The Lobster Dance

Part 4: Turkey and Vegetarian Sandwiches in Marunouchi

I love turkey, and I don’t just mean for Thanksgiving. I don’t think I realized just how much turkey I used to eat in the States until I moved here. Sure,  I could make chicken sandwiches, provided I get the right kind of bread at the store (ha). But nothing is like going to the nice grocery store by my old apartment and getting a quarter-pound of hand-sliced Michigan-raised turkey to make turkey sandwiches with real cheese and real bread.

Sigh.

I was back in the US briefly last week, and I think I managed to eat turkey almost once a day, including some very nice turkey my mother roasted and sliced up herself.

I won’t be ordering a turkey on the Foreign Buyers’ Club this year, for fear that  a 4-lb bird will not fit in my oven range. (Never mind that I have never cooked a whole bird.) However, I did find a sandwich shop in Marunouchi, Tokyo, that serves not only turkey “burgers” but also a decent selection of vegetarian sandwiches.

The Pantry (by Homework’s) is located inside the Shin-Tokyo Building in Marunouchi, a small district next to Ginza in Tokyo. The shop was cozy and reminded me of an American sandwich place. Although Pantry bills itself as a hamburger place, I was surprised at how extensive the menu was, and pleased to see the number of non-hamburger sandwiches. I was tempted to order the falafel or one of the other vegetarian sandwiches for the sheer novelty of it, but I decided on the turkey burger for this meal.

I think the term turkey “steak” would have been more appropriate in this situation. To me, a turkey burger is a burger made of ground turkey, but this sandwich was more like a piece of turkey breast flattened into a uniform consistency and grilled. I’m not complaining at all, but I was expecting a certain texture for the patty.

The sandwich was the perfect size. I really dislike eating out in Japan because of the lack of doggy bags. I shouldn’t be eating a 1/2 pound hamburger or a platter of yakisoba, so I get annoyed with the lack of carry-out containers AND the insistence on serving 2-meals’ worth of food in a lot of the mid-range restaurants I visit. I dislike wasting food, but I travel alone a lot, so I can’t always split a meal with a friend. I want doggy bags and/or smaller portions! This turkey sandwich was on a regular-sized bun–not oversized, and the meat and the vegetables all fit nicely. There were some waffle fries, too, but not too many. I felt very happy with the size of my meal, though it was a bit expensive for the amount of food.

Although I’m very down about missing all the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey this year, I’m glad I found a place in Tokyo where I can go for a good-sized turkey sandwich. It’ll have to do until I repatriate, since, unlike peanut butter and falafel and cereal, meat is more difficult to order online and can’t be mailed or brought by suitcase.

Aside from seeing my friends and family and moving back to a non-rural location, the thing I am most looking forward to about repatriating might be making and eating turkey sandwiches for lunch several times a week.

And then I’m sure I’ll just spend my days dreaming about all the good, cheap tofu and kabocha I used to eat. I can’t win.

Access

ザ・パントリー (The Pantry)
東京都千代田区丸の内3-3-1 新東京ビル　１Ｆ

Tokyo-to Chiyoda-ku Marunouchi 3-3-1
Shin-Tokyo Building, 1st floor

Tel. 03-5221-8666

5-minute walk from JR Yurakucho Station (ＪＲ有楽町) and Hibiya Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (地下鉄日比谷線日比谷駅).
10-minute walk from JR Tokyo Station (ＪＲ東京駅)

Hours
Monday – Friday 11:00-21:30 (last order at 21:00)
Saturday, Sunday, and holidays 11:00-18:30 (l.o. 18:00)

Closed on 12/31 and 1/1 for New Year’s.

Price
~1000-2000 yen. Sandwiches with fries start at 900 yen.

Takes credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express).

Menu is bilingual (Japanese and English).

Map
Google
The Pantry’s website

Websites
The Pantry
Tabelog