It turns out the Japanese know their way around the humble sandwich. This fact didn’t come from a posh club sandwich from a swanky hotel, or a juicy burger from one of the many amazing steakhouses, but from a convenience store. The sandwiches in Japan’s many, many, 7-Elevens were sublime. We first came across them when we grabbed a couple one morning on the way to get a Shinkansen. The European, a long-time critic of my fondness for trash Tesco sandwich meal deals, was swift to point out that this supermarket sandwich was vastly superior, and I had to begrudgingly agree. My ham and cheese sandwich was generously filled, with the white milk bread being fluffier than a cloud. The European had a classic pork cutlet sandwich (you see people eating these a lot), which came with the same bread and stuffed with the fattest, most tender cutlet in the history of ever. It sounds a little anoraky, but I was particularly in awe with how the whole cutlet wouldn’t slip out as you took a bite.
Sandwich perfection was prevalent. To be honest, the only bad sandwich we had was an exceptionally odd soy sauce hamburger we tried during our SINGLE VISIT to McDonald’s. It was too salty even for The European, who basically salts food like Aemilianus salted the ruins of Carthage. There were good burgers too. In Arashiyama, home of the bamboo forest, near Kyoto, I tried Upit’s Burger’s ‘Lava Plate’. This wonderful monstrosity was a bacon and cheese burger, covered in more melted cheese and set on fire somehow (high octane unleaded?). It was a glorious feast, a welcome change from the noodles and rice that had defined the vacation so far.
Japan might have burgers and Tesco sandwiches but where the country truly steps into its own are breakfast breads and sandwiches, which are on a different level. One particular stand out example was the ‘Hotsand’, found at Streamer Coffee Company in Osaka, a café only a few steps away from our hotel and Elk, where we enjoyed the fluffy pancakes only a day earlier. Thick white bread was lightly toasted and stuffed to within an inch of its life with bacon and a fluffy omelette, before being wrapped in foil, à la N.Y.C. We enjoyed them with the best cortados I have had this side of the Prime Meridian and a freshly baked brownie.
I still think of the Hotsand and 7-Eleven. Only fond memories, but they did kind ruin sandwiched in the U.K. for me, forever. Thanks?
The food thing. 
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