Dabao Diaries

The portion may look small but it is definitely filling.

The bowl consists of a combination of beef and teriyaki chicken on top of a bed of fluffy japanese rice. The beef slices were tender and had a sweet-savoury flavour. The chicken was an interesting version of teriyaki chicken as it appeared to be deep-fried rather than grilled. It was equally tender as the beef and tasted similar to charsiew as it had a slight char. The accompanying mushrooms were cooked in a sweet vinegary sauce that added a nice tang to the rest of the dish. The bowl was completed with half a boiled egg and a side of miso soup. Overall, a delicious dish that is value-for-money.

Tip: Order via delivery apps but use the self pick-up function for additional discounts!

There were little chunks of raw salmon, tuna and white fish on top of the lightly tangy rice. There is also a scattering of salmon roe and cucumber which added some texture to the bite.

The fish is marinated in shoyu, which is supposed to impart umami. Less Japanese soya sauce would be preferable to better appreciate the flavour of the fish.

The ratio of fish to rice was less than satisfying although as far as convenient chirashi bowls go, this is pretty good.

One of the newer ready-to-eat meals from 7-Eleven.

The teriyaki chicken was pretty good, I must say. It was tender and juicy despite being pre-packaged. The tamagoyaki was decent too, similar to the tamago sushi you would get from a budget sushi chain. I would advise you to skip the broccoli though, because that was one ingredient that did not reheat well. It was so mushy it felt like it had been boiled for hours. I liked that 7-Eleven made an attempt to use short-grain rice for the rice bowl, but perhaps they may need to make improvements to their packaging process as the rice ended up rather hard and dry, lacking the distinct stickiness of Japanese rice.

At $4.50 a bowl, worth a try for a quick meal if you are not a fan of the usual pasta meals they offer.

One of the sets we keep going back to. For just $7.90, you get a plate of tomato sauce fried rice with bits of chicken and corn kernels, that is wrapped in a thick layer of silky egg. Completed with a drizzle of mayonnaise and tangy-sweet sauce on top. The best part? It comes with three takoyaki balls, and some really flavourful pieces of chicken karaage. Definitely a filling meal at an affordable price point.