Lawson serves up an a-peel-ing new excuse for spud lovers to celebrate.

Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew…there are so many ways to enjoy the humble yet heavenly tuber known as the potato that I’ve even been to organized Potato Parties where each person brings a different kind of potato dish. I’m not picky about how it’s been cooked, either, since pretty much any form of potato is the ultimate comfort food.

While I usually feel pretty at-home navigating the food scene in Japan, if there’s one time when my American-ness really comes out in full force, it’s when ordering potato dishes–because the portion sizes are almost always too small. Especially when ordering French fries, it usually takes a few orders to duplicate the kind of American comfort-food serving that I would normally inhale.

▼ First rule of thumb: always go for the Large. Second rule of thumb: put in at least a second–and possibly third–order.

That’s why I was ecstatic to read that Japanese convenience store chain Lawson began offering a new exclusive delivery service for freshly cooked fries on August 19. Once a customer places an order, the fries are cooked up in-store just prior to being delivered to their doorstep.

Our Japanese-language reporter Daiki Nishimoto was also happy to read the news, and in the spirit of comradery for couch potatoes everywhere, he decided to take one for the team by reviewing the new service (nobody else was salty about that at all…). There are two sizes to choose from–regular (680 yen/US$4.62) and extra-large (1,340 yen)–and this time he went with the regular size. Uber Eats fulfilled his order.

Lawson’s website estimated that his order would take about 10 minutes to arrive from his closest Lawson location, which should still keep his fries fresh and piping hot. When they finally came, he gripped the box in anticipation.

He opened the lid and was met by the wafting aroma of fried potato-y goodness. This regular portion looked to be just under a large-sized order of fries at McDonald’s Japan. He thought that was a bit underwhelming considering its price, but he grabbed a few and took an initial bite.

That’s when it hit him–or rather, his spud-sensing taste buds. The fries were good–make that real good. Uh-oh.

You see, while that wasn’t a bad thing by any means, it was such an unexpected level of deliciousness that Daiki’s plan to slowly savor them while reclining on the couch flew right out the window. Instead, he jolted up and just barely managed to get the golden fries from the box to a plate like a civilized human before tilting the box’s contents straight into his mouth.

True to the advertising, the fries themselves were still hot, crispy, and retained a bit of oil, yet they were very light in texture. The more he chewed, the more the natural taste of the potato shone through as well. They seemed to fall somewhere in the middle of the natural fry spectrum of “very junky” to “pure potato.” To top things off, they were also seasoned with the perfect amount of salt.

Daiki was confounded. He hadn’t placed his convenience store order expecting to eat some of the best fries he’d ever tasted in his life.

He decided to try eating them with the accompanied ketchup packets, but he actually preferred the pure, unadulterated potato. To put it bluntly, the ketchup was almost a nuisance in the way of the natural flavor.

Earlier, he had been a bit disappointed by the price-to-volume ratio, but now, he agreed that the price was perfectly justified by these top-notch tubers.

The only thing he was concerned about now was his wallet because getting these delivered right to his door was forevermore going to be a major temptation.

It will likely be a while before I’m able to sample Lawson’s new delivery fries for myself to see if they’re as good as Daiki claims, but in the meantime, I might try staving off my hunger by making Japanese-style croquettes with McDonald’s fries.

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