I have friends in Tokyo and there are tons of great places to eat, so I go there regularly. I usually take the shinkansen, but this time, for a change, I tried traveling by sleeper train. You leave in the evening and arrive in the morning, so it takes about 12 hours. I gave it a go thinking there might be some of that old train-travel romance to it, and it was actually pretty nice. My body felt less worn out, too.
Ekiben on the evening of departure
If you leave in the evening, the good ekiben are already sold out, so your options get really narrow. What I picked was an assorted bo-zushi box and a Suntory The Premium Malt’s. It’s mackerel and trout, and as you’d expect from a local specialty, it tastes outstanding. This area is famous for both its rice and its seafood, after all. Some of you might not know this, but you’re supposed to peel off the kelp on the outside before eating. The fish is nice and thick, which makes it top-class bo-zushi. My new camera handles high ISO well, so I cranked the ISO all the way up, and the shots came out nicely. The white balance is spot on, too. It’s not cheap, but I really liked it.
The view from the window
Watching the scenery go by while lying down has its own special fun. It felt very different from any trip I’d taken before.
The sun going down
Since it’s a conventional line rather than a bullet train, I think I could just relax and enjoy the journey. On the shinkansen the scenery flashes by in no time.
After finishing the trip safely, I caught the train leaving Tokyo Station the next evening. Strictly speaking I should be posting things in order, but this part is so short that I’m putting it all together in one post.
Of course I couldn’t not buy an ekiben, right? But it was past 9, so there were hardly any decent ekiben left.
Dominique Saibron, which caught my eye in a moment of crisis
I’d vaguely heard rumors that famous bakeries were popping up one after another in Tokyo, especially around Isetan in Shinjuku, but I never imagined that Dominique Saibron, the well-known French bakery, had opened in the basement of Tokyo Station. It almost makes me angry. How does it even make sense that the bakery inside a train station is Dominique Saibron?!
Uniqlo
They were having some kind of sale. People were buying a lot.
Souvenir shops
Around here I bought Taimeiken’s omurice ekiben. Honestly, I wasn’t really in the mood for omurice, but all the other bento were sold out, so I had no choice.
Inside the sleeper car
This is how small the space is. If you pay more you can travel a bit more comfortably, but I was happy with this. I’m small, so it’s really convenient at times like this.
Chestnut pastry
I forgot its exact name, but who knew it would be this good! There’s no longer any reason to go all the way to Kobe for Est Royal’s Marron Gascogne. The crisp pastry, the perfect chestnut cream… it felt like looking at the very standard of what good bread should be. At this level it would hold its own anywhere in the world. It made me wonder even more seriously whether a station bakery should be allowed to be this good.
Apple pie
Lightly caramelized sweet apple with a pistachio-like nut mixed in, so it’s nutty and has real bite. And the pastry is flaky, of course. The apple pie I’d had at A Tes Souhaits the day before was pretty extraordinary, so it did overshadow this one a little, but this is still first-class work.
Croissant
A breathtakingly good croissant. It’s pretty much at the very top of all the croissants I’ve ever eaten. Echire’s croissant was delicious too, but where that one has a strong butter flavor, this one is slightly salty and tastes of the baked bread itself. I’d like to call it the ideal croissant. Who knew Dominique Saibron was this good… Next time I’ll have to visit the main shop. And sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat any croissant below this level with a smile ever again.
Taimeiken’s omurice ekiben
At 1,200 yen it feels a bit pricey, but the quality was very high. Actually, what I originally wanted was Jojoen’s yakiniku bento, but it was already sold out, so I had no choice.
It follows the main restaurant’s style almost exactly.
The crab cream croquette was tasty, and the famous coleslaw tastes just like it does at the main restaurant.
The soft, runny omelette is as good as ever.
The rice was good and I had no big complaints, but it’s a shame I couldn’t heat it up. Next time I’ll go a bit earlier and buy a freshly made bento at GranSta.
And that was the end of this trip. I’ll post about the places I visited along the way soon. Sorry for not posting them in chronological order.