Totally depends on the place. Handing money directly isn’t that uncommon at all.
To be technical, “eki-ben” is bento bought at a train station (eki meaning station). To be super technical, its a relic of the past as it really means bento bought from the bento sales guy who sold them directly to people in the train through the window.
Food models are everywhere even today. Theres a district just west of Asakusa (the big temple) where restaurant supplies are sold and up the street are the food model shops.
If its Japan you can bet that pork is involved. Often not visible but still used as a flavoring agent. If you dont want pork, you have to tell the server all the possible variations: pork, bacon, ham, etc. It seems people here really don’t know that the pig is not a vegetable and that there are in fact many parts of the pig.
