There’s more, or maybe less, to this trio than meets the eye.

Our food-loving reporter Mr Sato is always looking for ways to surprise us in the office, so when he was out getting lunch the other day, he sent us the photo above, along with the question: “What’s the secret hidden in these three rice bowls?”

Mr Sato told us we had ten seconds to answer, so let’s try and figure out the answer, shall we?

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Did you get it?

If not, don’t worry — we couldn’t figure out the secret either. In fact, none of us in the office knew what he was talking about, so we told him to stop playing games and get back to work, but then he sent three more photos through, saying:

▼ “They’re miniature rice bowls the size of my hand!”

Well, that certainly got our attention. At first, we thought Mr Sato was showing us miniature plastic replicas of food, but he assured us that these were totally edible, and he found them on the ground floor of the station building “Atre Kichijoji” in Kichijoji, Tokyo.

The small bowls caught his eye as he was passing by “Takumi x Sandwich” in one corner of the bento and delicatessen area, and he couldn’t resist buying three of them. There were plenty more to choose from, though, including curry, omurice, chicken, fried rice, and Roulohan.

▼ Each mini bowl contains 80 grams (2.8 ounces) of rice, and they range in price from 270-500 yen (US$2.02-$3.74).

The store also sells some great-looking sandwiches, but for Mr Sato, it’s all about the cute rice bowls. He purchased the Mini Tempuradon and the Mini Japanese-style Mochi Pork Katsudon,  both priced at 398 yen each, and the Mini Kuroge Roast Beef Wagyudon, priced at 500 yen.

Despite their petite size, these rice bowls come with a generous amount of toppings — the Tempuradon comes with two prawns.

▼ The Katsudon contains three slices of pork cutlets!

Kuroge Wagyu always comes with a premium price tag, but there was enough meat here to cover the whole bowl. 

Each bowl was absolutely delicious, and the portion sizes are perfect for anyone watching their weight but not wanting to compromise on flavour. For people like Mr Sato, who’s been trying to cut down on rice as he gets older, this could easily become an everyday lunch meal, and now he’s got his fingers crossed for a mini rice bowl boom to sweep the country.

Store Information

TAKUMI × SANDWICH Atre Kichijoji / TAKUMI × SANDWICH アトレ吉祥寺
Address: Tokyo-to, Musashino-shi, Kichijojiminamicho, 1-1-24, Tokyo Atre Kichijoji 1F
東京都武蔵野市吉祥寺南町1-1-24 アトレ吉祥寺1階
Hours: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Photos © SoraNews24
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