7-Eleven Japan teams up with two different curry restaurants for one curry dish

Putting two different restaurants’ foods side by side it a really innovative idea.

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is certainly no stranger to collaborations and often sells products created with the help of popular restaurants. But this time they’ve done something really unique and released a curry bento containing the curry from two different restaurants.

Erick South and Spicy Curry Roka were each given the bento treatment by 7-Eleven last year as a part of the store’s Curry Festival. Now, they’re back by popular demand and sitting side by side in a single dish. Our reporter Mariko Ohanabatake decided to try it out for 680 yen (US$5) at her nearest store.

A compartment holds each of the restaurants’ curries, both of which are fundamentally based on tomato and chicken and moderately spicy.

The Erick South curry had coconut milk in it so Mariko was expecting it to be sweeter than it was. Instead, it was accompanied by a subtle bitterness, and the refreshing aroma of cardamom seeped in with the aftertaste.

On the other hand, the Roka curry had a lot of onions which, along with the other vegetables, gave it a more delectable texture. There was also a pronounced taste of cloves and a hint of bitterness was present among the sweet and spicy taste. It had more of an East Asian atmosphere overall.

Each curry had a very distinct taste but they blended together well, having the same base of tomato and chicken. Also, Roka is known for selling the trendy Taiwanese dish of lo bah png as well as curry, so a couple pieces of seasoned pork were added to this bento as well.

The rice is also a combination of long-grain basmati rice and Japanese rice mixed together and given a biryani-style seasoning. Mariko thought the rice was very flavorful and could even stand on its own as a meal.

Both curries tasted very authentic and the pickled red onions gave it a real restaurant feel. Mariko thought of this bento as the Avengers of curry, with each component having its own skill and charisma. She’s a little ashamed to admit that her personal favorite was the pork. It was just too bad that they only gave her two little pieces of it.

▼ Erick South? I’m here to talk to you about the 7-Eleven Initiative.

Speaking of which, her other complaint was that there wasn’t quite enough rice to go with the two curries, and would recommend anyone eating this to have some extra rice on hand. That being said, everything about this double-curry bento was exceptional and a sheer delight to eat.

It seems like 7-Eleven’s curry game is getting stronger with each passing year and we’ll be looking forward to how they outdo themselves next time.

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