Romancecar Bento Box

[scott]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VSE-Bento.JPG

[Guest ___]

Looks better than the station bento at Shinjuku.

[Martijn Meerts]

Looks like a children's bento

[Claude_Dreyfus]

On a similar culinary theme...

 

This was photographed at Tokyo central last May... It was on the stall beside the bento boxes.

 

Nothing quite like a bento box and a glass of sake, passing Mount Fuji on a series 700 bullet... ;D

[Guest ___]

I know railfans who are Japanese who are totally in to station bento, thoguh I've never tried one. Always thoguht the price to be a tad too steep, and when I travel, food budget is the first thing I tend to cut down.

[cteno4]

man station bentos rule! so much fun trying different stations, they all have their specialties and unique dishes. really enjoyed the surprise. not cheap but not horrible especially when on the run and having to schlep bags. alternate train food ends up being spaghetti sandwiches or irradiated hotdogs with mayo from lawsons!

 

what i missed on the last trip was the train bentos, they are almost gone. when i was there in 1990 all the shinkansens seemed to have the cruising ladies and their carts. i really got hooked on the sandwich pack as a snack. one tuna, one cucumber, and one some sort of pink cream cheese.

 

i saw some kids shiro boxes that looked fun, but was too chicken to buy the kids box as the food definitely looked like something very odd (ie pink sandwiches and dark brown balls of some sort!).

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[bikkuri bahn]

I know railfans who are Japanese who are totally in to station bento, thoguh I've never tried one. Always thoguht the price to be a tad too steep, and when I travel, food budget is the first thing I tend to cut down.

 

Yes, sampling station bentos around Japan is actually recognized as a sub-category of railfanning in Japan.  I think there are even books on the subject.

[Guest ___]

man station bentos rule! so much fun trying different stations, they all have their specialties and unique dishes. really enjoyed the surprise. not cheap but not horrible especially when on the run and having to schlep bags. alternate train food ends up being spaghetti sandwiches or irradiated hotdogs with mayo from lawsons!

 

what i missed on the last trip was the train bentos, they are almost gone. when i was there in 1990 all the shinkansens seemed to have the cruising ladies and their carts. i really got hooked on the sandwich pack as a snack. one tuna, one cucumber, and one some sort of pink cream cheese.

 

i saw some kids shiro boxes that looked fun, but was too chicken to buy the kids box as the food definitely looked like something very odd (ie pink sandwiches and dark brown balls of some sort!).

 

cheers,

 

jeff

 

LOL, I never thoguht of ya Jeff as being a bento otaku. :P

[cteno4]

It was a simple and fun treat to sample stuff, very easy. sometimes finding the unique cuisine of town took some doing. the train food use to be very comforting since, in my experience in 1990, it seemed pretty standardized across jr. kind of like eating at dennys or macds, no matter where you went it you knew pretty much what you were to get and how it would taste... hence the love of the sandwich box as when traveling for 5 weeks in 1990 i was very adventurous with food as i roamed around (i just roamed no fixed tour or real plan, just jr pass in hand) and i was always jumping back on a train and i could then get something a big more sedate, known and comforting. they were cheap too, i think 150yen then for the sandwich box. i also dont remember the lawsons food being so extensive or standardized as it seemed in 2004.

 

so i would not classify myself as a bento otaku, but a bento adventurer maybe!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

It was a simple and fun treat to sample stuff, very easy. sometimes finding the unique cuisine of town took some doing. the train food use to be very comforting since, in my experience in 1990, it seemed pretty standardized across jr. kind of like eating at dennys or macds, no matter where you went it you knew pretty much what you were to get and how it would taste... hence the love of the sandwich box as when traveling for 5 weeks in 1990 i was very adventurous with food as i roamed around (i just roamed no fixed tour or real plan, just jr pass in hand) and i was always jumping back on a train and i could then get something a big more sedate, known and comforting. they were cheap too, i think 150yen then for the sandwich box. i also dont remember the lawsons food being so extensive or standardized as it seemed in 2004.

 

so i would not classify myself as a bento otaku, but a bento adventurer maybe!

 

Ironically enough, you step foot in to a Metro station with a Snickers, or a banana, WMATA police will taze ya, then whomp your arse with a nightstick until the shift change where then the next shift picks up where the last shift left off.

[cteno4]

 

Ironically enough, you step foot in to a Metro station with a Snickers, or a banana, WMATA police will taze ya, then whomp your arse with a nightstick until the shift change where then the next shift picks up where the last shift left off.

 

yes but you imagine if we allowed food on commuter trains here in our culture? I like to give the public respect in my public exhibits by not bullet proofing things as it almost always results in folks not messing with things (if you do harden it it seems to just piss those folks off that might think of doing something and they do it, plus it costs gobs of money, pain to design and looks awful), but our culture seems to have a hole in the brain about not dropping trash or picking it up if they see it. totally different in japan so they dont have to do this. i keep waiting for the news article of roomba type robots to be patrolling jr stations and streets!

 

i am always amused/saddened/shocked at the funny looks i get when i will walk over, pick up someone else's trash on the ground and put it in the can. actually had folks give comments like 'what are you a boy scout' or 'thats someone else's job to do that'. i just smile politely at them and say good day and walk on, usually leaves them sputtering, but i hope made them think about their attitude more than if i tried to retort something back at them.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

That's why there's no trash cans on public streets in japan. Trash cans breed trash (and thus littering) With that said, I can imagine if we allowed food on commuter trains, it would look like a garbage bin. I remember the days when PATransit allowed food and drinks on the buses and trolleys. It accompanied the graffiti and the swear words etched in to the backs of the seats very well.  :D