Sixteen railway operators from five countries are to attend the fifth Formosa Railroad Bento Festival, which opens at Taipei Railway Station on Friday.
In addition to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), the festival is to be attended by 12 railway operators from Japan, as well as operators from the Swiss Federal Railways’ Gotthard Panorama Express, France’s Mont-Blanc Express and Sri Lanka Railways, the TRA said.
Apart from the railway operators, restaurants known for selling boxed railway meals, or bento, including Awajiya in Japan’s Kobe City, and Taiwan’s Fu Jing Restaurant, Formosa Chang and Fried Chicken Master, would also be at the festival, it said, adding that together they would present 39 different types of bento or snack boxes.
Photo: CNA
Fried Chicken Master is a halal-certified restaurant that caters to Muslim customers, TRA Director-General Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) said.
This year, the TRA would recreate the old Taipei Railroad Restaurant, which would sell ice-cream sodas to visitors, as it used to be a popular item at the railway station, Chang said.
In the past, TRA passengers were given a cup of tea during their journey. To serve the tea, staff would carry a big teapot in one hand and use the other hand to hold the cup and flip open its lid before pouring tea into it.
The skill would also be showcased at the festival, the TRA said.
The railway agency said that it worked with food and beverage manufacturer Taisun Enterprise to produce a co-branded bottle of oolong tea, which would be given free of charge to visitors who buy bentos at the festival.
The bottle’s label was inspired the TRA’s old blue-colored trains, it said, adding that visitors would be able to see the TRA’s logo and train number on the label.
To promote the festival, the agency invited celebrities to attend the news conference and talk about their experiences on railway tours.
Central News Agency chairman Liu Ka-shiang (劉克襄), who is a also travel writer, said that the differences between Taiwanese and Japanese bentos are that the former are served warm, have more variety and cost less.
He likes to bring a TRA bento onboard whenever he travels by train, Liu said.
His favorite is the marlin fish with rice, which is only available at the TRA store in the High-Speed Rail station in Taichung.
Chang said that the agency sold 10.53 million bentos last year, which is an important source of its revenue.
Most importantly, it helps satisfy passengers’ palates and brings them fond memories, he said.
Visitors can also purchase passes from different railway operators at the festival, which ends on Monday.
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