Beating the cold weather with 7-11 Hotpot or Oden

According to Wikipedia, Oden is a Japanese winter dish with lots of ingredients like boiled eggs, daikin radish, konnyaku (whatever that is) and processed fish cakes stewed in a soy-flavored dashi broth. I so love hotpot because I have an uncanny predilection for hot soups.

Our neighborhood 24-hour store, 7-11 is now offering hotpot which I had been planning to try out for some kind of eons now. That simple dream came true today. It was just the perfect time. Stormy, cold and windy weather.

My receipt showed that the noodle costs P12 and you can add like 3 ingredients with a price starting at P10 to P15 each. So if you keep it to just 3 toppings -- enjoy the hot meal for less than P50!

Beware of adding extra toppings though because you might go beyond your budget. I was so overwhelmed with the variety of fish cakes and assorted meat balls that I went out of 7-11 with my wallet P153 lighter. I don't regret it though. It's good to cave in to your greedy appetite once in a while. You can never buy that kind of satisfaction.

The hotpot is not exceptional though. The soup is a bit on the sweet side and the taste of one of the toppings -- a block of sweet corn, is overpowering. The processed fish cakes and meatballs are of good quality and worth the price. There is a sauce that go with it labeled Oden sauce which is forgettable.