Train station Bento meals are the best!
 

I really like the train station bento meals!
They are so awesome!
Really tasty, not too expensive, comes in a handy and sometimes cute packaging.
Tons of choices too.

The beef bento meals are superb!
Had a couple on my recent trip and they were all really good.

If I live in Japan, I would be having those train bento meals all the time.
:)

Yeah, loved them on my first Japan trip - until I discovered other great food options, like food stalls at fish markets, tiny noodle shops, or sushi places where the chef makes sushi in front of you.

My own experience with bento was quite frustrating, because the first bento box I ever tried in japan had some kind of smoked(?) squid - amazingly tasty. No other bento I tried since ever came close - so at some point, I stopped trying.

Aren't the same bento boxes available at supermarkets etc. for about half the price anyway?

Train station bentos tend to offer regional food specialties and can also be seasonal. [MENTION=8399]cockpitvisit[/MENTION]- If you remember which station you bought the bento or have a picture of it/wrapping, we may be able to identify it.

Train station bentos "ekiben" are not the same as supermarket bentos and are meant to be a special train treat. I don't believe passengers often buy them at the train station upon arrival to eat at home? You can get a similar high end bento from a department store or if you're happy with sauced beef option, beef sandwiches or beef on rice are also available at restaurants. Ekiben should be eaten at seats with tray tables on Shinkansen, limited express or the odd sightseeing train (esp. those with a small cafe/food push cart service if they allow outside food) and not on bench style commuter trains.

In all my visits and all the eki-bens I consumed, I can honestly say that not a single one contained fish heads.

I occasionally purchase a bento at a konbini or supermarket when there is little time or energy to go out for a meal. Eki-ben are almost always more enjoyable because I make it a point to find the regional specials. YMMV.

This was many years ago - I think I bought it at Shin-Osaka.

Yep, that's what I did - ate them on Shinkansen :)

Really? Not even as part of a whole (small) fish, sometimes meant to be eaten with the rest of the fish? You've missed out, yum!

Was the box shaped like a squid?
https://ameblo.jp/ekibenkansai/entry-11977487786.html
https://minamikata.exblog.jp/22987285/

This one isn't currently listed http://www.awajiya.co.jp/prod/prod_129.htm on the Awajiya ordering page ‰w•Ù

Marinated octopus seems to appear in several Shin-Osaka bentos.

You might also like firefly squid season near Toyama if you like squid https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/20...est-go-source/

Mmm. Fish heads. I've had the small fish as an ekiben side dish but never anything large. Is there an ekiben that's like a large kama or something? I'd probably travel there to eat one :)

You do not have to eat ekiben in the train. :) Actually, it is quite common that local commenters to buy ekiben at a station on a way home.

Go through a station on a way home and it is convenient, do not have to detour to somewhere to pick up dinner. I done it more than few times, called and said I will pick up few ekiben on a way home and let's make that a dinner.

I don't mean to rain on the ekiben parade, but I personally think most ekibens are overpriced with mediocre taste.
Konbini bentos are much cheaper, overall tastier. I think those have captured a significant share of in-train meals. However, I'm also down on konbini bentos in general for other reasons (preservatives, oily, cheaper ingredients), so I tend to not go for those myself.

I personally like to pop in and round up bunch of items a la carte at a depachika or ekinaka for ~1500yen instead of spend that on an ekiben that I don't 100% love.
You won't find a better ekiben onigiri than Omusubi Gonbei, or better ekiben korokke than Kobe Korokke.
Of course the advantage of an ekiben is the convenience.
But if I'm about to board a bullet train at Shinagawa and am in a rush, I pop into the station ekinaka (Ecute) where you can get a bento (as opposed to ekiben) to go real quick from reputable restaurant brands like Nadaman and Tsubame Grill.

Whilst I’m not totally down with konbini bento (although I think they have improved in taste and texture enormously in recent years), for the rest of it, I have to admit that I’m with [MENTION=638900]evergrn[/MENTION] about bento elsewhere being generally better than those at, say, Ekibenya Matsuri in Tokyo Station, which I also found overpriced and mediocre. My go to for train snacks in the Tokyo area are the shumai from Kiyoken*.
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There are always going to be ekiben gems, but it’s too much of a lottery to stumble on them.
I’ve had much better luck with ekinaka and nearby depachika (which are often close enough to be attached to station complexes).

Best bento we had this trip were from the ecute in Tachikawa which we picked up for our hanami in Showa Kinen Koen. I’d forgotten what the prices were but I can see that the rectangular bento with the bamboo shoot topped rice was 780yen. (The other, shown alone, had no rice and was under 900yen.) LapGirl chose the round omurice type option and proclaimed it delicious.


*Kiyoken do make delicious bento, but these seem easier to find in a depachika than in an Ekibenya.

Ekiben (bento sold at train stations) and Soraben (bento sold at airports) often use local ingredient and tend to be more hand made rather than mass produced by machine, where bento sold at Konbini (convenience stores) are often more generic and mass produced at a company central facility. I do make use out of Depachika (デパ地下, department basement food courts) and also Depachika is my go to place if I want to get a nice confectionary/snack/sweet gift to somebody.

On business trip Ekiben became common for a meal. Before getting on Shinkansen at Tokyo or Shinagawa grab Ekiben at a station, have early/late lunch on Shinkansen and go to the business meet, not to waste time for meal that way. Also, quick 5 min. lunch at a train station stand up noodle shop (立ち食いそば、うどん) also is pretty common while out on business. My Japanese coworkers are pretty much same way.

I don't go to fancy places like most FTers do. :p I am more of B-Kyu Groumet (B級グルメ) type of a guy. :D

Good ekibens are purchased from specialty shops, found only inside major stations. Or better yet, take-out from different shops and assemble your own. In 2nd tier city main stations, there are often food courts inside or attached to the station and that's where I go.

Those sold at convenience stores or ekiben counters are quite terrible.

Piggybacking on this, any specific recommendations for either Hakata, Himeji, or Kyoto station shops (if available)? I'm expecting that we'll be picking up some form of bento before boarding the shinkansen at these locations when we travel next month. I know that there is an Isetan depachika connected to Kyoto station and a Hankyu at Hakata station, so will likely head there unless we find something more specific.