Family Mart Japan: 25 Must-Try Foods, Drinks, and Snacks

Convenience stores, known locally as Konbini, are the most common shops across Japan. There are over 55,000 Konbini in total; the three biggest chains are 7-Eleven Japan, Family Mart Japan, and Lawson Japan.

The first Family Mart store opened in Sayama, Saitama, in 1973, and it celebrated opening its 1,000th store in 1987. Today, they are the second biggest convenience store chain, with a whopping 16,250 stores in Japan alone. 

Most Konbini in cities are open 24 hours, allowing customers to pay utility bills and buy concert tickets. They have ATMs and delivery services. They sell cosmetics, umbrellas, magazines, manga, and clothing. As well as all of the delicious food you could ever imagine.

For tourists to the land of the rising sun, a trip wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Family Mart. In this article, I share 25 of my favourite foods, drinks, sweets, and meals you can’t miss. I’ve also written top 25 articles about Seven Eleven Japan and Lawson Japan.

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Family Mart Hot Food Counter

Located next to the convenience store tills, there is a range of hot and tasty foods ready to eat.

1. Famichiki

Launched in 2006, Family Mart’s boneless fried chicken is often referred to as the best fried chicken available at any convenience store.

This is a hot snack costing an affordable 230 yen. Famichiki is always crispy, juicy, and bursting with flavour in every bite. Family Mart also sells buns, which are the perfect companion to their fried chicken. The Fuwa-Fuwa Famichiki buns come with tartare sauce pre-spread on them and cost 88 yen. Buy a bun, stick the Famichiki in the middle, and you have a great value mouth-watering chicken sandwich.

2. Yakitori

Most Family Marts also have a separate cabinet that sells a variety of yakitori (grilled chicken skewers). There are several options available, including momo (thigh), torikawa (chicken skin), and harami (chicken’s diaphragm.) Each skewer has two choices: shio (salt) or tare (sweet soy sauce).

The torikawa tare costs 138 yen. It is chargrilled to perfection and completely smothered with flavoursome sauce. It’s a little greasy and chewy in all the right ways. These are very light and highly addictive. 

Also costing 138 yen is the momo shio. This thigh meat is tender and full of flavour, so I feel like sauce isn’t needed. The salt enhances the flavour, making it a wonderful treat that tastes like something you would be served in a yakitori restaurant.

3. Pizza Bun

Another popular hot food is the fluffy buns. Steamed pork buns, pizza buns, and red bean buns are just some of the choices available. They also have seasonal flavours like cheese curry and garlic soy sauce buns.

The Pizza Bun can’t be skipped. Costing 168 yen, this hot snack is everything you could want. It has a rich pizza sauce matched with a good helping of stringy cheese, all stuffed inside a cute yellow squishy dough package.

4. Jumbo Frank Sausage

The Jumbo Frank Sausage is a large frankfurter sausage on a stick, costing 198 yen. This is a really meaty sausage cooked with German rock salt, which brings out the flavour of the meat. The most fun part of the Frank is that it comes with a small plastic snap container containing half ketchup and half mustard. Snap the pack in half to easily release an equal amount of ketchup and mustard over the sausage.

Family Mart Japan Sweets

If you have a sweet tooth, you will be delighted to know that Family Mart has a variety of tasty desserts that will satisfy everyone’s needs.

5. Melon Bread

Called Melon Pan in Japan, Melon Bread is one of the tastiest sweet breads you will find. This famous bread isn’t melon-flavoured. Instead, it got its name because it resembles a melon. The Family Mart Melon Bread has a crunchy, sugar-dusted shell with a light fluffy centre. It costs 138 yen and is a must-try sweet.

6. Custard Cream Taiyaki

Taiyaki is a common Japanese sweet, popular for resembling a fish. The Custard Cream Taiyaki costs 160 yen and is in the fridge section. These Taiyaki are made with a soft, chewy batter casing and filled with a deliciously sweet creamy custard. It’s an amazing combination and one of the cutest sweets available.

7. Sweet Sauce Daifuku

These small bite-sized daifuku are the perfect sweet for anyone looking to sample something Japanese. Daifuku is made from glutinous rice, pounded into a sticky paste and then shaped around a sweet filling. These daifuku contain a sweet, sticky soy sauce and are incredibly soft and chewy. The Sweet Sauce Daifuku cost 168 yen.

8. Pucchin Custard Pudding

The Pucchin Pudding costs 178 yen and is known not only for its sweet and creamy flavour but also for its innovative packaging. The pudding has a tab at the bottom, once you pull the tab, the pudding will pop out and keep its shape making the optimal way to enjoy it. The custard is fresh and jiggly, with a thick, rich caramel sauce on top.

9. Sanshoku Dango

Dango is a traditional Japanese sweet made from regular and glutinous rice flour. Shanshoku Dango means Three-Color Dumplings, made up of pink, white, and green rice balls. This dango is chewy, bouncy, stretchy, and a joy to eat. This is a cheap Japanese sweet, costing 116 yen.

Family Mart Frozen Snacks

Summers in Japan are known for being hot and extremely humid. Luckily, Family Mart offers some tasty and unique frozen foods to help you cool down.

10. Choco Monaka Jumbo

This is Japan’s most popular ice cream sandwich, costing 184 yen. The Choco Monaka has a thin layer of crispy chocolate sandwiched by ice cream and wrapped with monaka wafers. These are very handy to eat in the hot summer as the thick monaka wafer stops the ice cream and chocolate from melting all over your hand.

11. Pino Chocolate Covered Ice Cream

Pino are delightful, bite-size vanilla ice cream balls covered in delicious milky chocolate. This box comes with six pieces and costs 184 yen. A little stick in the box lets you stab and lift the Pino without the chocolate melting. This is a great summer treat that isn’t too sweet or sickly.

12. Ice Fruit Juice Balls

Aisu No Mi are bite-size sorbet balls containing 80% fruit juice and have two flavours: dream grapes and muscat grapes. They are a little harder on the outside to contain the smooth melt-in-your-mouth frozen fruit juice. You get 12 balls in the packet for 184 yen.

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Family Mart Japan Drinks

Family Mart has a massive selection of hot teas, coffees, frappes, fruit juices, soda, beers, and more. These are a few of the very best and most recommended ones available.

13. Frozen Frappe

Family Mart offers a variety of flavours for their frappes depending on the season, including melon, strawberry, banana, and chocolate. These are in the frozen section, and the dedicated coffee machine will add warm milk. You then stir it with a straw and enjoy. These are full of flavour with a smooth, creamy, thick texture. They vary in cost depending on the flavour. The Frozen Banana Frappe costs 298 yen.

14. Tapioca Milk Tea

This is packaged boba tea, ready-made in a cup with a straw. The tea is sweet and tastes similar to a Royal Milk Tea. The tapioca balls are soft, juicy and enjoyable to chew on. It might not match the quality you’d get from an expensive boba tea shop, but for 255 yen, they have nailed all the basics and made it super convenient.

15. Hot Jasmine Tea

One of the surprises about Konbini is that they also stock bottles of hot teas and coffees. These are kept in a hot cabinet, which keeps the drinks toasty and warm. One of the best drinks has to be Hot Jasmine Tea which Suntory produces. This tea has a sweet, florally fragrant taste, which helps you relax and is 0 calories. Grab this one for only 149 yen.

Family Mart Meals

If you need a hearty dinner but there are no open restaurants nearby, Family Mart has you sorted with a range of fresh microwaveable meals and bento boxes.

16. Pork Cutlet Curry

Family Mart’s Pork Cutlet Curry is served on top of rice and costs 598 yen. The sauce is a thick Japanese curry roux with a taste that rivals curry chains. The pork cutlet is thick and juicy with a crispy panko breadcrumb coating. This is a very hearty and satisfying meal.

17. Tuna and Salmon Sushi

Family Mart sells a few different sushi sets, but the best one I have tried is the Tuna and Salmon set. This set contains eight pieces of sushi in four different varieties: two salmon nigiri, two tuna gunkan maki, two salmon maki, and two tuna maki. It also comes with soy sauce and wasabi to flavour to your liking. The Tuna and Salmon Sushi tastes fresh, with the rice maintaining its consistency, and it only costs 498 yen.

18. Omurice

Omurice is a Japanese dish consisting of a thin omelette on top of fried rice. Most Omurice is served with ketchup, but the Family Mart Omurice has a rich demi-glace sauce. The fried rice is tasty, and combined with the soft eggy omelette, it is a flavour sensation. This is a very filling meal for 538 yen.

19. Ramen with Spicy Ground Pork & Soy Meat

On a cold day, nothing hits the spot like a hot bowl of noodles. This ramen comes with a hearty amount of spicy ground pork mixed with soy meat and costs 598 yen. The quality of the noodles resembles a ramen restaurant, and the ground pork is just the right amount of spicy. It’s delicious, and it’s not a huge amount, so it won’t leave you completely stuffed.

Family Mart Japan Snacks

Family Mart in Japan offers an impressive range of snacks to suit all tastes. It’s the perfect stop for a quick bite, from classic Japanese flavours to unique treats you won’t find elsewhere. Here are some of the top snacks to try.

20. Egg Sandwich

The egg sandwich is a staple at Konbini, with each chain providing its own, but Family Mart might have the best one available. Costing 286 yen, this egg sando is made with soft white crustless shokupan bread. These are plump sandwiches bursting with creamy egg salad mixed with a good amount of mayonnaise.

21. Fruit Sandwich

Family Mart sells sandwiches with a wide variety of fillings, but the most unique are the fruit sandwiches. These change seasonally and include types like strawberry & cream and whipped cream & blueberry. I sampled the fruit sandwich with tangerine, kiwi, pineapple, and yellow peach, that cost 398 yen. This sandwich is full of fresh cream, which holds the structure together. There are large chunks of fruit that complement the cream. The bread is soft and crustless, making the whole thing almost seem like a dessert.

22. Tuna Mayonnaise Onigiri

Tuna Mayonnaise is one of the most popular onigiri from convenience stores. Onigiri are rice balls filled with flaked tuna mixed with generous amounts of mayonnaise and wrapped in seaweed. It’s a tasty snack and a little healthier than other options. This Tuna Mayo Onigiri costs 138 yen.

23. Grilled Salmon Luxury Onigiri

If Onigiri fans want to splurge a little extra, you can get a higher-quality Onigiri. This Grilled Salmon Luxury Onigiri costs 248 yen. This version is heavier and filled with more salmon than a regular Onigiri. The seaweed, rice, and salmon have all been upgraded. The salmon is chunky, flakey, and a wonderful colour. The whole thing feels exquisite.

24. Rice Cracker Peanuts

These rice cracker-coated peanuts are a cheap and delicious snack costing only 118 yen. They have four distinct flavours: squid, shrimp, crab, and bonito. Every peanut tastes very different, and the bag is loaded with an assortment of flavours. This is a great savoury snack to pair with a nice cold beer.

25. Ippeichan Yakisoba Noodles

This is one of the closest things you can get to authentic street-style Yakisoba Noodles. This large box costs 292 yen and contains a large flavourful helping of chewy, stir-fried soba noodles with an appetising savoury sauce and sweet karashi mayonnaise. It’s a wonderful mix of flavours that tastes like something you would buy at a festival.

Final Thoughts

A trip to Japan wouldn’t be complete without a few visits to a Konbini. It’s a huge part of Japanese daily life. The food quality in Japan is much higher than in many other countries, and that also goes for convenience stores. Most of the foods available here are tastier and healthier than what you would find in other countries.

Family Mart has everything you could want, available at any time of the day. There’s a great choice of snacks, meals, and drinks. You will be spoilt for choice, which can be a little overwhelming, but these 25 foods are a must-try and a great starting point for your Konbini food journey.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, I’ve also written similar Top 25 articles for Seven Eleven Japan and Lawson Japan.

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