びびちゃ
Finally, the time has come. I have been eagerly waiting to ride the "Saphir Odoriko" since its debut in March 2020, and I finally got the chance to ride it. It consists of all Green cars, with the 1st car being the Premium seat, 2-3rd cars being private rooms, and 5-8th cars being regular Green cars. And the 4th car is... a Cafeteria!
This is the "Saphir Odoriko Cafeteria" located within the Saphir Odoriko train that connects Tokyo to Izu Kyukyodo Shimoda Station. To use it, you need to register for something called Saphir Pay. I had trouble with this registration. The authentication code wasn't coming through SMS (ФωФ). Even when my partner tried, it still didn't work. It turns out that both of us had set up our phones to block emails from overseas, which was the issue. After disabling this setting, I finally received the authentication code via SMS! It took us about an hour to complete the Saphir Pay registration (•́ω•̀ ٥).
We had already made the payment with a credit card, so all we had to do was show the QR code on the day of the ride! And guess what? The day turned out to be sunny, despite my reputation as a rain bringer. I am renouncing my title as the rain bringer. We were already at Tokyo Station by 10 am, eagerly waiting for the 11 am departure. He got an 180ml bottle of Yorozan, and I got a 350ml can of Black Label from Gransta to enjoy while watching the Saphir train pull in. And off we went, waving vigorously to the station staff until our wrists nearly broke!
We had a reservation at the Cafeteria for 12:20. Just as we were leaving Atami, we made our way to the 4th car. Inside, we sanitized our hands and had our QR codes scanned before being seated at a table. Soon, our dishes arrived. The menu was specially curated for the Saphir Odoriko by Tetsuya Honda.
- Izu Fresh Tomato Spaghetti with bread and mineral water for 1250 yen: The portion was small, but just right as we weren't trying to fill up. The sauce was not too acidic, and the fresh tomatoes were sweet. A well-balanced dish that tasted great even when dipping the bread in the sauce.
- Izu-yama Uokyu's Mackerel and Komatsuna Linguine with Karasumi for 1450 yen: The portion was more substantial, and the dish was rich and flavorful. The al dente noodles paired well with the sauce and the savory mackerel. I had been avoiding mackerel due to a suspected allergy, but after trying it last week and being fine, I slowly started eating mackerel again (˶‾᷄ꈊ‾᷅˵). Both dishes were delicious, but I preferred the Linguine.
Although we only had 20 minutes due to the reservation, the time was just right, and we left in 18 minutes. We departed from Tokyo at 11 am, enjoyed the Cafeteria from 12:20 to 12:40, and arrived safely at Izu Kyukyodo Shimoda Station at 13:29. A senior colleague's partner picked us up from the station and took us around before dropping us off in front of our hotel. We had a blast at Shirahama, acting like carefree teenagers, and received some souvenirs before saying goodbye!
- Day 2: We continued to enjoy Shimoda, indulging in delicious food, and then headed back on the Saphir Odoriko for Tokyo. Only the Tokyo-bound train during tea time offers desserts. We had pre-booked and paid with Saphir Pay.
- Banana Pound Cake and Soft Drink Set
- Tiramisu and Soft Drink Set
At the entrance of the Cafeteria, we scanned our QR codes again and chose our soft drinks. The options were hot coffee, tea, or orange juice.