Today's Meal Buddy, CU Convenience Store Lunchbox

No Problem Eating Alone!

Each convenience store has its own unique charm. Depending on the brand and each individual store, the food, drinks, and things to enjoy vary, so every time you visit a convenience store, your eyes lead your feet. Among them, today's featured place is CU convenience store (hereafter CU). If you're a food enthusiast, you probably already know this, but CU is known as a dessert hotspot with a wide variety of options. The moment you choose a dessert, your eyes scan up, down, left, and right to see what other products are available. Around those desserts, lunch boxes are always placed. To verify whether the trust we have in CU because of its desserts also applies to its lunch boxes, I went around CU stores and bought all the lunch boxes that looked tasty.

Want to take a closer look at CU, the dessert hotspot? Here

Nurungji Corn Cheese Chicken Set (9,900 KRW)

The components, as the name suggests, include corn salad, cheese, chicken, nurungji (scorched rice), and one fork-spoon. The preparation is simple: layer the corn salad, chicken, and cheese in order, microwave it, then sprinkle the nurungji and mix to finish.

As an editor who thought corn cheese would taste good anywhere, I was quite disappointed with the Nurungji Corn Cheese Chicken Set. The teriyaki sauce used to marinate the chicken was too sweet and salty. Because of the sauce, the nutty flavor of the nurungji and the taste of the corn cheese were lost. The chicken itself was very tender boneless meat without any off-flavors, so I thought it would be better to eat it like a rice bowl.

Tasting Review: While eating the last bite, I firmly declared, "It's not cheap, so once tasting it is enough!"

Wando-style Seaweed Soup with Rice (5,500 KRW)

The Wando-style Seaweed Soup with Rice, made with the know-how of HanChon Seolleongtang, a famous seolleongtang (ox bone soup) brand, contains a broth simmered for 12 hours with brisket and plenty of seaweed from Wando. It includes one instant rice, a pouch containing the seaweed soup, and a spoon. Pour the soup from the pouch into a container, add hot water, then microwave to complete.

I found it a bit salty, so I added hot water while eating, but the taste was better than most meal kits. The shredded beef was in the expected amount, and the seaweed was soft, not tough. For Koreans, kimchi naturally comes to mind, and if you purchase side dishes like stir-fried kimchi at the convenience store, the meal becomes even more perfect.

Tasting Review: The taste makes you look forward to other series from Paldo Han-kki Gourmet Journey. If you need to celebrate someone's birthday but can't make seaweed soup, try this product.

Spam Soy Sauce Rice Bowl (4,800 KRW)

It includes a spoon, one instant rice, soy sauce and mayo sauce, seaweed and sesame seeds, and a necessary wide and thin whole slice of Spam. Place the Spam on the instant rice, warm it in the microwave, then pour the sauce and mix before eating.

It's a pity that the Spam isn't pre-cut, but as you mix the rice and sauce with the spoon, it soon becomes bite-sized. The soy sauce is moderately salty with a subtle sweetness, so it pairs well with the salty Spam without being overwhelming. Adding mayonnaise doesn't make it greasy; rather, it enhances the savory flavor. On days when you crave a rice burger or Hansot Dosirak, trying the Spam Soy Sauce Rice Bowl is a good choice.

Tasting Review: Spam is truly the best. The combination of salty real Spam with soy sauce and mayonnaise is perfect. The cost-effectiveness is better than expected, so I recommend it to people living alone.

Baek Jong-won's Bacon Cream Pasta (4,800 KRW)

Baek Jong-won's Bacon Cream Pasta deserves praise starting from its appearance. Despite being a convenience meal, the amount of bacon topping is quite generous. You can repeatedly eat a forkful of noodles with 1-2 slices of bacon without feeling it's insufficient. Due to the nature of convenience store pasta, the noodles may be slightly undercooked or the sauce may not be fully absorbed, but the sauce itself tastes very good. The pepper flavor and aroma are strong, dominating the palate even after finishing the meal. I would recommend it even to those who usually avoid cream pasta because they find it greasy.

Tasting Review: Although salty, it is not greasy at all and is arguably the best convenience store pasta I've tasted in years. The topping played a big role.

Baek Jong-won's Assorted Side Dishes (5,900 KRW)

The Baek Jong-won's Assorted Side Dishes consist of rolled omelet, macaroni, stir-fried sausage with vegetables, tofu kimchi, and spicy bulgogi. As the name suggests, it works well as an anju (snack for drinking) or as side dishes. The spicy bulgogi is mildly spicy and tender, making you crave a warm spoonful of rice. The combination of sweet and refreshing stir-fried kimchi with tofu, and the slightly sweet sausage vegetable stir-fry, would have been even better if it were composed more as a lunch box with rice rather than just anju.

Tasting Review: It makes you naturally crave rice. When drinking alone, I thought tteokbokki, hot bar, or snacks would be better choices.

Curious about GS25 convenience store lunch boxes? Click here!

Photo by Yoon Eun-ae

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.