4 ms·

Go to Japan Just for the Sandwiches

20 points by graderjs 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Larrikin 5y ago
As some one who loves sandwiches, I don't understand this article. Japan has some of the best baked goods in the world and milk bread is excellent, but the sandwiches are pretty awful and was one of the more difficult things to adjust to when I was home sick living there. Subway is a legitimate contender if you want something besides a mediocre ham sandwich that all the restaurants serve or some meh cucumber sandwich from plastic wrap. I personally don't know why anyone would go-to a conbini and choose a premade sandwich over an onigiri, one of the microwavable noodle dishes, or whatever hot food the conbini specializes in they serve at the front counter. Lots of places around the world have a specific type of sandwich they are particularly good at, but if you're going to travel for a sandwich I would pick the north east corridor in the US as the best place to travel for sandwiches. New York is the most famous for the delis but pretty much anywhere down to Virginia has the best subs in general I have had around the world
- julianlam 5y ago
  I expected to be wowed, but when I scrolled down to the picture of the 7Eleven sandwiches, I was disappointed. The author got worked up over that sandwich? It's still a sad smushed up collection of white bread and filling. The only difference is the egg wasn't cooked to death, which in the States would probably be a lawsuit.
tus666 5y ago
But go to Korea for the toast.
- graderjs 5y ago
  HK for the pineapple buns (bolo bau - 菠蘿包; boh1loh4baau1), Malaysia for the roti, mainland China for the bing (like - 煎饼; traditional Chinese: 煎餅; pinyin: jiānbǐng; lit. 'pan-fried bing')), Taiwan for the danbing ('egg bing', or shāobǐng - baked).
  - julianlam 5y ago
    One funny translation I encountered was the ubiquitous cocktail bun, which in Cantonese contains the word "chicken". For the life of me I couldn't figure out why there was never chicken in this bun, just coconut and custard. As it turns out, it was a literal word for word translation of "cock tail", so it ends up being "chicken end bun". You've got to love the Chinese and their very literal interpretation when coming up with localisations for foreign terms. That said, a freshly baked pineapple bun (again, contains no pineapple) with a slab of butter inside, is simply sublime (though so are most things when you add butter.)
- birdyrooster 5y ago
  I think Shibuya has them covered with their ubiquitous and delicious honey toast, but perhaps I need to try Korean toast to know for sure.
  - tus666 5y ago
    You do 100%.
tidenly 5y ago
I dont know how anyone can think this. Japanese sandwiches are all rather bland, and they're very super cheap on ingredients - usually balancing a lot of the cheap ingredient and always gross shokupan. Its so hard to get a good bread here. When I lived in the UK I remember a variety of different fillings and importantly bread selections in every store, and the sandwich shops were another level.
scelerat 5y ago
Man I wish US convenience stores had food even half as fresh, tasty, and healthy as that found in an average Japanese konbini.
robinduckett 5y ago
I went to Japan for a business trip for a week in 2014 and I absolutely loved the 7-11 sandwiches! Not entirely sure why the crust had to be cut off though. I also tried Sukiyaki and a few other dishes, as well as the obvious Sushi and green tea KitKat's and stuff. The business was boring and involved daily long train rides but the food was wonderful!
- esyir 5y ago
  The convenience stores are amazing, but there's a massive list of things to eat there that covid has since cut me off. I'm a fan of what you'd call b-class gourmet. The various donburi, to the curries and the sea of ramen subtypes. Japan I by far my favourite place in the world for food. I'm just stuck here praying that some day they'll reopen their borders
traspler 5y ago
I might be in the minority but my love with the 7-11 sandwiches and most bread in Japan was very brief. I like crusts that aren't soft and nearly all bread and sandwiches in Japan are very, very soft without much bite. Most of the bread-based food is also just way too sweet, even the savory things. The 7-11 sandwich shown further down in the article is probably one of the worst ones you could get (IMHO). (I'm European if that matters in this discussion, not from the USA)
- csdvrx 5y ago
  > I like crusts that aren't soft and nearly all bread and sandwiches in Japan are very, very soft > (I'm European if that matters in this discussion, not from the USA) It might matter: I don't like french bread: the crust is so thick it can break in pointy chunks that sometimes cut into my gums. It took me a few bites and a few different attempts to realize French sandwiches (and bread) almost guaranteed the taste of blood in my mouth, so I may enjoy the Japanese soft bread with its thin crust.
  - phonon 5y ago
    THat's a sign of a possible issue with your gums. You should probably floss more.
    - csdvrx 5y ago
      I thought that too, but after checking the hardness and the pointiness of crumbs from a french baguette crust on the the skin of the back of my hand, and noticed it could also cause bleeding I decided it was safer to avoid hard crusts.
  - traspler 5y ago
    Luckily not all crusts are as dangerous but I would be lying if I said I was never hurt by a Baguette.
bamboozled 5y ago
Is this a joke? Those sandwiches are average at best, if you come to Japan just for the sandwiches, you're out of your mind.

20 points by graderjs 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

As some one who loves sandwiches, I don't understand this article. Japan has some of the best baked goods in the world and milk bread is excellent, but the sandwiches are pretty awful and was one of the more difficult things to adjust to when I was home sick living there. Subway is a legitimate contender if you want something besides a mediocre ham sandwich that all the restaurants serve or some meh cucumber sandwich from plastic wrap. I personally don't know why anyone would go-to a conbini and choose a premade sandwich over an onigiri, one of the microwavable noodle dishes, or whatever hot food the conbini specializes in they serve at the front counter. Lots of places around the world have a specific type of sandwich they are particularly good at, but if you're going to travel for a sandwich I would pick the north east corridor in the US as the best place to travel for sandwiches. New York is the most famous for the delis but pretty much anywhere down to Virginia has the best subs in general I have had around the world

julianlam 5y ago
I expected to be wowed, but when I scrolled down to the picture of the 7Eleven sandwiches, I was disappointed. The author got worked up over that sandwich? It's still a sad smushed up collection of white bread and filling. The only difference is the egg wasn't cooked to death, which in the States would probably be a lawsuit.

tus666 5y ago

But go to Korea for the toast.

graderjs 5y ago
HK for the pineapple buns (bolo bau - 菠蘿包; boh1loh4baau1), Malaysia for the roti, mainland China for the bing (like - 煎饼; traditional Chinese: 煎餅; pinyin: jiānbǐng; lit. 'pan-fried bing')), Taiwan for the danbing ('egg bing', or shāobǐng - baked).
- julianlam 5y ago
  One funny translation I encountered was the ubiquitous cocktail bun, which in Cantonese contains the word "chicken". For the life of me I couldn't figure out why there was never chicken in this bun, just coconut and custard. As it turns out, it was a literal word for word translation of "cock tail", so it ends up being "chicken end bun". You've got to love the Chinese and their very literal interpretation when coming up with localisations for foreign terms. That said, a freshly baked pineapple bun (again, contains no pineapple) with a slab of butter inside, is simply sublime (though so are most things when you add butter.)
birdyrooster 5y ago
I think Shibuya has them covered with their ubiquitous and delicious honey toast, but perhaps I need to try Korean toast to know for sure.
- tus666 5y ago
  You do 100%.

tidenly 5y ago

I dont know how anyone can think this. Japanese sandwiches are all rather bland, and they're very super cheap on ingredients - usually balancing a lot of the cheap ingredient and always gross shokupan. Its so hard to get a good bread here. When I lived in the UK I remember a variety of different fillings and importantly bread selections in every store, and the sandwich shops were another level.

scelerat 5y ago

Man I wish US convenience stores had food even half as fresh, tasty, and healthy as that found in an average Japanese konbini.

robinduckett 5y ago

I went to Japan for a business trip for a week in 2014 and I absolutely loved the 7-11 sandwiches! Not entirely sure why the crust had to be cut off though. I also tried Sukiyaki and a few other dishes, as well as the obvious Sushi and green tea KitKat's and stuff. The business was boring and involved daily long train rides but the food was wonderful!

esyir 5y ago
The convenience stores are amazing, but there's a massive list of things to eat there that covid has since cut me off. I'm a fan of what you'd call b-class gourmet. The various donburi, to the curries and the sea of ramen subtypes. Japan I by far my favourite place in the world for food. I'm just stuck here praying that some day they'll reopen their borders

traspler 5y ago

I might be in the minority but my love with the 7-11 sandwiches and most bread in Japan was very brief. I like crusts that aren't soft and nearly all bread and sandwiches in Japan are very, very soft without much bite. Most of the bread-based food is also just way too sweet, even the savory things. The 7-11 sandwich shown further down in the article is probably one of the worst ones you could get (IMHO). (I'm European if that matters in this discussion, not from the USA)

csdvrx 5y ago
> I like crusts that aren't soft and nearly all bread and sandwiches in Japan are very, very soft > (I'm European if that matters in this discussion, not from the USA) It might matter: I don't like french bread: the crust is so thick it can break in pointy chunks that sometimes cut into my gums. It took me a few bites and a few different attempts to realize French sandwiches (and bread) almost guaranteed the taste of blood in my mouth, so I may enjoy the Japanese soft bread with its thin crust.
- phonon 5y ago
  THat's a sign of a possible issue with your gums. You should probably floss more.
  - csdvrx 5y ago
    I thought that too, but after checking the hardness and the pointiness of crumbs from a french baguette crust on the the skin of the back of my hand, and noticed it could also cause bleeding I decided it was safer to avoid hard crusts.
- traspler 5y ago
  Luckily not all crusts are as dangerous but I would be lying if I said I was never hurt by a Baguette.

bamboozled 5y ago

Is this a joke? Those sandwiches are average at best, if you come to Japan just for the sandwiches, you're out of your mind.