Recent Reviews
Located on the 2nd floor (ticket gate level) on the south side of Shinjuku Station. The inventory dwindles significantly at night, leaving a limited selection and a somewhat desolate feeling. Perhaps they strategically order popular bento boxes in ample quantities, while allocating all their wide-ranging orders to the morning and afternoon hours. Considering that the concept of ekiben (station bento) is primarily for lunch, and people typically use trains to travel outside the city for meals during the day and return to Shinjuku in the evening, it's understandable that the bento inventory would be depleted by night. Despite the limited selection, they still have some hearty meat-based options available in the evening, making it tempting to grab one for a quick dinner. However, the portions aren't particularly large, so it's not the most cost-effective choice. It's more of a 'treat yourself' kind of experience. And sometimes, you end up feeling a bit conflicted because you're still hungry after getting home and having to eat again.
I bought some pressed mackerel sushi to eat on the Azusa Limited Express. There were other similar types of sushi like persimmon leaf sushi and whole mackerel sushi, but I had never tried this one before, and I thought it would be interesting to eat sushi from Ofuna Station on the Chuo Line. I forced myself to think that station bento are more about the journey than the taste, and ate the dry mackerel.
While waiting to transfer to the Azusa Limited Express at Shinjuku Station, I came across this place. There were many other ekiben (train station bento boxes) available, but I was drawn to this one because it was easy to eat and it was a tempura musubi (rice ball with tempura) from a soba noodle shop. The tempura musubi, with its delicious broth, was the perfect companion for my train journey.
I bought this bento box before transferring to the Super Azusa train! It's definitely a bento box, so it was a little cold. The taste was good even though it was cold, but I thought it was a bit pricey.
I usually visit this place when I'm transferring trains, just to see what they have. It's great that they have so many delicious bento boxes from different regions. Just looking at them is fun. I went around 8 PM on a Sunday and they had a 200 yen discount on the mackerel pressed sushi and the chicken bento, so I bought them. The chicken bento was reliably delicious. There wasn't anything particularly outstanding about it, it was kind of plain, but everything was tasty. I understand why the Emperor Emeritus liked it. The dried tomatoes on top of the chicken rice, the pickles, the classic, delicious karaage, and the small smoked cheese were all good. The portion size was just right, not too much and not too little. It was the kind of bento I wanted to eat with beer. The other bento I got, the Ofuna-ken mackerel pressed sushi, came in a plastic container. In the past, it came in a paper box, and the rice would stick together, which wasn't ideal. This new container makes it much easier to eat. The mackerel, which was tightly packed, and the red vinegar rice were delicious. The rice was a little hard, but maybe that's because it had been sitting out for a while. It's a classic flavor that has been loved for years, and I was able to enjoy it fully.