Food Facts

All About the Japanese Convenience Store Egg Sandwich

Originally posted November 11, 2019
Reposted February 14, 2022

Konbini Tamago Sando, the Japanese Convenience Store Egg Sandwich.

Every tourist to Japan has to check out a convenience store in Japan. There are so many food options for a quick, delicious bite. If you have to choose just one, grab the nation’s iconic konbini tamago sando, or convenience store egg sandwich.

All about the Japanese Convenience Store Egg Sandwich

From its Western origins and influence, Japan continues to make the egg sandwich as a most delicious and relevant part of everyday life. Known as the konbini tamago sando, or convenience store egg sandwich, is made with the Japanese palate in mind.

“Konbini” is Japanese for “convenience store”, “tamago” means “egg” in Japanese, and “sando” refers to “sandwich”.

The filling is simply egg, Japanese mayonnaise, and seasoning. There is no addition of anything like pickles, onions, or celery. The simple mixture with the local mayonnaise creates a sweet, tart, umami flavor and fluffy, creamy texture.

It is not only the egg filling, but it is also about the Japanese bread. Two slices of crustless, chewy, fluffy white bread complete the whole tamago sandy experience.

Learn How to Make the Recipe! The Easiest Japanese Egg Sandwich Recipe

Where to Get the Famous Konbini Tamago Sando

You can find egg sandwiches in every single convenience store in Japan. If you don’t find it, it means it ran out and will be refilled within the day.

There are 3 popular and rivaling brands of convenience stores in Japan and each one has its own distinct recipe for egg sandwiches.

FamilyMart offers the cheapest egg sandwich. It is also the thinnest in terms of egg filling and the slice of bread. The winning factor of this sandwich is that the egg mixture is the most seasoned and, for some, the most flavorful because of the salty egg flavor.

7-Eleven is the most experience of the 3 brands, and it is also the largest and heaviest egg sandwich which can justify the slightly higher price. The sandwich has the most egg and egg white bits. Fans of 7-Eleven prefer these sandwiches for its heartier, filling satisfaction.

Lawson egg sandwiches highlight the bread and creamy egg. The egg filling has a sweet, savory, and creamy balance. The sandwich as a whole has the most carbs because of Lawson’s special bread which is cut slightly thicker than the other convenience stores. This is arguably the winning egg sandwich because of the balanced egg filling to bread ratio which makes for a beautiful chewy, fluffy, creamy bite.

Tamago Sando Taste-Off. Comparing Lawson and 7-Eleven egg sandwiches. From the photo alone, you can see how the bread of Lawson is slightly thicker and the egg filling of 7-Eleven is thicker and with big chunks egg whites. Ultimately, the winning sandwich is completely subjective according to personal preferences of what makes the perfect sandwich.