Dandoval's mission: To lead a one-man, firsthand investigation into Chengdu's finest (read: nasty! nasty! nasty!) fast-food establishments over the course of several months. At each "restaurant" he will eat three items: the current promotion item, one of his choosing, and one hand-picked by the sadistic editorial staff of CHENGDOO.

Round 22

For this mission we thought we'd hit the very first store of it's kind in Chengdu, the 7 Eleven at the corner of Xinguanglu and Hangkonglu in the backyard of the Oakwood building (even it's address is No.7 Bldg. 11). But something was different when we entered the prototype store. No spaghetti bolognese, no receipt, no muzak and the guy who is permanently cleaning the window was missing. We hit the post lunch hour just before a major inspection, after which the shop was flooded with around 50 employees inside and outside where Dan was downing his meal.

Test subject #1

Dan's Choice

Black Pepper Chicken Rice
黑椒鸡柳双饼饭

Price: RMB11
Components:Chicken, chili, cauliflower, broccoli, hard boiled egg, potato, plain rice

Flavor ●●●●○○○○○○
Really fucking boring. I like the tingyness of the cauliflower, egg tastes like normal egg and the chicken is very mild.

Texture ●●●●○○○○○○
Egg is rubbery, weird texture of the potato, it's all overcooked and too chewy

Apparent nutrition ●●●●●●○○○○
There are veggies and potoato.

Greasiness factor ●●○○○○○○○○
Nothing dripping at all, the potato seems to have absorbed all the excess oil

Would you eat it again?
No. (Yes.) Because it's boring, very mediocre. But he changed his mind after swallowing the hotdog and hamburger "Sometimes boring is fine".

Test subject #2

Our choice

Delicious hotdog

Price: RMB8

Components: Tomato hotdog, a sweet bun, ketchup, mustard

Flavor ●●●○○○○○○○
What the fuck kind of hotdog is that? It's depressing to look at. It's like a Hawaian bread with a dry chemical sausage. All I taste is ketchup and soggy sweet bread. The flavorless meat is just there for texture.

Texture ●●○○○○○○○○
The sausage is too dry as is the bread feels underbaked.

Apparent nutrition ●●○○○○○○○○
I don't know what's in there.The sausage has like three different colors.

Greasiness factor ●●●●●●●○○○
It's just oily fat inside.

Would you eat it again?
No. Because it tases like shit.

Test subject #3

Promotional Item

Chicken Burger

Price: RMB8

Components: Yellow cabbage, green lettuce, chicken meat, soaked bread, mayo, layer of fat/sauce

Flavor ●●●●●●○○○○
Tastes like a Dico's Chicken Burger with older looking ingredients, less mayo and a peppery flavor to it. I still don't know what this is (Pointing to some kind of fatyy skin layer).

Texture ●●●○○○○○○○
Sticky bread and the rest is just a soggy mess.

Apparent nutrition ●●○○○○○○○○
Too much mayo, oily. Greased my ass like a monkey.

Greasiness factor ●●●●●●●○○○
It's a dip of fat chicken and mayo, my hand was coverd with white sauce as soon as I tried to grab it, which is never a good sign.

Would you eat it again?
Yes. But not first choice.

7 Eleven Final Verdict

On the plus side it's open 24 hours, everything is sealed and comes with a time stamp, there is variety and the outside seating extremly comfy in the summer. But the muzak drives you crazy, napkins you have to buy in the shop and (which is bad news in emergencies) there is no toilet. It's convenient, but if you have the time it's better to go somewhere else propper.

For the record, this column was all Dandoval's idea, and he eagerly volunteered to participate in its creation before he thought better of the idea. Contrary to appearances, no Dandovals were harmed in the making of this page. See more of Dan Sandoval.

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