[DrinKit Pick] From Ori to Jangeo, Convenience Store Health-Boosting Lunchbox Full Comparison

Who is the glorious number one?

Editor's NoteSimilar ingredients with the same name! There are plenty of foods to eat, but you don't know what to choose? Which food will earn you the reputation of having 'eaten well'? If you're wondering, follow the 'picks' of DrinKit editors! We carefully examined essential criteria for reasonable food purchases such as taste, flavor, and price. We also ranked them by combining all factors! Who will be the winner?

From heatwaves to heavy rain, the weather has made even stepping outside your door difficult. For those exhausted by the unpredictable weather, the three major convenience stores have released health-boosting lunchboxes to replenish your summer stamina. We tasted the health-boosting lunchboxes from Seven Eleven, CU, and GS25, featuring smoked duck, Neobiani, and eel, and ranked them.

Preference 1
[Seven Eleven] Smoked Duck Bibimbap / 4,800 KRW

The first to try was Seven Eleven's Smoked Duck Bibimbap. It contains seven side dishes arranged in a gujeolpan style, including smoked duck, stir-fried carrots and shiitake mushrooms, grilled tofu, and more, with soy sauce seasoning and sesame oil in the center. When you lift the lid-shaped tray holding the ingredients, you can see the rice inside, which is about the amount of one cup of Hetbahn (ready-to-eat rice). After microwaving for about 2 minutes excluding the seasoning, mix all the ingredients, seasoning, and seaweed flakes, and enjoy. You can adjust the soy sauce seasoning to your taste.

The flavor resembles eating soy sauce bibimbap or goldongban, with a savory taste. Even after adding all the included soy sauce seasoning, it was neither overpowering nor salty. The harmony between the stir-fried vegetables and soy sauce seasoning was excellent, with the seasoning not too strong, allowing the natural taste of the vegetables to shine, which was appealing. It was also nice to be able to have a hearty and convenient meal in one bowl without using chopsticks. However, despite being called 'Smoked Duck Bibimbap,' the amount of smoked duck was quite small, which was disappointing.

Preference 2
[CU] Bokbunja Neobiani Set / 6,500 KRW

CU offers various products using Gochang Bokbunja Neobiani, including lunchboxes, kimbap, sandwiches, and burgers. The Bokbunja Neobiani Set introduced today is a lunchbox consisting of six side dishes including Neobiani. It contains Neobiani cooked with Bokbunja extract concentrate and sauce, smoked duck, stir-fried kimchi, steamed chili peppers, seasoned pollack, and candied walnuts and nuts. The rice is black rice instead of white rice. You microwave the lunchbox after removing the tray with four side dishes.

We first tasted the main side dish, Neobiani. It was quite firm, making it difficult to cut with a plastic spoon or wooden chopsticks. The taste was similar to a hamburger steak with very sweet sauce. The Bokbunja flavor was more subtle than expected, and the sauce was very sweet. Since Neobiani was sweet and greasy, I kept reaching for the steamed chili peppers and stir-fried kimchi, but there were not enough of these two side dishes. The lack of spiciness or saltiness to balance the sweetness made the flavor feel unbalanced. Also, despite sufficient microwaving, the rice was quite hard. It was impressive that domestic Bokbunja was used, but the quality was not very good compared to the price of 6,500 KRW.

Preference 3
[GS25] Whole Freshwater Eel Grilled Lunchbox / 15,000 KRW

GS25's Whole Freshwater Eel Grilled Lunchbox features a whole eel placed on top of the rice. Along with the eel-topped rice, it includes pickled radish, ginger strips, pickled chili peppers, smoked duck salad, and more. Wasabi and yuzu dressing sauce for the salad are provided separately. The price is 15,000 KRW, which is not cheap. Both the price and appearance are similar to a Japanese-style lunchbox. After microwaving only the rice section, pour the various sauces, and it's ready to eat.

Who knew a convenience store eel lunchbox could be this impressive? The eel was much thicker and meatier than expected. The evenly spread seasoning was a sweet and salty grilled eel sauce flavor. Adding wasabi and eating it with rice prevented it from becoming cloying, allowing you to enjoy it until the end. The side dishes seemed designed to help balance the eel's characteristic greasiness, enhancing the sweet and savory flavor of the grilled eel. There was no off-flavor from the eel or smoked duck salad. Although the price of 15,000 KRW is quite burdensome, the taste of the eel and the overall side dish composition and quality make it an excellent product.

Overall Evaluation

We have tasted three summer health-boosting lunchboxes from the three major convenience stores. We carefully examined the taste and quality of the main ingredients such as smoked duck, Neobiani, and eel, the side dish composition, and satisfaction relative to price.

▶ Taste and quality of main ingredients : [GS25] Whole Freshwater Eel Grilled Lunchbox > [Seven Eleven] Smoked Duck Bibimbap > [CU] Bokbunja Neobiani Set

▶ Side dish composition : [GS25] Whole Freshwater Eel Grilled Lunchbox > [Seven Eleven] Smoked Duck Bibimbap = [CU] Bokbunja Neobiani Set

▶ Satisfaction relative to price : [GS25] Whole Freshwater Eel Grilled Lunchbox ≥ [Seven Eleven] Smoked Duck Bibimbap > [CU] Bokbunja Neobiani Set