I am not joking when I tell you that going to 7-Eleven is a highlight of every Taiwan trip. No single company is more deeply intertwined in daily Taiwanese life (there are more 7-Elevens per square foot, by far, than anywhere else in the world) and every time I go after a long absence it feels like I’ve travelled hundreds of years into the future.
Microwavable baked tofu spaghetti carbonara! Caramel macchiato in a can! Every imaginable bar cocktail in a can! Long Island iced beer! A single vacuum packed fully cooked “Mexican style chicken breast”! Tuna salad onigiri! Almond and tuna jerky! Grape beer (not wine, grape beer)! Boba tea ice cream sandwiches! Steak flavored Ruffles potato chips! Every year, a dozen preposterous new foods exist.
Hilariously the only things at Taiwanese 7-Eleven that remain mediocre compared to US 7-Eleven are the microwave burritos and the hot dogs. (Skip the “New York Style Spicy Big Bite.” Trust me.)
