Lawson Station Egg Sandwich

Anthony Bourdain waxed poetic about the Lawson Egg Sandwich in the Okinawa episode of Parts Unknown. In the posthumous behind the scenes episode it is revealed just how diva Bourdain was willing to get in order to get to the fluffy clouds of goodness that comprise the Lawson iteration of a Japanese classic: the Tamago Sando. I had to know for myself.

While my early trips to Japan, and even current ones, are marked by a great many onigiri rice balls, I had always written off the sandwiches at convenience stores as inauthentic. What I should have known is the Japanese take on anything including an egg salad sandwich would be next level, and much to my surprise it did not disappoint.

The egg and mayo combo that comprises the sandwich filling is indeed fluffy and light. There’s a sweetness to it that is subtle and delicious. The bread too is light, sweet, and crustless — kind of like when your mom would cut the crusts off your sandwich in grade school. Eating the Lawson Egg sandwich is kind of like being cradled by a proverbial maternal instinct in sandwich form.

Local intelligence tells me that choice of sandwich is highly personal and that locals tend to profess their loyalty to one brand or the other. As it turns out Family Mart, 7-11 and Lawson all have their own incarnation of the egg sandwich. I will have to do do a shootout on my next trip.

For now however, the Lawson Egg Sandwich holds a certain bewilderment in my food psyche, and after trying to replicate it at home in Canada I only crave it more. I may have to reverse engineer the sandwich on my next visit as there is a certain je ne sais quoi about the whole thing that just doesn’t make sense. Is it the bread? The texture of the filling? The seasoning?

I have no idea, but I will find the secret.

Read more TRAVEL NOTES from Chris Stenberg.

The Unnatural, Inexplicable Deliciousness of the Lawson’s egg salad sandwich #Tokyo @PartsUnknownCNN pic.twitter.com/g5MxQ7BSRC

— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) November 4, 2013