) in some stores. They have things like fish balls, Chinese radish, tofu, etc. that you pay for per piece, as well as glass noodles that you can put in the broth. The cool thing is that they list the calorie count of each item. Their rice porridge is OK -- not as good as fresh porridge, of course, but fine if you just want a quick snack or are sick.
<3 taiwan's 7-11!! :D looking at all those snacks makes me hungry! :)
I also love 7-11! You can travel around without having to care about food and drinks at all, because you find a 7-11 nearly everywhere! And it's always very similarly organized, so that it's quite easy to find the stuff you're used to.
Unfortunately in Germany we have absolutely nothing even remotely comparable...
I wish the 7-11's in the US were so nice. When I'm in Taipei we always go to 7-11 near the end of our trip to stock up on asian flavored chips and other snacks to bring home.
A lot of businesses certainly do not like to be photographed or videotaped, because they worry their trade secrets will be stolen by competitors. I barely got away with taking a quick flip digital video of a random bakery. As for 7-Eleven's, yes they are cool as you can get Japanese and Taiwanese goods. But note that a bottle of NT$20 to NT#30 refrigerated tea drink will cost a few bucks less at Welcome or Matsui, and perhaps less at a mom and pop store. It all adds up. I used to cruise 7-Eleven's for limited edition or seasonal imported Japanese instant noodle bowls.
Tons of MSG. It's great if you don't have a problem. It's debilitating if you do. Then there's nothing salty to eat except maybe the tea eggs.
I don't share in your enthusiasm for 7-11s or other convenience stores.
I was living in France in the early 90s when "hypermarkets" and convenience stores were on the rise, replacing small grocery stores and traditional markets.
Lots of critics in the press were predicting that this more "convenient" shopping would lead to widespread health problems due to easy access to and over-consumption of processed foods. Twenty years later France is seeing the effects of an obesity epidemic similar to the US.
I predict the same for Taiwan.
In my neighborhood, the local government has just reduced the once wonderful, 4-block-long Nanshijiao Evening Market, with its tremendous array of every fresh and whole food available in Taiwan, down to about 30% of what it was. But no worries-- I can still eat at the Family Mart and 7-11 left behind.
JC: yes, brain freeze! :)
tinster: ooh, i'd love to see what 7-11 in Denmark has...
nicholas: hahah! glad you like it!
cumi and ciki: thanks for commenting!
catherine_sr: iphone! yeah, usually i have trouble in bakeries. but i didn't have a problem that day in 7-11. after your comment, i realized i didn't include my pic of the tempura/fishballs section and i added it!
pauline: thanks for commenting!
anonymous: yes, exactly. it's good for when you are not familiar with the city or area.
kirbie: yes. i think because sometimes homeless hang around the 7-11s in LA near my house i rarely go there. plus it's hard to find parking.
beefnoguy: yeah, i understand that businesses don't want their secrets stolen. but if someone really wanted to steal their secrets wouldn't they work there first to discover their inner workings/recipes? i don't get why random bakeries are so hard core too.
anonymous: thanks for commenting. they have fresh fruit and other things too. definitely wouldn't eat all the snacks all the time!
marc: thanks for your thoughts. Commercialization is definitely hard for mom and pop shops, but for people who aren't familiar with the neighborhood or tourists visiting Taipei- they aren't necessarily going to know where the neighborhood market is or being able to find the things they want. Luckily in Taipei, unlike the US or other areas, you can get a fresh bowl of noodles or street snack just as affordably as you can fast food or something from 7-11
why can't 7-11 in the US carry cooler items?! those tea eggs look sooo good!
pandalicious: maybe Famima or Nijiya. but they will definitely cost more there.
Good concept! And yummy pics too! :-)
Pros & cons aside, 7-11 and other convenience stores made up a unique and vibrant culture of Taiwan.
I always say.. In any part of the island - even the remotest, U can always find either 1 of these (or both!) amazingly located:
• 7-11 (or other convenience store)
• Temple (or some small altar)
Fun stuff, thanks!
7-11 is awesome when you need basically anything, from grocery to afternoon tea to night snack. Do you want to buy tickets online? Make photocopies? Send international fax, or get wifi access? This is the place to be.
Convenient shops are well... convenient, but the things there can be a bit over priced. I made a price guide to 7/11 on my blog for those that are interested and I do hope anyone will find this info helpful :)
Taiwan - cost of living
Thanks for the great post hungry girl!
wow taiwanese convenience store looks pretty much same as japanese 7-11 lol!! they sell oden and onigirii tooo~!! omg i miss japan, also want to visit taiwan to try bubble tea pop from 7-11!
WHERE can I get some 7-11 noodles? I've been back from Taipei for about a month and I miss them soooo much!
Hi, can I use the photos for a re-blog? I will put the photos under your credit, and include a link to your post.
Here is the link to my blog: https://sixpossibilities.wordpress.com/
Hi Joey- Sure! Thanks for asking and crediting.
Marc - Eh.. except this is not a new thing for Taiwan. 7-eleven has been huge in Taiwan since I was a kid there, and I’m in my 30s now: Obesity rates have been climbing worldwide in recent years but I don’t know if you can correllate it directly with the existence of convenience stores.
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