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The magic of the Japanese convenience store sandwich

182 points by graderjs 5y ago

helen___keller 5y ago
I've never been too into the japanese sandwiches but other konbini items are great. But I think the best convenience store food I've ever had was actually baos sold somewhere in downtown Shanghai.
wink 5y ago
Maybe it's also related where you grow up and what's available there in a certain category. Anecdote: When I visited London for the first time in the 90s, they also had these wrapped sandwiches in the fridge and they were SO MUCH BETTER than anything I had ever gotten in a German supermarket near where I lived. I am not saying we don't have proper food here and I'm not saying they don't have good restaurants there, but this quick "pop into a supermarket and find something you can eat with your hands in 5 minutes". Someone from America recently told me about.. I think they called it "gas station food", some sort of convenience food they grew up with, on every trip (and liked it). We also used to have this at the bigger gas stations near the Autobahn in the 80s or 90s and it was simply disgusting. Everyone I know below ~45 or 50 would usually be "Thank god, finally a McDonald's or Burger King on my trip and I don't have to eat the worst Currywurst of my life for 9 EUR at a Raststation", if you know what I mean. Perspectives matter. Some things that should be at least neutral could be ok, good, or horrible where you live ;)
- subpixel 5y ago
  Gas station food in America is, as a rule, disgusting. The worst are the corporate truck stops that have 2 liter sodas and “cheeseburger” sausages on those greased roller-heaters. That said, in parts of the country you’ll find single stores and regional chains that have things like daily-fresh egg salad sandwiches, non-frozen pizza and (oh god) amazing local beef jerky in a brown paper bag. I’ve lived in Japan and I think for the foreigner the gob-smacking nature of Japanese convenience food is just that it doesn’t suck. On one or two occasions in the US I’ve found gas stations where the owner also sold their own ethnic food: Indian in NC and Ecuadorian in VA. That’s always worth the gamble!
- tomw1808 5y ago
  FWIW: It's not any different in Austria. I am so happy to that there's McDonalds popping up. But hell, I'd have no problem making a massive detour on ever trip if there was a japanese 7-11 somewhere on the way...
mbrodersen 5y ago
Every time I go to Japan I am blown away by the quality of the food sold in convenience stores. It is way better than most well-known fast food restaurants.
ankaAr 5y ago
Miga sandwich are the same in argentina, half or a third of the price.more than 30 flavors on almost every bakery shop. Or you can buy the sliced bread they use and make your own. One big difference, we don't have the sweet ones.
stuartcw 5y ago
I live in Japan and the one thing I miss about the UK are Marks & Spencer’s sandwiches. If I never had a convenience store sandwich again I wouldn’t be sorry.
sandworm101 5y ago
The big difference is that at a Japanese covenience store i can safely assume i am not going to get food poisioning from a sandwich. Be wary of tightly-wrapped sandwiches at US convenience stores. I imagine tthe "gas station sushi" warning doesnt translate easily. Im sure that the stations in japan serve great sushi.
- weikju 5y ago
  There have been numerous cases of food poisoning from Japanese conbini food
- pkaye 5y ago
  I suppose that fact they are 90% bread only on the inside helps reduce that risk of food poisoning.
grozzle 5y ago
I don't think Japanese convenience store sandwiches are that much better than those from Spar, Mace, Tesco, Boots etc in the UK and Ireland, so I have to wonder how bad things are back home for the presumably American intended audience when all these kinds of articles invariably start with something about how shocking it is to even contemplate eating 7-11 food. (Also a bit out of date, the tax is now 10% and must be included in the price printed on the product or shelf.)
- TillE 5y ago
  UK supermarket sandwiches are horribly mediocre and look nothing like what's pictured in the article.
  - robotresearcher 5y ago
    The triangle sandwich of the UK high street is its own unique thing. It’s not particularly good, but it is culturally distinct. I have a soft spot for them. Tuna and sweetcorn; cheese and pickle: these are cultural artifacts. A kiosk at the railway station in Germany will serve you an objectively good sandwich. Why doesn’t someone globalize the EU railway kiosk?
    - toyg 5y ago
      Probably because fresh quality produce costs less on the continent. This said, Upper Crust is that attempt.
  - grozzle 5y ago
    eh. Seem on a par, to me. per jnsie's comment elsewhere on this page, perhaps it's just England / the mainland that has bad ones, they're good north and south of the border in Ireland.
  - zhte415 5y ago
    As someone with extensive UK sandwich experience, and extensive experience of being victim to sandwiches in the article, bad UK train station sandwiches win hands-down. If you thought the bread was bad, the bread of the Lawson, 7-11, FamilyMart et al is far worse: Anemic, textureless, tasteless. I have no idea how the author could consider 'chewy' as an adjectivein describing it. Fillings are an odd affair. Personally I prefer jam over an out of season strawberry. Fillings are also nothing as appetising as mentioned in the article. A sliver of tasteless ham, trimmed exactly to be on price target with perhaps one half leaf of iceberg lettuce. The port cutlet option nothing like mentioned, more like a few lumps of mainly breadcrumb, the off piece of meat. Hitting a very narrow price range is what these sandwiches are all about. A very very narrow price band. This in true end to end supply chain, and is what Japanese convenience stores Excel at. No produce is on the shelves for a few hours. The microwave rice and noodle dishes are similarly precisely engineered. That there are three and three quarter mushrooms in your dish is no rounding error, that's the exact amount there's supposed to be based on all the costs and associated costs of three and three quarter mushrooms. Saviour your decidedly mediocre UK train station sandwich. You could have far worse. You could have a Lawson or 7-11 one.
nkozyra 5y ago
> In this the flour and water are mixed together, and then cooked which causes the starch in the dough to change structure and become more chewy and gelatinous. > They also usually cut the crusts off for you which, technically makes the sandwich less healthy, I'm confused by this section. They seem to be describing how most bread is made and I'm unsure how crust is healthier ...
- skunkworks 5y ago
  Tangzhong is when the flour and water are heated together to make a starchy paste which then gets added to the dough. Keeps the bread softer and more hydrated than it would otherwise
- chomp 5y ago
  It's like a roux sorta kinda - it really does change the texture of the bread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROWxMuu-Zc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROWxMuu-Zc My favorite recipe: https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/shokupan-loaf https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/s...
- 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
  The Chinese and Japanese have similar methods for pre cooking a portion of the flour and water before making the dough. This helps to give the final bread a fluffier texture. Go to an Asian bakery and compare the bread to say a brioche.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    Is it a similar technique to boiling/steaming a bagel?
    - 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
      Bagels are “fully formed” before you boil or steam them. This paste takes a portion of the water and flour that would be used to make the dough. Then you make the rest of the dough and add the paste back in. I don’t know if there are similar reactions though. But the process is different.
TillE 5y ago
British people love their grocery store sandwiches, but the reality of them is deeply disappointing - even the M&S ones are bland and thin, vastly inferior to what you could get from any deli counter in America. These sandwiches in contrast look a lot more interesting. This is a fun take on travel writing too, exploring simple daily stuff.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Packaged sandwiches and ones from the deli counter are two separate things, and I don't think it's fair to compare them. You can buy a bland, packaged sandwich in the USA, and you can go to the deli counter (or more typically, a sandwich shop/café) in Britain.
senectus1 5y ago
> They also usually cut the crusts off for you which, technically makes the sandwich less healthy why? Its just made of the same stuff as the rest of the bread...
- webwielder2 5y ago
  It’s a myth invented by moms trying to get their kids to eat the crust.
- vba616 5y ago
  There seems to have been quite a bit written about how anything that's browned during cooking probably creates a certain amount of carcinogenic chemicals. And a substantial amount of litigation and regulation related to this one in particular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide "Although researchers are still unsure of the precise mechanisms by which acrylamide forms in foods,[24] many believe it is a byproduct of the Maillard reaction. In fried or baked goods, acrylamide may be produced by the reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars (fructose, glucose, etc.) or reactive carbonyls at temperatures above 120 °C (248 °F)" It says there was actually litigation over whether coffee should have a Proposition 65 warning in California due to acrylamide, and it was upheld. So clearly, anything that isn't boiled and is baked or fried in any way causes cancer in California at least.
  - senectus1 5y ago
    Its so ridiculous I feel I've wasted my time writing how ridiculous it is.
    - vba616 5y ago
      It's important to have a sense of proportion. It seems to be at the level of multi-million-dollar litigation and not multi-billion-dollar litigation. If you were concerned about french fries, there is hope: "Pre-treatment of potato slices by asparaginase prior to frying reduced the acrylamide contents in the processed chips up to 81% compared to untreated control." What the hell is asparaginase? It seems to be a GRAS chemical produced from recombinant E. Coli, used in food manufacturing, because it's...better than acrylamide one assumes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparaginase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparaginase "As a medication, L-asparaginase is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).[3] It is given by injection into a vein, muscle, or under the skin.[3] A pegylated version is also available.[5] In food manufacturing it is used to decrease acrylamide.[4] Common side effects when used by injection include allergic reactions, pancreatitis, blood clotting problems, high blood sugar, kidney problems, and liver dysfunction.[3] Use in pregnancy may harm the baby"
ctime 5y ago
I tend to hit up convenience stores straight away when visiting non-freedomland destinations. Japan takes top honors. I've only been to Tokyo, but staying near shibuja or ropongi hills, the prepared food at 7/11, lawsons, family mart, are just amazing. I also tend to eat at Tesco or Spar in UK/IE (I just don't like eating huge meals alone) and I don't find those sandwiches much better than the US counter-parts (they are likely using the same machines and standard anglo-american components). The article really dives into why the sandwiches are much better, tastier. Mind you I've lived within a block of fairly good Japanize food marts here that have very similar offerings (e.g. Nijiya Market) and would go there to get my fix every few weeks, but the quality and taste really wasn't the same (e.g. the rice wasn't as good and seemed day-old). Really, everything in Japan had my 80's kid brain going nuts with joy. I didn't much like how prevant smoking was (nor getting kicked out of restaurants for not being Japanese), but I'll take the good with the bad (like anywhere). Absolutely amazing place. One of my favorite parts of leaving japan is loading up on the sandwiches/rice balls at the airport - from the 7/11 vending machines in the seating area.. god I love that country.
- zanderz 5y ago
  Surprised the article didn't mention that you are generally welcome to use the restroom in a Japanese convenience store, which will usually have a spotless toilet with fancy robotic bidet features. At least in Tokyo a few years back, it seemed true of every place you went and it makes American cities seem savage and inhospitable in comparison.
  - Auracle 5y ago
    They’re bidet-less but I’v never been to a convenience store without a bathroom in the US - but they’d all be gas stations as well for me. Is that a thing in inner cities? Also, the actual public toilets in Tokyo are some of the worst that I’ve seen. It’s Europe that’s inhospitable, bathroom-wise. First you have to find one, and then you need to pay. I don’t see how that makes business sense to me. If people are stopping to go to the bathroom there’s a good chance they’ll buy something.
  - distantaidenn 5y ago
ekianjo 5y ago
The glorification of industrial food? Japanese convenience stores sandwhiches are OK but do not deserve that kind of praise.
- swampthinker 5y ago
  It’s relative to western convenience store food. Gas station sandwiches are some of the most depressing meals in existence.
  - suction 5y ago
    "Western" - have you ever been outside of the US? Also, gas stations are not convenience stores.
    - swampthinker 5y ago
      Yep, European is a step up from American for sure. Still not as good as Japanese ones IMO.
      - suction 5y ago
        European can mean a lot of things. Most of which are better than the crap you're sold in Japan.
  - johnwalkr 5y ago
    Ehhh, US gas stations like Wawa and Sheetz are amazing.
- com2kid 5y ago
  Japanese convenience store egg sandwich's have better quality eggs than anything I can even buy in the US, short of maybe stopping by a local farm.
  - kalleboo 5y ago
    Speaking of eggs, the eggs used in the Japanese convenience store bentos are fake https://soranews24.com/2020/01/15/fake-eggs-are-being-used-in-japanese-convenience-store-bentos/ https://soranews24.com/2020/01/15/fake-eggs-are-being-used-i... I wonder if the sandwiches use the "long" eggs that are engineered to reduce the waste when slicing http://blog.livedoor.jp/fox_hunter/archives/51501365.html http://blog.livedoor.jp/fox_hunter/archives/51501365.html
cphoover 5y ago
this post made me unreasonably hungry!
meken 5y ago
I wish konbini was sold in the US. Seems like airport vending machines would be a great place for them.
- Lascaille 5y ago
  Konbini means 'convenience store.' Are you some sort of GPT-3 bot?
  - dang 5y ago
    Would you please stop posting unsubstantive and/or flamebait comments? You've been doing it a lot, unfortunately, and we ban such accounts. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - Lascaille 5y ago
      Maybe you could delete my account. I'd prefer that. I think maybe I have a tendency to argue with people and this just isn't the place for it. Best to remove the temptation. If you aren't going to delete the account and comments could you change the username to something random then ban it? That would work.
      - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
        You should email hn@ycombinator.com. But, you can also basically ban yourself, by turning on noprocrast in your profile and setting a short maxvisit and a ludicrously high minaway.
- suction 5y ago
  "Konbini" is the type of store, a childish abbreviation of the word "Convenience Store" which is too hard to say for Japanese people.
totetsu 5y ago
I was wanting a sandwich on my way to work this afternoon. I realized that the reason there is no, nice middle level independent bakeries around is that these generic conbini's have cornered the market of grab and go foods. My options were some snooty tongs and tray overpriced but not so nice bakery, flavorless supermarket deli sandwich, or the curst(soul)less conbini.
foolfoolz 5y ago
a lot of people don’t think they are quality in america but sometimes an egg salad sandwich is exactly what you need. i also like the stores that have the pre warmed section with the times written in front of when they were put in
wirthjason 5y ago
These articles always make me conflicted. On one hand the Japanese convenience store is quite good but there’s so much fetishizing about them. In the end it’s just a sandwich, and if you eat enough of them you’ll realize there’s no “magic”. That said the conbini is often the subject of many Japanese food TV shows and I enjoy seeing in-depth programs of how something is made and the creativity in their production. I learned that 7-11’s fried rice is made using real woks with an elaborate setup of robotic arms to toss the rice with the wok and spatula. The length they went though to get the flavor just right is very impressive. On the sandwiches, one of my gripes is that they are often filled in a way that makes them look really plump and full of ingredients when cut in half. But everything is in the center so by by the time you make it to the edge it’s just bread. To me the sandwich is visually appealing but lacks balance and consistency from first bite to the last.
- victor106 5y ago
  > That said the conbini is often the subject of many Japanese food TV shows and I enjoy seeing in-depth programs of how something is made and the creativity in their production. I learned that 7-11’s fried rice is made using real woks with an elaborate setup of robotic arms to toss the rice with the wok and spatula. The length they went though to get the flavor just right is very impressive. Interesting!!! Do they have an online version of the shows?
- novok 5y ago
  Japanese konbini food is way better and healthier than convenience store & most cheap fast food in north america. That is what everyone is jealous of and leads to the fanboying. Of course there is better stuff in japan, it's the fact that the super convenience food is way healthier and tastier and better than the cheap shit in many other countries is the key point.
- Aeolun 5y ago
  The filling thing is something you fall for only once though. After that you know exactly what you are going to get. I still like convenience store sandwiches after 9 years eating them, even if I don’t eat them every lunch any more.
glandium 5y ago
Beware that more often than not, the sandwiches are not as filled as you'd expect. https://soranews24.com/2020/10/23/7-eleven-japans-paper-tiger-sandwich-sparks-online-controversy-over-deceptive-packaging/ https://soranews24.com/2020/10/23/7-eleven-japans-paper-tige... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHgIA1m3wNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHgIA1m3wNo
- friedturkey 5y ago
  Yeah. I always grab them from behind so I can immediately tell whether or not they’re completely empty bread. Most of the time they are. There’s no magic. They’re just sandwiches that look pretty because they push everything to the very edge.
hackerfromthefu 5y ago
Those look terribly unhealthy. Fun fact, white flour combined with water makes a permanent glue that was used to stick wallpaper to walls. The same highly milled white flour used in the bread on those things. The mayonnaise luckily is not a permanent glue!
- unmole 5y ago
  > Fun fact, white flour combined with water makes a permanent glue that was used to stick wallpaper to walls. And that is relevant how?
- irrational 5y ago
  Uh... I assume you don't have a problem with water. It's the white flour you have a problem with, isn't it? I've heard of people who are against white flour and white sugar. Does that describe you?
- refurb 5y ago
  I mean you can boil tendons and make glue. Are you going to ask to have your tendons removed?
distantaidenn 5y ago
Ugh, I hate articles like this. I'm glad the comments here are pretty grounded. For some reason foreigners feel the need to gush over 7-11 sandwiches -- it's the strangest thing. I wonder if these people just aren't that traveled or come from small towns. First off, the sandwiches just aren't that good. They're mostly bread. The wrapping and cut may make you think the sandwich is overflowing with fillings, but you soon realize it's just all arranged in the front to make it look nice for packaging. The back end of the sandwich is pretty much empty. This made some rounds on Japanese twitter a couple years ago: https://twitter.com/kou17/status/1315447135865769985 https://twitter.com/kou17/status/1315447135865769985 Admittedly, 7's new high protein sandwiches are leagues better, as far as filling is concerned. A little pricier but more fillings and usually served on wheat or a baguette, rather than super soft shokupan. Also, the next time you reach for one of those sandwiches, take a look at the ingredients list. It's pretty damn long for a simple "ham" or "egg" sandwich. As my fiancé put it, Japan food additive regulations just aren't as strict as in America. To paraphrase her, "Japanese companies can put anything in there..." The same way people scoff at the guy reaching for that gas-station sub in America (which I actually kinda miss), she does if I reach for a combini sandwich. Believe it or not, America has pretty extensive food labeling and additive laws compared to other countries. Probably from the trans fat craze a couple decades back. As an alternative to 7-11, Daily Yamazaki (in the mornings) and MiniStop have fresh food made in store: spanning from baked goods and sandwiches to bentos and onigiri.
- kaesar14 5y ago
  I mean it’s just a better option for that price than you could find in huge swaths of America.
- ixtli 5y ago
  Ok so the reason I love 7 is because I lived in Tokyo during college and was broke as hell. I LIVED off of that food and in retrospect I was really lucky because if I had been in NYC (where I lived now) I would have been subject to worse tasting and less healthy stuff. It’s nostalgia definitely but objectively better than equivalently priced things in other cities.
  - 5y ago
soared 5y ago
I wasn’t aware of the fanfare of sandwiches and it seems odd because there are so many other good options. Even pictured in the article are the rice triangles with seaweed and a filling which I found way better than a sandwich. Lawson also has high quality fried chicken and other hot foods. I’m not sure why you’d choose a white bread sandwich over those options, outside of hipster hype. I’d rather read an article about why Japanese convenience stores are so much better than in other countries, but the answer might be too obvious. I’d also love to read some lore about the ever legendary “pocori sweat”. And the hot canned coffee vending machines.
- suction 5y ago
  They're crap. Don't trust American weeaboos on anything they say about Japan.
ixtli 5y ago
I go back every once and a while and the second I get to Narita I go straight to the 7/11 and get tuna fish onigiri.
lmiller1990 5y ago
I live in Japan for many years, it's a beautiful country and culture but there is a lot of obsession with the convenience stores. They are neat but the sandwhiches are really nothing special IMO.
kstenerud 5y ago
Sorry, no. Japanese (edit: konbini) sandwiches are made from this disgusting tasteless "bread" that feels like a wet sponge, has about as many nutrients, and is filled with the cheapest ingredients they can get away with. Eat the onigiri, eat the boiled eggs, eat the nikuman, eat the oden or coroket. Hell, eat the convenience store bento or ramen or chicken before you even think about the sandwiches. Or better yet, eat at a place that serves real food.
- ngc248 5y ago
  Those shrink wrapped sandwiches are equally bad everywhere
- davidjytang 5y ago
  > Sorry, no. Japanese sandwiches are made from this Surely you meant konbini sandwiches?
  - kstenerud 5y ago
    Yes. Actual sandwich shop and restaurant sandwiches are generally fine, although I'm still not really a fan of the bread.
- tidenly 5y ago
  This! Japanese shokupan bread sandwiches are an insult to the name sandwich. And the ingredients are always the smallest amount they dare put in too. You'd be laughed at in the UK for serving somewhere the same thing.
  - freetime2 5y ago
    The filling can be skimpy, but for the price of the sandwich (less than ¥200 typically) I’d say you get what you pay for. Are sandwiches in the UK similarly inexpensive?
    - Symbiote 5y ago
      This is the same price in Tesco, and it's the cheapest they have. They aren't cheating on the filling though, it's even. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/260255657 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/260255657 https://www.allsandwiches.com/tesco-just-ham-sandwich-review https://www.allsandwiches.com/tesco-just-ham-sandwich-review
spike021 5y ago
It's mind-boggling that people in here think some fanfare is unnecessary. People _love_ Taco Bell in America. Why? Because it's healthy? No. Because you get a large portion of food? No. Because you know the filling is even? Nope. Why can't people come to Japan and love conbini sandwiches for what they are? An easy, cheap meal. As someone who isn't a breakfast eater and actually dislikes Toxic (lol) Bell, I love visiting Japan and getting to grab a quick breakfast or morning snack for dirt cheap. A tamago sando, plus a hot bottle of tea, really warm me up and get me going for the day in a different place. Sure the MSG that is likely in the tamago salad helps matters, but why's that an issue? It's odd to see. I have made several friends in Japan who are locals, and most of them enjoy their conbini food as much as I do and are surprised when I show them what we get (or explain what we don't get) here in the US at our convenience stores. It seems lately that there's this anti-foreigner hate thing going on, mostly by expats (?) where it's like non-expats aren't allowed to enjoy things that are common in Japan or something. Clearly in general, sandwiches there are good because otherwise they wouldn't be such a popular item that even many locals will grab on their way to work or a picnic or... Again, mind-boggling.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  Reading your comment it reminds me when I was drinking 4 to 5 times a day from the coffee dispenser at my first job. Was it good ? Hell no. Was it cheap ? Actually no, granular coffee would have been cheaper. Was it convenient ? Yes, it was the only hot drink available without going outside and lining at some register. If someone came to me and said “that coffee is awesome, so distinct, why can’t people enjoy it more ?” I’d be dumbfounded. As you say, we shouldn’t brigade people from enjoying what they enjoy, but we shouldn’t be barring people from criticizing what they think is really subpar either. As long as it’s just an opinion and nobody’s feelings are hurt, it shouldn’t matter.
- Timpy 5y ago
  I'm assuming the author is from the US. Convenience stores in Japan (and Taiwan) fill a niche that's desperately missing in the US: they're actually convenient. I can't get good tasting, cheap, fast, not-unhealthy food anywhere in the US. I'm not saying it's the greatest food of all time, it just sits in a nice spot on the taste/price/convenience/doesn't make you feel like shit when you eat it axis.
franciscop 5y ago
YMMV, yes I agree that the convini sandwich is something to try and the perfect thing for a quick "oops I forgot to prepare anything" picnic in Yoyogi Park. However my main critique is that some times their filling is just a small line across the bread, where the cut showing the contents is, and the rest is basically empty bread. You can see an example of what I mean in this article (it's about Taiwan, but in Japan I've seen way worse): http://jonathanlee.org/2014/02/21/interlude-treachery-7-11-sandwiches/ http://jonathanlee.org/2014/02/21/interlude-treachery-7-11-s... You can also guess it from this side-view; yes the meat is just a strip along the cut edge, the rest is stale-ish bread: https://grapee.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/s-50126_05.jpg https://grapee.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/s-50126_05.jpg It depends on the type of sandwich, so it goes from "always wrong" (like the last pic) to "it really depends" on some others. Normally it's okay though: https://soranews24.com/2020/10/24/25-different-japanese-convenience-store-sandwiches-whats-inside-them%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2020/10/24/25-different-japanese-conv...
- SenHeng 5y ago
  The main culprit for this really is 7-11, FamilyMart and Lawson are slightly better in this regard.
- ayngg 5y ago
  I never really thought the sandwiches were anything special, the real gem was the fried chicken, the Famichiki or its equivalent that the other places had. You could grab a couple onigiri and a famichiki for the price of a sandwich and it would be way more satisfying imo.
  - poglet 5y ago
    I loved the Oden in winter - despite being unsure how long it had been sitting there. Also went through a phase of getting the アメリカンドッグ 'America Dog'.
- Tor3 5y ago
  7/11 is mostly a franchise setup in Japan, so things aren't completely uniform. The 7/11 combini I've been visiting over the years doesn't suffer from the empty bread syndrome. This isn't a big city, it's almost rural, don't know if that matters too. When that's said, the sandwiches they prepare in the bread shop in the nearby shopping mall is better, if anything there's too much filling. Anyway, it can never be truly good because it's all 100% white bread wherever you buy it.
vishnugupta 5y ago
Same in the Netherlands at Albert Heijn stores stock a whole range of cooked, ready to eat foods. They taste really good too. People routinely grab sandwich/salad/etc., for lunch. I think other chains (Jumbo etc.,) stock them too but I found Albert Heijn ones to be of much better quality.
whartung 5y ago
I have not been to Japan. I have been to Paris. When I was there, apparently every other store on the block was selling, essentially, ham and cheese sandwiches on a baguette. "Jambon et fromage". They had cases stacked with them. Simply, they were amazing. I wasn't there long, but I ate several of them. In fact, the last meal I had at the airport was one of these sandwiches and it was amazing as well. I can't put my finger on it, was it the ham, the cheese, the bread, "being in Paris", but it's been difficult to find anything comparable here. Our "sub" sandwiches are just not the same as these things. Even the sandwiches at, ostensibly, "french" bistros aren't the same. Maybe it's the water. But, anyway, I know what I'll be eating as soon as I return, whenever that may be.
- esyir 5y ago
  Every time I hear people rave about paris, I wonder if I saw a completely different world. I found the food mediocre and particularly pricy. Conversely, I found Italy and Spain absolutely amazing for the back then non - affluent student that I was
- icelancer 5y ago
  I ate a bunch of those in Paris, too. It's the bread, for sure.
- bch 5y ago
  I feel like I had that experience in Brussels. Its as if the sandwich started with a chance to be perfect, and nothing in that simple construction gave up any demerits.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  I've had baguettes in France, and I've had baguettes elsewhere and there is really no comparison. Baguettes in France are incredibly soft with thin crunchy shell, whereas supermarket baguettes in the US (and elsewhere) taste like a three-day-old French baguette even the day they're made. You need a very sharp knife to cut them up, they're like rocks. It is very disappointing. In general, it is very hard to find good bakery goods in the US outside of local artisan shops. A lot of people have just come to expect that to be the case (like "of course supermarkets have low quality baked goods!") but that just isn't the case in much of continental Europe, boring supermarkets have amazing bakery stuff. The closest thing I've found to a "basically acceptable" mass-produced (i.e. available almost everywhere) bread in the US is Sara Lee Artesano (white) or Sara Lee Classic Wheat Bread. They aren't sweet or artificial tasting. Taste like a normal €1.20 bread. Unfortunately you are paying a premium compared to standard bread in Europe while tasting comparable. PS - Still never found someone selling tijgerbrood/Dutch Crunch/Tiger bread in the US which is super strange, that stuff is delicious.
maoeurk 5y ago
In Taipei, and Taiwanese cities as far as I've seen, it's the same! The main benefit is just how convenient they are. For example there's a place in Taipei where you can walk to 72 different 7-11s with a 10 minute walk [1] -- and that's just the 7-11 there's tons of FamilyMarts and some smaller stores too. My personal favorite food to get there is the chicken breast and protein drink with 45g or so of protein for about $3.50 USD, great on the way home from the gym. The biggest and strangest difference I've noticed about the difference between Taiwanese and Japanese konbini are that you can't buy vegetarian or vegan onigiri in Taiwan despite there being a ton of vegetarian and vegan people here. My favorite flavors, which are vegan, are only sold in Japan. Also to give more context for the function of konbini in Taiwan (and probably Japan), they're for a lot more than just food: I pay my bills there at the counter, occasionally pick up packages (they act like PO boxes), and print out documents there when I need a printer. So really it's a multi-function store that's open 24/7 with pretty decent food and is on every street. [1]: https://international.thenewslens.com/article/68424 https://international.thenewslens.com/article/68424
gryson 5y ago
A lot of people here in the comments are stating that these sandwiches are a scam because the filling is much less than you are led to believe. That is... true sometimes, but it's also common knowledge among Japanese people, and most people avoid the bad ones. See a pack of three sandwiches at Lawson 100 for dirt cheap? Yeah - avoid those. And this kind of thing is talked about all the time on the Japanese internet. Here's a good showcase of sandwich fillings: https://dailyportalz.jp/kiji/160518196569 https://dailyportalz.jp/kiji/160518196569
gorgoiler 5y ago
In the UK, Tesco brand stores have a similar sandwich made with shredded cheddar, scallions and mayo. It is off-the-charts delicious and if you get lucky you can find it with a yellow label — a discount for food that is approaching its end of life — for 69p. (Shelf life dates are ludicrously conservative. Yellow label basically means the sandwich has been refrigerated for 12 hours.) I recommend washing it down with a Meal Deal including McCoys salt and vinegar crisps and a bottle of fizzy mineral water.
hoyd 5y ago
I'm from Norway. After living in UK ford few years, I noticed that I could not expect to find baked bread that tasted good, had the texture and crust as Norwegian baked bread. I even tried to buy flour and baking myself, but it didn't taste the same at all.
- chadcmulligan 5y ago
  Maybe its the wheat - apparently there are a lot of varieties, this is about Italian flour but probably applies https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/is-italian-flour-really-better-for-you-673e1e3b14dd https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/is-italian-flour-rea...
sudosteph 5y ago
I have to say I appreciate the simplicity of most of those sandwiches. I've never been to Japan, but from the description I'm reminded of good tomato sandwich or a pimento sandwich. In both cases, I've always found the spongy (cheap) white bread to be the secret, it meshes well with mayo and lets the main ingredient stand out.
docflabby 5y ago
I dont think anyone in England eats supermarket sandwiches because they taste good. They are normally the cheapest ediable option for a filling meal that's not too unhealthy that can be consumed in a 30min lunch break or at a desk...
jrockway 5y ago
Onigiri is a snack I'd like to see catch on in the US. (I'm a fan of pickled plums.) They are fun to open and have a good ratio of flavor, fillingness for $1, and salt.
- schoen 5y ago
  There's a small chain in the Bay Area that makes them: https://www.onigilly.com/ https://www.onigilly.com/ But I'm thinking this is more of a gourmet/specialty food positioning rather than a mass-market fast food positioning. (The onigiri there are all hand-made to order, not pre-packaged.)
rob74 5y ago
Haven't been to Japan (or any other Asian country that has these sandwiches) yet, but they remind me of something that's pretty common in Europe: tramezzini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramezzino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramezzino). These are also sold packaged in various stores. The bread is basically the same as toast bread, sometimes with the crusts removed, sometimes not. You can eat them cold or toasted (using a special device of coarse, not a regular toaster).
hbarka 5y ago
There must be some universal novelty about food from convenience/convenient locations. My neighbor keeps telling me about the fried chicken from the local gas station mini-mart. He swears it’s the best thing since Popeye’s but I’m not touching that with a ten foot fork.
Shadonototra 5y ago
the same sandwiches as every other countries, just a different packaging color, what's the goal of the post? ultra transformed btw, if you like cancer, eat them!
Symbiote 5y ago
I think 7-Eleven in Denmark needs to be mentioned. The prices aren't comparable (it's significantly more expensive), but the pictures are fairly representative of the products, and they don't short-change you on the filling. (But 43DKK is 740JPY.) https://7eleven.menukitt.dk/restaurant/7-eleven-hellerup https://7eleven.menukitt.dk/restaurant/7-eleven-hellerup Indoor Google Maps photos of one above Nørreport Station in Copenhagen, which has a few photos: https://www.google.com/maps/place/7-Eleven/@55.682304,12.5707726,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNbn3qGeQ_LgkR5dgwjQ0gufDWFUZKLrboZc03u!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNbn3qGeQ_LgkR5dgwjQ0gufDWFUZKLrboZc03u%3Dw397-h298-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m7!3m6!1s0x4652530559266943:0xbfdcd8454699ea27!8m2!3d55.682304!4d12.5707726!14m1!1BCgwKCC9tLzAyd2JtMAE https://www.google.com/maps/place/7-Eleven/@55.682304,12.570...
wodenokoto 5y ago
I think this is a case of grass is greener. A few years ago a Japanese friend visited Denmark and was blown away by the 7-11 food and described it as much better than Japan.
graderjs 5y ago
Hello Sandwich Guide to Japan - https://priorworld.com/editorial/hello-sandwich-guide-to-japan/ https://priorworld.com/editorial/hello-sandwich-guide-to-jap... The Cult of the Sando - https://www.departures.com/archive/travel/in-search-of-japanese-sando https://www.departures.com/archive/travel/in-search-of-japan... Japanese Sandwiches Are Beautiful to Look at and Even Better to Eat - https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-japanese-sandwiches https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-japanese-sandwiche... Wildly popular Japanese sandwich pop-up coming to downtown food hall - https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-08-22-sandoitchi-japanese-sando-sandwich-pop-up-post-market/ https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-08-2...
freetime2 5y ago
A little off topic, but another thing that pleasantly surprised me at 7/11 is that they sell Anker phone accessories. Imagine forgetting a charger on a trip, going into 7/11 out of desperation, expecting to get some generic garbage that may or may not fry your electronics, and being pleasantly surprised to find accessories from an actual reputable brand. Something you will be happy to continue using after your trip. Just one more example where the quality in Japanese 7/11 is surprisingly good.

182 points by graderjs 5y ago

I've never been too into the japanese sandwiches but other konbini items are great. But I think the best convenience store food I've ever had was actually baos sold somewhere in downtown Shanghai.

wink 5y ago

Maybe it's also related where you grow up and what's available there in a certain category. Anecdote: When I visited London for the first time in the 90s, they also had these wrapped sandwiches in the fridge and they were SO MUCH BETTER than anything I had ever gotten in a German supermarket near where I lived. I am not saying we don't have proper food here and I'm not saying they don't have good restaurants there, but this quick "pop into a supermarket and find something you can eat with your hands in 5 minutes". Someone from America recently told me about.. I think they called it "gas station food", some sort of convenience food they grew up with, on every trip (and liked it). We also used to have this at the bigger gas stations near the Autobahn in the 80s or 90s and it was simply disgusting. Everyone I know below ~45 or 50 would usually be "Thank god, finally a McDonald's or Burger King on my trip and I don't have to eat the worst Currywurst of my life for 9 EUR at a Raststation", if you know what I mean. Perspectives matter. Some things that should be at least neutral could be ok, good, or horrible where you live ;)

subpixel 5y ago
Gas station food in America is, as a rule, disgusting. The worst are the corporate truck stops that have 2 liter sodas and “cheeseburger” sausages on those greased roller-heaters. That said, in parts of the country you’ll find single stores and regional chains that have things like daily-fresh egg salad sandwiches, non-frozen pizza and (oh god) amazing local beef jerky in a brown paper bag. I’ve lived in Japan and I think for the foreigner the gob-smacking nature of Japanese convenience food is just that it doesn’t suck. On one or two occasions in the US I’ve found gas stations where the owner also sold their own ethnic food: Indian in NC and Ecuadorian in VA. That’s always worth the gamble!
tomw1808 5y ago
FWIW: It's not any different in Austria. I am so happy to that there's McDonalds popping up. But hell, I'd have no problem making a massive detour on ever trip if there was a japanese 7-11 somewhere on the way...

mbrodersen 5y ago

Every time I go to Japan I am blown away by the quality of the food sold in convenience stores. It is way better than most well-known fast food restaurants.

ankaAr 5y ago

Miga sandwich are the same in argentina, half or a third of the price.more than 30 flavors on almost every bakery shop. Or you can buy the sliced bread they use and make your own. One big difference, we don't have the sweet ones.

stuartcw 5y ago

I live in Japan and the one thing I miss about the UK are Marks & Spencer’s sandwiches. If I never had a convenience store sandwich again I wouldn’t be sorry.

sandworm101 5y ago

The big difference is that at a Japanese covenience store i can safely assume i am not going to get food poisioning from a sandwich. Be wary of tightly-wrapped sandwiches at US convenience stores. I imagine tthe "gas station sushi" warning doesnt translate easily. Im sure that the stations in japan serve great sushi.

weikju 5y ago
There have been numerous cases of food poisoning from Japanese conbini food
pkaye 5y ago
I suppose that fact they are 90% bread only on the inside helps reduce that risk of food poisoning.

grozzle 5y ago

I don't think Japanese convenience store sandwiches are that much better than those from Spar, Mace, Tesco, Boots etc in the UK and Ireland, so I have to wonder how bad things are back home for the presumably American intended audience when all these kinds of articles invariably start with something about how shocking it is to even contemplate eating 7-11 food. (Also a bit out of date, the tax is now 10% and must be included in the price printed on the product or shelf.)

TillE 5y ago
UK supermarket sandwiches are horribly mediocre and look nothing like what's pictured in the article.
- robotresearcher 5y ago
  The triangle sandwich of the UK high street is its own unique thing. It’s not particularly good, but it is culturally distinct. I have a soft spot for them. Tuna and sweetcorn; cheese and pickle: these are cultural artifacts. A kiosk at the railway station in Germany will serve you an objectively good sandwich. Why doesn’t someone globalize the EU railway kiosk?
  - toyg 5y ago
    Probably because fresh quality produce costs less on the continent. This said, Upper Crust is that attempt.
- grozzle 5y ago
  eh. Seem on a par, to me. per jnsie's comment elsewhere on this page, perhaps it's just England / the mainland that has bad ones, they're good north and south of the border in Ireland.
- zhte415 5y ago
  As someone with extensive UK sandwich experience, and extensive experience of being victim to sandwiches in the article, bad UK train station sandwiches win hands-down. If you thought the bread was bad, the bread of the Lawson, 7-11, FamilyMart et al is far worse: Anemic, textureless, tasteless. I have no idea how the author could consider 'chewy' as an adjectivein describing it. Fillings are an odd affair. Personally I prefer jam over an out of season strawberry. Fillings are also nothing as appetising as mentioned in the article. A sliver of tasteless ham, trimmed exactly to be on price target with perhaps one half leaf of iceberg lettuce. The port cutlet option nothing like mentioned, more like a few lumps of mainly breadcrumb, the off piece of meat. Hitting a very narrow price range is what these sandwiches are all about. A very very narrow price band. This in true end to end supply chain, and is what Japanese convenience stores Excel at. No produce is on the shelves for a few hours. The microwave rice and noodle dishes are similarly precisely engineered. That there are three and three quarter mushrooms in your dish is no rounding error, that's the exact amount there's supposed to be based on all the costs and associated costs of three and three quarter mushrooms. Saviour your decidedly mediocre UK train station sandwich. You could have far worse. You could have a Lawson or 7-11 one.

nkozyra 5y ago

> In this the flour and water are mixed together, and then cooked which causes the starch in the dough to change structure and become more chewy and gelatinous. > They also usually cut the crusts off for you which, technically makes the sandwich less healthy, I'm confused by this section. They seem to be describing how most bread is made and I'm unsure how crust is healthier ...

skunkworks 5y ago
Tangzhong is when the flour and water are heated together to make a starchy paste which then gets added to the dough. Keeps the bread softer and more hydrated than it would otherwise
chomp 5y ago
It's like a roux sorta kinda - it really does change the texture of the bread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROWxMuu-Zc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROWxMuu-Zc My favorite recipe: https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/shokupan-loaf https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/s...
2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
The Chinese and Japanese have similar methods for pre cooking a portion of the flour and water before making the dough. This helps to give the final bread a fluffier texture. Go to an Asian bakery and compare the bread to say a brioche.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  Is it a similar technique to boiling/steaming a bagel?
  - 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
    Bagels are “fully formed” before you boil or steam them. This paste takes a portion of the water and flour that would be used to make the dough. Then you make the rest of the dough and add the paste back in. I don’t know if there are similar reactions though. But the process is different.

TillE 5y ago

British people love their grocery store sandwiches, but the reality of them is deeply disappointing - even the M&S ones are bland and thin, vastly inferior to what you could get from any deli counter in America. These sandwiches in contrast look a lot more interesting. This is a fun take on travel writing too, exploring simple daily stuff.

Symbiote 5y ago
Packaged sandwiches and ones from the deli counter are two separate things, and I don't think it's fair to compare them. You can buy a bland, packaged sandwich in the USA, and you can go to the deli counter (or more typically, a sandwich shop/café) in Britain.

senectus1 5y ago

> They also usually cut the crusts off for you which, technically makes the sandwich less healthy why? Its just made of the same stuff as the rest of the bread...

webwielder2 5y ago
It’s a myth invented by moms trying to get their kids to eat the crust.
vba616 5y ago
There seems to have been quite a bit written about how anything that's browned during cooking probably creates a certain amount of carcinogenic chemicals. And a substantial amount of litigation and regulation related to this one in particular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide "Although researchers are still unsure of the precise mechanisms by which acrylamide forms in foods,[24] many believe it is a byproduct of the Maillard reaction. In fried or baked goods, acrylamide may be produced by the reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars (fructose, glucose, etc.) or reactive carbonyls at temperatures above 120 °C (248 °F)" It says there was actually litigation over whether coffee should have a Proposition 65 warning in California due to acrylamide, and it was upheld. So clearly, anything that isn't boiled and is baked or fried in any way causes cancer in California at least.
- senectus1 5y ago
  Its so ridiculous I feel I've wasted my time writing how ridiculous it is.
  - vba616 5y ago
    It's important to have a sense of proportion. It seems to be at the level of multi-million-dollar litigation and not multi-billion-dollar litigation. If you were concerned about french fries, there is hope: "Pre-treatment of potato slices by asparaginase prior to frying reduced the acrylamide contents in the processed chips up to 81% compared to untreated control." What the hell is asparaginase? It seems to be a GRAS chemical produced from recombinant E. Coli, used in food manufacturing, because it's...better than acrylamide one assumes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparaginase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparaginase "As a medication, L-asparaginase is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).[3] It is given by injection into a vein, muscle, or under the skin.[3] A pegylated version is also available.[5] In food manufacturing it is used to decrease acrylamide.[4] Common side effects when used by injection include allergic reactions, pancreatitis, blood clotting problems, high blood sugar, kidney problems, and liver dysfunction.[3] Use in pregnancy may harm the baby"

ctime 5y ago

I tend to hit up convenience stores straight away when visiting non-freedomland destinations. Japan takes top honors. I've only been to Tokyo, but staying near shibuja or ropongi hills, the prepared food at 7/11, lawsons, family mart, are just amazing. I also tend to eat at Tesco or Spar in UK/IE (I just don't like eating huge meals alone) and I don't find those sandwiches much better than the US counter-parts (they are likely using the same machines and standard anglo-american components). The article really dives into why the sandwiches are much better, tastier. Mind you I've lived within a block of fairly good Japanize food marts here that have very similar offerings (e.g. Nijiya Market) and would go there to get my fix every few weeks, but the quality and taste really wasn't the same (e.g. the rice wasn't as good and seemed day-old). Really, everything in Japan had my 80's kid brain going nuts with joy. I didn't much like how prevant smoking was (nor getting kicked out of restaurants for not being Japanese), but I'll take the good with the bad (like anywhere). Absolutely amazing place. One of my favorite parts of leaving japan is loading up on the sandwiches/rice balls at the airport - from the 7/11 vending machines in the seating area.. god I love that country.

zanderz 5y ago
Surprised the article didn't mention that you are generally welcome to use the restroom in a Japanese convenience store, which will usually have a spotless toilet with fancy robotic bidet features. At least in Tokyo a few years back, it seemed true of every place you went and it makes American cities seem savage and inhospitable in comparison.
- Auracle 5y ago
  They’re bidet-less but I’v never been to a convenience store without a bathroom in the US - but they’d all be gas stations as well for me. Is that a thing in inner cities? Also, the actual public toilets in Tokyo are some of the worst that I’ve seen. It’s Europe that’s inhospitable, bathroom-wise. First you have to find one, and then you need to pay. I don’t see how that makes business sense to me. If people are stopping to go to the bathroom there’s a good chance they’ll buy something.
- distantaidenn 5y ago

ekianjo 5y ago

The glorification of industrial food? Japanese convenience stores sandwhiches are OK but do not deserve that kind of praise.

swampthinker 5y ago
It’s relative to western convenience store food. Gas station sandwiches are some of the most depressing meals in existence.
- suction 5y ago
  "Western" - have you ever been outside of the US? Also, gas stations are not convenience stores.
  - swampthinker 5y ago
    Yep, European is a step up from American for sure. Still not as good as Japanese ones IMO.
    - suction 5y ago
      European can mean a lot of things. Most of which are better than the crap you're sold in Japan.
- johnwalkr 5y ago
  Ehhh, US gas stations like Wawa and Sheetz are amazing.
com2kid 5y ago
Japanese convenience store egg sandwich's have better quality eggs than anything I can even buy in the US, short of maybe stopping by a local farm.
- kalleboo 5y ago
  Speaking of eggs, the eggs used in the Japanese convenience store bentos are fake https://soranews24.com/2020/01/15/fake-eggs-are-being-used-in-japanese-convenience-store-bentos/ https://soranews24.com/2020/01/15/fake-eggs-are-being-used-i... I wonder if the sandwiches use the "long" eggs that are engineered to reduce the waste when slicing http://blog.livedoor.jp/fox_hunter/archives/51501365.html http://blog.livedoor.jp/fox_hunter/archives/51501365.html

cphoover 5y ago

this post made me unreasonably hungry!

meken 5y ago

I wish konbini was sold in the US. Seems like airport vending machines would be a great place for them.

Lascaille 5y ago
Konbini means 'convenience store.' Are you some sort of GPT-3 bot?
- dang 5y ago
  Would you please stop posting unsubstantive and/or flamebait comments? You've been doing it a lot, unfortunately, and we ban such accounts. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - Lascaille 5y ago
    Maybe you could delete my account. I'd prefer that. I think maybe I have a tendency to argue with people and this just isn't the place for it. Best to remove the temptation. If you aren't going to delete the account and comments could you change the username to something random then ban it? That would work.
    - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
      You should email hn@ycombinator.com. But, you can also basically ban yourself, by turning on noprocrast in your profile and setting a short maxvisit and a ludicrously high minaway.
suction 5y ago
"Konbini" is the type of store, a childish abbreviation of the word "Convenience Store" which is too hard to say for Japanese people.

totetsu 5y ago

I was wanting a sandwich on my way to work this afternoon. I realized that the reason there is no, nice middle level independent bakeries around is that these generic conbini's have cornered the market of grab and go foods. My options were some snooty tongs and tray overpriced but not so nice bakery, flavorless supermarket deli sandwich, or the curst(soul)less conbini.

foolfoolz 5y ago

a lot of people don’t think they are quality in america but sometimes an egg salad sandwich is exactly what you need. i also like the stores that have the pre warmed section with the times written in front of when they were put in

wirthjason 5y ago

These articles always make me conflicted. On one hand the Japanese convenience store is quite good but there’s so much fetishizing about them. In the end it’s just a sandwich, and if you eat enough of them you’ll realize there’s no “magic”. That said the conbini is often the subject of many Japanese food TV shows and I enjoy seeing in-depth programs of how something is made and the creativity in their production. I learned that 7-11’s fried rice is made using real woks with an elaborate setup of robotic arms to toss the rice with the wok and spatula. The length they went though to get the flavor just right is very impressive. On the sandwiches, one of my gripes is that they are often filled in a way that makes them look really plump and full of ingredients when cut in half. But everything is in the center so by by the time you make it to the edge it’s just bread. To me the sandwich is visually appealing but lacks balance and consistency from first bite to the last.

victor106 5y ago
> That said the conbini is often the subject of many Japanese food TV shows and I enjoy seeing in-depth programs of how something is made and the creativity in their production. I learned that 7-11’s fried rice is made using real woks with an elaborate setup of robotic arms to toss the rice with the wok and spatula. The length they went though to get the flavor just right is very impressive. Interesting!!! Do they have an online version of the shows?
novok 5y ago
Japanese konbini food is way better and healthier than convenience store & most cheap fast food in north america. That is what everyone is jealous of and leads to the fanboying. Of course there is better stuff in japan, it's the fact that the super convenience food is way healthier and tastier and better than the cheap shit in many other countries is the key point.
Aeolun 5y ago
The filling thing is something you fall for only once though. After that you know exactly what you are going to get. I still like convenience store sandwiches after 9 years eating them, even if I don’t eat them every lunch any more.

glandium 5y ago

Beware that more often than not, the sandwiches are not as filled as you'd expect. https://soranews24.com/2020/10/23/7-eleven-japans-paper-tiger-sandwich-sparks-online-controversy-over-deceptive-packaging/ https://soranews24.com/2020/10/23/7-eleven-japans-paper-tige... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHgIA1m3wNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHgIA1m3wNo

friedturkey 5y ago
Yeah. I always grab them from behind so I can immediately tell whether or not they’re completely empty bread. Most of the time they are. There’s no magic. They’re just sandwiches that look pretty because they push everything to the very edge.

hackerfromthefu 5y ago

Those look terribly unhealthy. Fun fact, white flour combined with water makes a permanent glue that was used to stick wallpaper to walls. The same highly milled white flour used in the bread on those things. The mayonnaise luckily is not a permanent glue!

unmole 5y ago
> Fun fact, white flour combined with water makes a permanent glue that was used to stick wallpaper to walls. And that is relevant how?
irrational 5y ago
Uh... I assume you don't have a problem with water. It's the white flour you have a problem with, isn't it? I've heard of people who are against white flour and white sugar. Does that describe you?
refurb 5y ago
I mean you can boil tendons and make glue. Are you going to ask to have your tendons removed?

distantaidenn 5y ago

Ugh, I hate articles like this. I'm glad the comments here are pretty grounded. For some reason foreigners feel the need to gush over 7-11 sandwiches -- it's the strangest thing. I wonder if these people just aren't that traveled or come from small towns. First off, the sandwiches just aren't that good. They're mostly bread. The wrapping and cut may make you think the sandwich is overflowing with fillings, but you soon realize it's just all arranged in the front to make it look nice for packaging. The back end of the sandwich is pretty much empty. This made some rounds on Japanese twitter a couple years ago: https://twitter.com/kou17/status/1315447135865769985 https://twitter.com/kou17/status/1315447135865769985 Admittedly, 7's new high protein sandwiches are leagues better, as far as filling is concerned. A little pricier but more fillings and usually served on wheat or a baguette, rather than super soft shokupan. Also, the next time you reach for one of those sandwiches, take a look at the ingredients list. It's pretty damn long for a simple "ham" or "egg" sandwich. As my fiancé put it, Japan food additive regulations just aren't as strict as in America. To paraphrase her, "Japanese companies can put anything in there..." The same way people scoff at the guy reaching for that gas-station sub in America (which I actually kinda miss), she does if I reach for a combini sandwich. Believe it or not, America has pretty extensive food labeling and additive laws compared to other countries. Probably from the trans fat craze a couple decades back. As an alternative to 7-11, Daily Yamazaki (in the mornings) and MiniStop have fresh food made in store: spanning from baked goods and sandwiches to bentos and onigiri.

kaesar14 5y ago
I mean it’s just a better option for that price than you could find in huge swaths of America.
ixtli 5y ago
Ok so the reason I love 7 is because I lived in Tokyo during college and was broke as hell. I LIVED off of that food and in retrospect I was really lucky because if I had been in NYC (where I lived now) I would have been subject to worse tasting and less healthy stuff. It’s nostalgia definitely but objectively better than equivalently priced things in other cities.
- 5y ago

soared 5y ago

I wasn’t aware of the fanfare of sandwiches and it seems odd because there are so many other good options. Even pictured in the article are the rice triangles with seaweed and a filling which I found way better than a sandwich. Lawson also has high quality fried chicken and other hot foods. I’m not sure why you’d choose a white bread sandwich over those options, outside of hipster hype. I’d rather read an article about why Japanese convenience stores are so much better than in other countries, but the answer might be too obvious. I’d also love to read some lore about the ever legendary “pocori sweat”. And the hot canned coffee vending machines.

suction 5y ago
They're crap. Don't trust American weeaboos on anything they say about Japan.

ixtli 5y ago

I go back every once and a while and the second I get to Narita I go straight to the 7/11 and get tuna fish onigiri.

lmiller1990 5y ago

I live in Japan for many years, it's a beautiful country and culture but there is a lot of obsession with the convenience stores. They are neat but the sandwhiches are really nothing special IMO.

kstenerud 5y ago

Sorry, no. Japanese (edit: konbini) sandwiches are made from this disgusting tasteless "bread" that feels like a wet sponge, has about as many nutrients, and is filled with the cheapest ingredients they can get away with. Eat the onigiri, eat the boiled eggs, eat the nikuman, eat the oden or coroket. Hell, eat the convenience store bento or ramen or chicken before you even think about the sandwiches. Or better yet, eat at a place that serves real food.

ngc248 5y ago
Those shrink wrapped sandwiches are equally bad everywhere
davidjytang 5y ago
> Sorry, no. Japanese sandwiches are made from this Surely you meant konbini sandwiches?
- kstenerud 5y ago
  Yes. Actual sandwich shop and restaurant sandwiches are generally fine, although I'm still not really a fan of the bread.
tidenly 5y ago
This! Japanese shokupan bread sandwiches are an insult to the name sandwich. And the ingredients are always the smallest amount they dare put in too. You'd be laughed at in the UK for serving somewhere the same thing.
- freetime2 5y ago
  The filling can be skimpy, but for the price of the sandwich (less than ¥200 typically) I’d say you get what you pay for. Are sandwiches in the UK similarly inexpensive?
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    This is the same price in Tesco, and it's the cheapest they have. They aren't cheating on the filling though, it's even. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/260255657 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/260255657 https://www.allsandwiches.com/tesco-just-ham-sandwich-review https://www.allsandwiches.com/tesco-just-ham-sandwich-review

spike021 5y ago

It's mind-boggling that people in here think some fanfare is unnecessary. People _love_ Taco Bell in America. Why? Because it's healthy? No. Because you get a large portion of food? No. Because you know the filling is even? Nope. Why can't people come to Japan and love conbini sandwiches for what they are? An easy, cheap meal. As someone who isn't a breakfast eater and actually dislikes Toxic (lol) Bell, I love visiting Japan and getting to grab a quick breakfast or morning snack for dirt cheap. A tamago sando, plus a hot bottle of tea, really warm me up and get me going for the day in a different place. Sure the MSG that is likely in the tamago salad helps matters, but why's that an issue? It's odd to see. I have made several friends in Japan who are locals, and most of them enjoy their conbini food as much as I do and are surprised when I show them what we get (or explain what we don't get) here in the US at our convenience stores. It seems lately that there's this anti-foreigner hate thing going on, mostly by expats (?) where it's like non-expats aren't allowed to enjoy things that are common in Japan or something. Clearly in general, sandwiches there are good because otherwise they wouldn't be such a popular item that even many locals will grab on their way to work or a picnic or... Again, mind-boggling.

makeitdouble 5y ago
Reading your comment it reminds me when I was drinking 4 to 5 times a day from the coffee dispenser at my first job. Was it good ? Hell no. Was it cheap ? Actually no, granular coffee would have been cheaper. Was it convenient ? Yes, it was the only hot drink available without going outside and lining at some register. If someone came to me and said “that coffee is awesome, so distinct, why can’t people enjoy it more ?” I’d be dumbfounded. As you say, we shouldn’t brigade people from enjoying what they enjoy, but we shouldn’t be barring people from criticizing what they think is really subpar either. As long as it’s just an opinion and nobody’s feelings are hurt, it shouldn’t matter.
Timpy 5y ago
I'm assuming the author is from the US. Convenience stores in Japan (and Taiwan) fill a niche that's desperately missing in the US: they're actually convenient. I can't get good tasting, cheap, fast, not-unhealthy food anywhere in the US. I'm not saying it's the greatest food of all time, it just sits in a nice spot on the taste/price/convenience/doesn't make you feel like shit when you eat it axis.

franciscop 5y ago

YMMV, yes I agree that the convini sandwich is something to try and the perfect thing for a quick "oops I forgot to prepare anything" picnic in Yoyogi Park. However my main critique is that some times their filling is just a small line across the bread, where the cut showing the contents is, and the rest is basically empty bread. You can see an example of what I mean in this article (it's about Taiwan, but in Japan I've seen way worse): http://jonathanlee.org/2014/02/21/interlude-treachery-7-11-sandwiches/ http://jonathanlee.org/2014/02/21/interlude-treachery-7-11-s... You can also guess it from this side-view; yes the meat is just a strip along the cut edge, the rest is stale-ish bread: https://grapee.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/s-50126_05.jpg https://grapee.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/s-50126_05.jpg It depends on the type of sandwich, so it goes from "always wrong" (like the last pic) to "it really depends" on some others. Normally it's okay though: https://soranews24.com/2020/10/24/25-different-japanese-convenience-store-sandwiches-whats-inside-them%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2020/10/24/25-different-japanese-conv...

SenHeng 5y ago
The main culprit for this really is 7-11, FamilyMart and Lawson are slightly better in this regard.
ayngg 5y ago
I never really thought the sandwiches were anything special, the real gem was the fried chicken, the Famichiki or its equivalent that the other places had. You could grab a couple onigiri and a famichiki for the price of a sandwich and it would be way more satisfying imo.
- poglet 5y ago
  I loved the Oden in winter - despite being unsure how long it had been sitting there. Also went through a phase of getting the アメリカンドッグ 'America Dog'.
Tor3 5y ago
7/11 is mostly a franchise setup in Japan, so things aren't completely uniform. The 7/11 combini I've been visiting over the years doesn't suffer from the empty bread syndrome. This isn't a big city, it's almost rural, don't know if that matters too. When that's said, the sandwiches they prepare in the bread shop in the nearby shopping mall is better, if anything there's too much filling. Anyway, it can never be truly good because it's all 100% white bread wherever you buy it.

vishnugupta 5y ago

Same in the Netherlands at Albert Heijn stores stock a whole range of cooked, ready to eat foods. They taste really good too. People routinely grab sandwich/salad/etc., for lunch. I think other chains (Jumbo etc.,) stock them too but I found Albert Heijn ones to be of much better quality.

whartung 5y ago

I have not been to Japan. I have been to Paris. When I was there, apparently every other store on the block was selling, essentially, ham and cheese sandwiches on a baguette. "Jambon et fromage". They had cases stacked with them. Simply, they were amazing. I wasn't there long, but I ate several of them. In fact, the last meal I had at the airport was one of these sandwiches and it was amazing as well. I can't put my finger on it, was it the ham, the cheese, the bread, "being in Paris", but it's been difficult to find anything comparable here. Our "sub" sandwiches are just not the same as these things. Even the sandwiches at, ostensibly, "french" bistros aren't the same. Maybe it's the water. But, anyway, I know what I'll be eating as soon as I return, whenever that may be.

esyir 5y ago
Every time I hear people rave about paris, I wonder if I saw a completely different world. I found the food mediocre and particularly pricy. Conversely, I found Italy and Spain absolutely amazing for the back then non - affluent student that I was
icelancer 5y ago
I ate a bunch of those in Paris, too. It's the bread, for sure.
bch 5y ago
I feel like I had that experience in Brussels. Its as if the sandwich started with a chance to be perfect, and nothing in that simple construction gave up any demerits.
Someone1234 5y ago
I've had baguettes in France, and I've had baguettes elsewhere and there is really no comparison. Baguettes in France are incredibly soft with thin crunchy shell, whereas supermarket baguettes in the US (and elsewhere) taste like a three-day-old French baguette even the day they're made. You need a very sharp knife to cut them up, they're like rocks. It is very disappointing. In general, it is very hard to find good bakery goods in the US outside of local artisan shops. A lot of people have just come to expect that to be the case (like "of course supermarkets have low quality baked goods!") but that just isn't the case in much of continental Europe, boring supermarkets have amazing bakery stuff. The closest thing I've found to a "basically acceptable" mass-produced (i.e. available almost everywhere) bread in the US is Sara Lee Artesano (white) or Sara Lee Classic Wheat Bread. They aren't sweet or artificial tasting. Taste like a normal €1.20 bread. Unfortunately you are paying a premium compared to standard bread in Europe while tasting comparable. PS - Still never found someone selling tijgerbrood/Dutch Crunch/Tiger bread in the US which is super strange, that stuff is delicious.

maoeurk 5y ago

In Taipei, and Taiwanese cities as far as I've seen, it's the same! The main benefit is just how convenient they are. For example there's a place in Taipei where you can walk to 72 different 7-11s with a 10 minute walk [1] -- and that's just the 7-11 there's tons of FamilyMarts and some smaller stores too. My personal favorite food to get there is the chicken breast and protein drink with 45g or so of protein for about $3.50 USD, great on the way home from the gym. The biggest and strangest difference I've noticed about the difference between Taiwanese and Japanese konbini are that you can't buy vegetarian or vegan onigiri in Taiwan despite there being a ton of vegetarian and vegan people here. My favorite flavors, which are vegan, are only sold in Japan. Also to give more context for the function of konbini in Taiwan (and probably Japan), they're for a lot more than just food: I pay my bills there at the counter, occasionally pick up packages (they act like PO boxes), and print out documents there when I need a printer. So really it's a multi-function store that's open 24/7 with pretty decent food and is on every street. [1]: https://international.thenewslens.com/article/68424 https://international.thenewslens.com/article/68424

gryson 5y ago

A lot of people here in the comments are stating that these sandwiches are a scam because the filling is much less than you are led to believe. That is... true sometimes, but it's also common knowledge among Japanese people, and most people avoid the bad ones. See a pack of three sandwiches at Lawson 100 for dirt cheap? Yeah - avoid those. And this kind of thing is talked about all the time on the Japanese internet. Here's a good showcase of sandwich fillings: https://dailyportalz.jp/kiji/160518196569 https://dailyportalz.jp/kiji/160518196569

gorgoiler 5y ago

In the UK, Tesco brand stores have a similar sandwich made with shredded cheddar, scallions and mayo. It is off-the-charts delicious and if you get lucky you can find it with a yellow label — a discount for food that is approaching its end of life — for 69p. (Shelf life dates are ludicrously conservative. Yellow label basically means the sandwich has been refrigerated for 12 hours.) I recommend washing it down with a Meal Deal including McCoys salt and vinegar crisps and a bottle of fizzy mineral water.

hoyd 5y ago

I'm from Norway. After living in UK ford few years, I noticed that I could not expect to find baked bread that tasted good, had the texture and crust as Norwegian baked bread. I even tried to buy flour and baking myself, but it didn't taste the same at all.

chadcmulligan 5y ago
Maybe its the wheat - apparently there are a lot of varieties, this is about Italian flour but probably applies https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/is-italian-flour-really-better-for-you-673e1e3b14dd https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/is-italian-flour-rea...

sudosteph 5y ago

I have to say I appreciate the simplicity of most of those sandwiches. I've never been to Japan, but from the description I'm reminded of good tomato sandwich or a pimento sandwich. In both cases, I've always found the spongy (cheap) white bread to be the secret, it meshes well with mayo and lets the main ingredient stand out.

docflabby 5y ago

I dont think anyone in England eats supermarket sandwiches because they taste good. They are normally the cheapest ediable option for a filling meal that's not too unhealthy that can be consumed in a 30min lunch break or at a desk...

jrockway 5y ago

Onigiri is a snack I'd like to see catch on in the US. (I'm a fan of pickled plums.) They are fun to open and have a good ratio of flavor, fillingness for $1, and salt.

schoen 5y ago
There's a small chain in the Bay Area that makes them: https://www.onigilly.com/ https://www.onigilly.com/ But I'm thinking this is more of a gourmet/specialty food positioning rather than a mass-market fast food positioning. (The onigiri there are all hand-made to order, not pre-packaged.)

rob74 5y ago

Haven't been to Japan (or any other Asian country that has these sandwiches) yet, but they remind me of something that's pretty common in Europe: tramezzini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramezzino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramezzino). These are also sold packaged in various stores. The bread is basically the same as toast bread, sometimes with the crusts removed, sometimes not. You can eat them cold or toasted (using a special device of coarse, not a regular toaster).

hbarka 5y ago

There must be some universal novelty about food from convenience/convenient locations. My neighbor keeps telling me about the fried chicken from the local gas station mini-mart. He swears it’s the best thing since Popeye’s but I’m not touching that with a ten foot fork.

Shadonototra 5y ago

the same sandwiches as every other countries, just a different packaging color, what's the goal of the post? ultra transformed btw, if you like cancer, eat them!

Symbiote 5y ago

I think 7-Eleven in Denmark needs to be mentioned. The prices aren't comparable (it's significantly more expensive), but the pictures are fairly representative of the products, and they don't short-change you on the filling. (But 43DKK is 740JPY.) https://7eleven.menukitt.dk/restaurant/7-eleven-hellerup https://7eleven.menukitt.dk/restaurant/7-eleven-hellerup Indoor Google Maps photos of one above Nørreport Station in Copenhagen, which has a few photos: https://www.google.com/maps/place/7-Eleven/@55.682304,12.5707726,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNbn3qGeQ_LgkR5dgwjQ0gufDWFUZKLrboZc03u!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNbn3qGeQ_LgkR5dgwjQ0gufDWFUZKLrboZc03u%3Dw397-h298-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m7!3m6!1s0x4652530559266943:0xbfdcd8454699ea27!8m2!3d55.682304!4d12.5707726!14m1!1BCgwKCC9tLzAyd2JtMAE https://www.google.com/maps/place/7-Eleven/@55.682304,12.570...

wodenokoto 5y ago

I think this is a case of grass is greener. A few years ago a Japanese friend visited Denmark and was blown away by the 7-11 food and described it as much better than Japan.

graderjs 5y ago

Hello Sandwich Guide to Japan - https://priorworld.com/editorial/hello-sandwich-guide-to-japan/ https://priorworld.com/editorial/hello-sandwich-guide-to-jap... The Cult of the Sando - https://www.departures.com/archive/travel/in-search-of-japanese-sando https://www.departures.com/archive/travel/in-search-of-japan... Japanese Sandwiches Are Beautiful to Look at and Even Better to Eat - https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-japanese-sandwiches https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-japanese-sandwiche... Wildly popular Japanese sandwich pop-up coming to downtown food hall - https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-08-22-sandoitchi-japanese-sando-sandwich-pop-up-post-market/ https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-08-2...

freetime2 5y ago

A little off topic, but another thing that pleasantly surprised me at 7/11 is that they sell Anker phone accessories. Imagine forgetting a charger on a trip, going into 7/11 out of desperation, expecting to get some generic garbage that may or may not fry your electronics, and being pleasantly surprised to find accessories from an actual reputable brand. Something you will be happy to continue using after your trip. Just one more example where the quality in Japanese 7/11 is surprisingly good.