Japanese convenience store releases a new bento sandwich, but is it better than a bento rice ball?

“Built-in” bentos are currently transforming the konbini food scene.

Unprecedented events are currently occurring in the convenience store world, at least according to our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma, who says this is the first time he’s felt such excitement while browsing the aisles. The reason for Masanuki’s excitement is the fact that he no longer has to use chopsticks while eating a bento boxed lunch because now not one but two convenience store chains have packaged up their bentos for handheld convenience.

In April, Lawson packed an entire bento into a rice ball, which he absolutely loved, and it was so popular that it was re-released on 1 October due to popular demand. On this same day, Family Mart released a new “Bento Sandwich“, which packs a whole bento inside two slices of bread, and it turned everything Masanuki thought he knew about bentos and sandwiches on its head, so there was only one thing for it — a new-style bento showdown.

▼ Masanuki headed to both chains where he picked up the new Bento Sandwich at Family Mart…

▼…and the “Whole Mentai Noriben” onigiri rice ball from Lawson.

A quick overview of the ingredients revealed that this was going to be a filling taste test, with the sandwich described as a “Bento Sandwich with all the Side Dishes” and the onigiri containing an entire noriben, consisting of tartar sauce, okaka gohan (rice with bonito flake seasoning) fried white fish, fried chikuwa (Japanese fishcake), rolled omelette, and nori seaweed, with a layer of mentaiko (spicy pollock roe) for extra flavour.

Looking closer at the ingredients in the sandwich, Masanuki noticed that this too seemed to contain familiar bento ingredients, with fried chicken, fried chikuwa, croquettes, fried noodles, and tartar sauce in the mix. At 338 yen (US$2.27) it was slightly more expensive than the rice ball, which retails for 322 yen.

▼ Placing these unconventional bentos side by side filled Masanuki with a sense of excitement.

Describing them as “built-in bentos”, Masanuki wasn’t sure which one would win his favour as they both looked incredibly appetising. Picking up the sandwich first, he took a bite and chaos spread throughout his palate.

The more he chewed, the more the flavours burst out, confusing his senses in an odd but delightful way. Though the onigiri rice ball had a similar effect when he tried it, there was a clear difference between the two — the depth of the seasoning.

The onigiri was surprisingly modest in flavour, but the bread in the sandwich was richly seasoned, as was every ingredient inside it, with the fried chicken, croquettes and yakisoba noodles coated in a variety of delicious sauces.

The only thing providing some refreshment from the rich flavours was the seaweed, but it too had been fried, resulting in all the ingredients fighting for dominion over Masanuki’s palate. It was chaotic but Masanuki was totally fine with that as it was incredibly delicious, and the more he ate it, the more he found himself becoming addicted to the flavour.

After eating both “built-in” bentos, Masanuki came to the conclusion that they were both winners, in different ways. The sandwich offers a Western twist on the Japanese bento, swapping out rice for bread so it’s more of an out-there experience, while the rice ball is more like stuffing a whole bento into your mouth all at once.

Both are delicious and of excellent quality, though, so he highly recommends trying them to see which one appeals to you most. With convenience store chains now rethinking the traditional bento, who knows where they’ll take us to next? Whatever happens, though, one thing’s for sure — Masanuki will be there to try them, because no matter what time of day it is, he never lets a good meal pass him by.

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