Konbini Kinyoubi: The Legend Of Famichiki

Welcome to Konbini Kinyoubi, where every Friday (Kinyoubi) we visit our local convenience store (Konbini) and buy something delicious.

Sampling convenience store food certainly has its ups and downs. Sometimes you get a delicious treat, and sometimes you get a horrific abomination. However, there are some things everyone can agree on. Famichiki is one of those things.

I’ve heard stories about these three gentlemen trying to smoke a rubber cigar. Can neither confirm nor refute whether they are factual.

Famichiki, the boneless fried chicken from the front counter at Family Mart, is one fo the most popular and beloved convenience store items in Japan. Some even think it’s the single greatest konbini treat of them all, and although I’m more of a Lawson’s man myself, I’ve had more than my fair share of Famichiki.

There are two main types of fried chicken at the konbini: small bites that come in packs of five, and big sweaty meal-sized pieces. Lawson’s has the market cornered on the small bites with its Karaage-kun, while Famichiki is the leader of the big boys. Family Mart’s bite-sized offerings are not that great, so we went with three types of large Chiki, including the classic Famichiki.

Famichiki is truly a marvel of engineering. It manages to stay crispy on the outside, while inside is the juiciest chicken in the world. Be careful when you bite into it, because the splash is like being in the front row at Sea World. I recommend eating it in the bathtub lest you be swept away in a wave of deliciousness that carries you out the door and down the street.

Crispy and succulent, this Famichiki was as good as any I’ve ever had. It’s amazing it’s so cheap and plentiful. You generally don’t want to mess with perfection, but that’s not the konbini way, so even though the original is clearly the most popular, Family Mart has come out with other varieties to compete with the many offerings of the other stores.

This is the spicy version. It was… not so spicy. Both Eriko and I agreed we didn’t feel much kick from it, and there was much more of what I’d call a “disconcertment layer” between the breading and the chicken, a sign it’d been sitting out for a while.

There were lingering notes of spices, but none of them spicy. It tasted like it had spicy-making dust on it, and that artificial dust never tastes too good. This one is definitely the worst of the bunch, and Lawson’s version is absolutely better. (I also recommend the version from Lawson 100, which is the spiciest of all the spicy konbini chicken.)

The last choice was also the newest, a crispy variety. It looked like the chicken from Long John Silver’s, but with weird lines and burn marks on it. I did not have high hopes for this one, as it was oddly-shaped and looked poorly thought-out.

Boy, was I wrong. The exterior was fine - standard batter, nothing special - but the interior was a revelation. Instead of processed mush, it had big hunks of chicken breast that tasted like they were pulled from a freshly-fried bird. Of all the konbini chicken I’ve ever had, this tasted the most like an actual piece of chicken. We were shocked at how good it was. Although I’ll probably stick with the original Chiki in the future, I’d definitely recommend this one, especially if you find regular Famichiki to be too artery-clogging, which is now an adjective.

As I’ve said, I have a long history with Famichiki. I ate konbini lunch maybe three times a week for the first year I lived in Japan (okay probably more), and at least one of those was always Family Mart. I’d get some high-quality konbini sushi, a bottled coffee drink, and a Famichiki. They go surprisingly well together, and on a winter day there’s not much better to warm you up. The problem I always experienced, though, was that Famichiki, while delicious, is quite greasy and heavy. After lunch I’d always feel like I needed a nap, and this time was no exception. We passed out after eating and woke up feeling hungover at 9:30pm, unable to even eat dinner that night. It’s delicious, but it’ll wreck you.

For that reason and that reason only, I take away spiritual points from Famichiki, but no actual points because it deserves 15/10 all day long. This is for sure one of the top 5 konbini items, and if you’re in Japan, you’re missing out if you don’t try one. Just don’t expect to get a lot done afterward.