Tasty Japanses Style Sandwiches

Hey everyone!
Let's talk about sandwiches. Specifically, Japanese-style sandwiches. I know that there are strong feelings when it comes to sandwiches. A few Ibarakians I have talked to have told me about their, shall we say, disagreement. with Japanese-style sandwiches. They tell me about magical sandwiches like a Ruben or a meatball sub from back home. If you are looking for those kinds of sandwiches, this post is not for you. This post is about white squared bread Japanese sandwiches that have a lot of interesting and crazy stuff in the middle. Normally, we grab our Japanese-style sandwiches from convenience stores like Family Mart or Lawson. Those sandwiches can cure hunger, but in my opinion, I always found them lacking. That is why whenever I find a Japanese sandwich shop that is solely dedicated to making sandwiches, I get excited. I got excited a few weeks ago when I was finally able to visit my town's specialty sandwich shop. Today, I will be talking about Tsuchiura's very own Sandwich Shop Tsujiya.

Sandwich Shop Tsujiya

Sandwich Shop Tsujiya is a sandwich shop (obviously) that is located in the Manabe area of Tsuchiura City. Tsujiya has been around for quite a while. They used to be a tiny take-out only sandwich shop. Thanks to all the local customers, the shop was able to expand and build this new huge shop. I believe this location has been open for only a year or two.
If you decide to drive to Tsujiya or bike there, there are a few parking spaces next to the sandwich shop. That is what we did when we visited Tsujiya. We were on our way to my wife's hometown when we decided to grab some sandwiches for the road ahead. We parked our car and headed inside.

Inside

Walking into Tsujiya, you are greeted with a class counter full of sandwiches. The customer would go up to that counter, pick out his or her sandwich or sandwiches, and then choose to either take their sandwiches with them or eat their sandwiches at the eat-in area. The old Tsujiya only had a take-out counter, but this new Tsujiya has an eat-in area. The eat-in area is quite nice. It has a pleasant bookstore cafe feel to it. Most of the things on the wooden shelves in the eat-in area are for sale. I believe everything is made by local artists. There is one small table seating area that seats two people, and a bunch of high-top tables and chairs that also seat two.
Since we needed to get to my wife's hometown, we decided not to eat in and take our sandwiches to go.

The Menu

Tsujiya's sandwich menu is their glass counter by the entrance. There are a lot of different sandwiches to choose from. The two main categories are sandwiches and fruit sandwiches.
For the sandwich section, there is an egg sandwich, egg and tuna, ham and cheese, lotus root and beef, ham katsu, chicken katsu, mince meat katsu, yakisoba, BLT, smoked salmon and tomato, and a whole lot more, including special seasonal sandwiches.
For the fruit sandwiches, there are blueberry and rare cheese, chocolate banana, peach, mixed fruits, banana caramel, and more!
We decided on two sandwiches and one sweet sandwich to take on the road with us. We ordered our sandwiches and headed to the highway.

Yakisoba Sandwich

This is one of my favorite Japanese sandwiches, the yakisoba sandwich. Yakisoba is delicious on its own, but put that between two hot dog-looking buns, and some extra sauce, and this sandwich is awesome. If I am in a hurry and need to grab lunch at a convenience store, I first look for a yakisoba sandwich.
I was excited to see a yakisoba sandwich in Tsujiya's glass counter, and that was the first sandwich I wanted to try. My wife opened the plastic wrapper around the sandwich (it was wrapped super tight, so I hope you have long nails) while I drove. Once she finally got it opened, I took the first bite. Unfortunately, I am starting this sandwich blog post with a subpar sandwich. Honestly, this sandwich was just a little bit better than a convenience store yakisoba sandwich. For the price we paid and for how amazing it looked, I expected better. The bread was OK, and so was the yakisoba. Credit where credit is due, I was surprised and a little delighted by how the noodles were a little bit crunchier than regular yakisoba, which works well with the sandwich. Regardless, that was about it. The sandwich was OK. Nothing to celebrate, but it was not bad either.

Renkon Beef and Ham Katsu

These next two sandwiches were far greater than the first yakisoba sandwich we had.
The first sandwich is the renkon beef sandwich. Renkon means lotus root in Japanese. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but renkon is super famous in Tsuchiura. Our town mascot has renkon for ears. I love renkon and I love beef. So I was excited to try this sandwich. My wife took the first bite and gave it her signature thumbs up. The sandwich was pretty plump, full of beef, lettuce, and renkon. I took the next bite and got an explosion of fresh renkon, beef with garlic and pepper seasoning, and lettuce. It was a delicious sandwich.
Even though our renkon beef sandwich was great, I have to say that the ham katsu toppled it with ease. The piece of ham katsu between the two pieces of bread was a more than generous size. The sandwich also came with lettuce, mayo, and sweet mustard (I believe). The katsu part of the ham katsu wasn't as fresh and crunchy as I would have liked, but other than that, this sandwich was a winner. The ham tasted fresh, and the condiments complemented the sandwich very well. I loved the overall feeling of biting into that ham katsu. It just felt right. This is a sandwich that the Ibaraki Eats Duo would love to have again.

Rare Cheese and Blueberry

Once we got to the Tomobe area of our trip to my wife's hometown, it was time for dessert. I am not sure how you feel about dessert sandwiches, but I love them. Wait, let me amend that. I love certain dessert sandwiches. Some fruit sandwiches are horrendous, but for the most part, dessert and fruit sandwiches are a tasty treat that everyone should try. One of those tasty treats that everyone should try is this sandwich, the rare cheese and blueberry sandwich. This sandwich came with a small block of rare cheese, a lot of cream, and blueberries. My wife thought this was the best sandwich we had had all day. She loved how fresh the cream in the sandwich was and how the blueberries and rare cheese just went so well together. After taking a bite myself, I have to agree. This dessert sandwich was incredible. It was a perfect ending to our lunch road trip.

Tsujiya, you make some pretty tasty sandwiches. Not all of them are winners, but that ham katsu sandwich is delicious, and that rare cheese blueberry sandwich is fantastic. We look forward to trying other sandwiches from your menu. You are a bit pricey, but we hope to have our hands on some of your sandwiches soon.

So if you are around Tsuchiura City and have a craving for some Japanese-style sandwiches, why not give Sandwich Shop Tsujiya a chance? Who knows? You might see us there. Picking out some new sandwiches to try while my wife orders another rare cheese and blueberry sandwich.
Enjoy!

For more information on Sandwich Shop Tsujiya, check out their website:
https://tsujiya.biz/