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Traveling with taste: Try one of Tokyo Station’s top ten ranked ekiben

Krista Rogers Jan 15, 2025
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Next time you’re passing through, keep an eye out for one of these station bento to treat yourself during your travels.

“All trains lead to Tokyo Station” feels like a fairly accurate assessment of Japan’s busiest station in terms of daily scheduled train departures. As the major hub for many of Tokyo’s most important train, metro, and Shinkansen bullet train lines, there’s a good chance that any visitor to Japan’s capital city will visit Tokyo Station at some point in their travels. Its status as a “convergence point” makes the station an excellent central location to pick up souvenirs, especially of foodstuffs, that are representative of individual prefectures and Japan as a whole.

Food review publication Monoqlo Gourmet recently leaned into this angle for a feature in its February issue, which went on sale on December 19. Three ekiben (“station bento”) experts selected the top ten most delicious ekiben out of 110 offerings that are purchasable within Tokyo Station from throughout the entire country that make use of famous local ingredients. The ekiben featured within the ranking can currently be found at six different merchants within the station, as pictured below.

▼ [Clockwise] Gransta Tokyo Delizone, Ekibenya Matsuri, Ekibenya Odori, Ekibenya Matsuri Select, Ekibenya Shinkansen Minami Norikae-guchi, and Hanagataya

For the ranking, each offering received a final score out of 100 points, with entries receiving bonus points if they cost 1,000 yen (US$6.34) or less. Next time you’re hungry and passing through Tokyo Station, be on the lookout for one of these meals to make your travels all the more delicious!

Top 10 Tokyo Station Ekiben

● 9th place [tied at 90.5/100 points]
Banjo Honten Tokusen Kanimeshi (番匠本店特選かにめし)
Fukui Prefecture / 1,500 yen

● 9th place [tied at 90.5/100 points]
Shinkineya Gyuniku Domannaka (新杵屋牛肉どまん中)
Yamagata Prefecture / 1,480 yen

● 7th place [tied at 91/100 points]
Tsugaru Sozai Tsugaru Menkoi Kaiseki Bento Hitokuchi Darake (つがる惣菜津軽めんこい懐石弁当ひとくちだらけ)
Aomori Prefecture / 1,500 yen

● 7th place [tied at 91/100 points]
Kiyoken Yokohama Pilaf (崎陽軒横濱ピラフ)
Kanagawa Prefecture / 730 yen

● 6th place [92.3/100 points]
Hakuyoken Hakuyoken no Enburi Engawa-zushi (伯養軒伯養軒の炙りえんがわずし)
Miyagi Prefecture / 1,600 yen

Let’s take a look at the top five ekiben in a bit more depth.

● 4th place [tied at 92.8/100 points]
Fukumameya Nori Noriben (福豆屋海苔のりべん)
Fukushima Prefecture / 1,200 yen

The main standouts of this ekiben are its namesake nori seaweed, okaka (finely shaved bonito flakes mixed with soy sauce), and shiso-flavored konbu. Bits of grilled salmon with the perfect amount of fattiness and a dashi-seeped rolled omelet complement the rest.

● 4th place [tied at 92.8/100 points]
Minamoto no Tabimeshi Burikama Benizuwai-gani Shiraebi (源の旅めしぶりかま紅ずわい蟹白えび)
Tokyo Prefecture / 1,550 yen

As soon as you lift the lid off this box, you’ll be struck by the large piece of yellowtail (buri) resting on the bed of rice. It’s deliciously fatty with a pleasant soy sauce flavor. Under the fish are sweet-and-sour pickled sweet shrimp (shiraebi) tempura and pickled red snow crab (benizuwai-gani) flakes. You can’t find a more luxurious sea-themed ekiben if you try.

● 2nd place [tied at 93.3/100 points]
Hanazen Torimeshi Bento (花善鶏めし弁当)
Akita Prefecture / 980 yen

If you’ve got a craving for tender chicken, this chicken-and-rice ekiben elevates its individual ingredients to the highest possible level. The chicken is marinated in a salty sweet sauce and the rice is cooked in a chicken dashi broth. Candied chestnuts and minced egg serve as the meal’s perfect accents.

● 2nd place [tied at 93.3/100 points]
Kiyoken Shumai Bento (崎陽軒シウマイ弁当)
Kanagawa Prefecture / 950 yen

All three of the expert ekiben reviewers highly praised the quality of the rice in this ekiben. Each of the small bites also gives off main dish energy, including the shumai, bamboo shoots boiled in dashi, and tuna broiled with soy sauce. As a bonus, it’s the least expensive of the top five ekiben.

● 1st place [94.3/100 points]
Banjo Honten Otona no Yaki Saba-zushi (番匠本店おとなの焼き鯖寿し)
Fukui Prefecture / 1,430 yen

Edging out the rest of the field is this grilled mackerel (saba) sushi ekiben. Monoqlo Gourmet noted that grilled mackerel in an ekiben is a bit unusual compared to the more commonly seen marinated mackerel, and its grilled fragrance paired with rich umami flavor come near to perfection. A hint of wasabi in the rice adds the heavenly final touch.

Sampling all of the above ekiben should give you plenty of reasons to visit Tokyo Station. Once you’ve tried all of them, never fear, because Tokyo’s Shinagawa Station has its own top ten ranking of ekiben waiting for you to try as well.

Source, images: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
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