Jun Bento

This place is ok. I mean the food and everything is good but is VERY small portion. I wish is a little bigger, overall is good. But is kinda pricy do.

It’s was a sizzling hot day when I decided I wanted to check this place out. They have amazing pictures of the food they serve which made my mouth salivate.
So I go inside and find the place empty. Hmm that’s a slight concern. All the other restaurants in the plaza are pretty busy. Ok. I let that slide cuz I’m hot, hungry, thirsty, and cranky. Upon being seated the waitress considerately cools me off by spilling the entire contents of the iced water on my lap. I wasn’t even mad. It felt so refreshing. And it’s only water. So I let that slide.
I order my food and then a couple of things catch my attention. There’s no smell of food wafting from the kitchen, the guy preparing the food sneezes like 10 times. and I KNOW he didn’t cover his mouth. AND my food took FOREVER to get to me. I would’ve let that go but seriously. There was only one other table besides mine to serve. No one in there.
I was hesitant to try my food when it finally came. I didn’t want to think what grossness went into it from those sneezes, but I decided to try it anyway. The flavor was spot on. Pretty good.
Would I come here again? Maybe. But I let a lot of things slide with this place. If I do decide to eat here again I will make sure to place my order via phone first, take a power nap, play a couple games of Candy Crush, wash my hair, put gas in, and then head to the restaurant with plenty of time before my food is ready to serve.

I came here on a Wednesday around 6pm. The place was completely empty when I got there and when I left, only one other table.
The Service —
Unfortunately, the service wasn’t too great. Not really sure why since there was nobody else there. Our water never got refilled. We were done eating and sitting there for a good 15 minutes before I got up to ask for a box. Only after that did they bring our check. Took them another 10 minutes to grab the check and bring our change.
The Food —
I got the spicy pork bento. It came with miso soup, a side salad and rice with different things on it like ginger, little shrimp things, egg, etc. The spicy pork was pretty good. Had a good kick to it and good flavor. Didn’t care for the dressing on the salad.
The Prices —
I think it was about $ 11 for the bento. We got the spicy pork bento and bulgogi bento for about $ 26 total.
Overall, 3 star experience.

This place kinda baffles me.
I am not as up-​to-​date with Japanese food, so I’m not really sure what is and isn’t authentic. What I got I liked, but I didn’t love it.
I asked for a bento that a particular egg dish, but the name escapes me. The menu described that the bento comes with a piece of agidashi tofu. I love that kind of tofu, so I ordered a side of it, as an appetizer.
I got the side of the tofu, but my bento didn’t come with any at all. Not cool. It was most likely an oversight, but I didn’t feel like pursuing the conversation.
The egg dish I asked for was well done. I like that the chicken was juicy and was in bigger chunks, rather than small pieces. The pickles that came with the lunch were a perfect complement to the flavors. I ended up adding all kinds of seasonings to change up the flavor of the rice in my dish.
What I did not care for was the music. It was tinny sounding and muffled. They only serve bottled/​canned drinks. I very much prefer fountain drinks. I was offered a cup of ice, which only made the canned soda just a little more tolerable. I asked for a glass of water that never came.
The décor inside is cute. The menu is just variations on the bento theme. There are a few things that I might consider going back to try.
If I were in a bento kind of mood, I think I’d go down the street to Tampopo instead of this location.

Food is great, but the water is tap. I like this place very much. The food is so yummy and the service always friendly and cordial. When I come here, I try to make it somewhat early, around 11:30 so to avoid any crowds.

After all the highly reviews about this place, I decided to check it out for lunch. Ordered the chicken karaage and bulgogi bento. For 12 bucks each, its definitely not worth the money. The bulgogi meat was so tough and chewy that I ended up just eating a few pieces and throwing it away. The karaage was not bad but you can’t really mess up fried chicken. There were a lot of things in the bento bowl that didn’t really compliment each other imo.

I’ve been going to this place for the past year, and I absolutely love their bento box. I’ve noticed though, over the months, the restaurant has progressively become more korean-​japanese fusion, rather than japanese fusion. Not only does their menu have korean scribbled on, but the the music has changed from japanese to kpop. In addition, it’s obvious that their business isn’t super hot because ⁴⁄₅ times I go, my party is the only customer (6−9pm!), and there is a slow but sure decline in their bento box side dishes. Regardless, I still think that this restaurant is still worth going to. The portions are HUGE and the quality of food is decent, so the ~$ 15 meal isn’t too hefty.
TIPS:
1) 20% off happy hour is no-​more, BUT you can get a restaurant gift card coupon (utopia)
2) Complimentary iced tea, hot tea; free soda if you check-​in
3) Get the bento box.
All bento boxes come with salad, miso soup, adegashi tofu, and assorted side dishes. Some assorted side dishes I’ve gotten include daikon (pickled radish), sausage, edamame, crab salad, tamago, aji-​tama (marinated hard boiled egg), quail egg, regular hard boiled egg, umeboshi (pickled plum), beni-​shoga (marinated gingler slices), sweet potato, crab salad, potato salad, pickled seaweed, inari sushi. There are usually around 10, and it’s probably important to know that the side dishes change every time I go; it’s never the same so don’t be surprised if you don’t get one that I’ve mention. The only complaint that I have is that I always feel dry after the meal. It’s either all that the food components are all dry, or the salt in each of the food item adds up. There needs to be a wet, not salty component!
–fish katsu — 5+ stars.
–chicken katsu — 4 stars.
–tonkatsu — 4 stars.
–chicken karage — 5 stars.
–bulgogi — 2.5 stars.
–spicy pork — 2.5 stars.
4) Parking lot is usually crowded because there are a lot of things in this small plaza, so just park on S Manhattan Pl (residential)
I get scared that this place is going to close down because they never have customers when I go, so everyone please, please give this place a try. I’ll be sad to not be able to get their bento when I’m back in town.

WOWWW seriously the best bento boxes I’ve ever had!
I got some bento boxes to go for lunch for me and my coworkers. We all loved it! We all shared so I got to try the fish katsu bento, bulgogi bento, and chicken katsu bento. For sure, the best one is the fish katsu! I’m definitely getting that one again! The other meats were a little on the drier side and it would have been hard for me to eat a lot of it. Everything else that comes in the bento is the same except for that one main meat in it. I was so amazed at how many different side dishes they gave us in that bento bowl! I would say about 10 other things were in there including daikon, sausage, crab salad, edamame, pickled veggies, tamago, hard boiled egg, the list goes on! The presentation was great too! Definitely adding this to my list of new fave take-​out lunch spots in Gardena! :)

I ate at this place today with some friends after class. Decided to go here because of the really wonderful pictures I saw online on here. So I wanted to see if it was worth a try.
Definitely worth it!
The waitress was very attentive and nice to us. The food presentation was very nice and clean. I was really impressed. Looked just like the pictures. I really loved how they really took care of us.
I also loved the variety they had in their bentos. It is pretty pricey but what japanese place isnt. And I would pay there a visit again!

I didn’t like the food but my bf did. My bf and I ordered the bulgogi bento box that came with an assortment of vegetables (ginger — yuck), some pickled daikon, agedashi tofu, and miso soup .
For the most part the bento, served in a bamboo-but-it’s-really-a-plastic-looking wash bucket, is kinda cool. I can’t say anything taste outstanding in the bento. However service is extraordinary. The lady was so kind, even though we only ordered one meal she gave me extra miso and tofu: ]. The agedashi tofu was pretty tasty, the best part of the meal .
This is a korean run establishment, they have korean music in the background. Pretty nice ballads, I thought the music added to a relaxing lunch. Plus they have a giant cherry blossom tree randomly poking out from the side of the room –niceee.
Overall
— great service
— $ 10+ for the bento
— good agedashi tofu
–worth a try

I felt this estabilishment easily deserved a 4 star. However,
after debating on my way back to work, I decided to go with 3 stars.
I ordered bulgogi bento. Miso soup was served first along with
what I believe is Agedashi tofu (slightly fried tofu marinated in dashi
broth). Then the main dish was served.
Their bento is packed into «oke» (Japanese word for bowl).
However, please note that oke was not made of wood but made of plastic
made to look like real wood.
Bulgogi was good, mostly sweet in taste. Meat was somewhat
chewy and grainy, indicative of lesser quality beef.
Now comes my complaint (the reason for dropping my score to 3).
My oke was packed with everything I associate with high sodium, not
to mention I already had salty miso soup to start out the meal.
1. Aji-​tama (marinated boiled egg) — Salty
2. Beni-​shoga (marinated ginger slices) — Salty
3. Pickled cucumber — Salty
4. Umeboshi (pickled plum) — Salty
5. Pickled daikon (pickled Japanese radish) — Salty
6. Weiner sausage — Salty
If I was much younger, I wouldn’t mind having this much sodium
in my food but this was too excessive.
Lady gave me a plate and instructed me to remove some items
off of the oke so that I can get to the white rice on the bottom.
Next time I go, all my pickles are going there and I’m not
going to eat them.
They play k-​pop in the store too but it was playing too loud.
I was the only customer there so they should’ve lowered the
volume a little. I don’t care for k-​pop/​j-​pop anyway.
Service was outstanding for a Korean restaurant. They offer
complimentary iced tea too!

Very impressed! Jun Bento calls itself a Japanese & Korean fusion, and offers up bento sets, as well as plates. Essentially all the bento are the same except with the «main item.»
I went with the Pork Katsu Bento, which came with katsu, 3 edamame, variety of seaweed, 2 kinds of pickled veggie, crab salad, small piece of tamagoyaki, 1 inari, and pickled ginger with a bed of rice underneath in a shallow small bucket. Yup. The pork katsu is fried nicely, with a good portion, and the side items are all very tasty! With every bite, you can have something different. I love the crab salad, even though it is imitation, it makes the whole bento feels slightly more luxurious: P At $ 12, it is sorta expensive, especially for lunch, but everything makes it worth it!
You also get agedashi tofu, as well as miso soup before the bucket comes. Agedashi tofu is definitely a nice touch as you don’t really get it as an appetizer in most places!
My friend went with the Bulgolgi bento, which is where the Japanese + Korean fusion comes in. Bulgolgi had good flavor, and not too fatty as well!
The plates doesn’t come with the tofu but does come with a side salad. Maybe I’ll try that since it is cheaper next time, but the bento is worth it in my opinion. Didn’t look like much at first but I was stuffed after I killed it.
They have free iced tea! I believe it is barley, but free tea is always a plus!
One thing that’s awesome about this place is the great service! Only two people really there when we went and I’m assuming it is a couple that opened the restaurant. The waitress, she was super friendly, constantly checking on us if we needed anything and refilling our tea. She even brought out some canned lychee at the end as «dessert!» Hopefully when this place gets a little popular, service is just as great!
For sure we’ll be coming back to check out the rest of the menu. I wonder how the curry here would taste?

Yes! I really am a fan! I’ve been here twice already and it won’t stop there! There’s nothing I don’t like about this restaurant. Their food is good, they give a generous amount for the cost, hot tea available, insanely friendly, and truly cares to hear feedback from customers. She even asked me if the music playing was okay! D: Plus, it’s so close to where I am and easy to park. (FYI: you can park in the lot across the plaza after 7pm or so)
The bento, i like very much! It comes with a wide variety of japanese-​style picked vegetables! Mm~ and try their cheesy rice cake appetizer. mouth watering right now!

My boyfriend and I came to Jun Bento on a very recent Saturday night. His mother and I were checking it out on Unilocal nights before, and I decided I wanted to give it a try. The plaza where it is located is packed and bustling. There was not enough parking. Good thing the bank across the street is closed — we parked in their lot like many others did. Unfortunately, the patrons dined in neighboring restaurants. Jun Bento is just not pulling in that many customers — not even with the giant Grand Opening sign hanging outside. Funny, I read reviews here dating from late last year. The place has been open for at least 2 – 3 months.
We entered the restaurant and saw 2 tables occupied. These tables, I later realize, were occupied by both employees and the owner’s family perhaps. One table was occupied by 2 employees who later stood up and did some work in the kitchen, leaving their laptops and personal belongings in plain sight (purses, laptop bag, calculators, jackets, etc). Staff chatted a lot with each other. I can’t blame them when restaurant was that empty.
The other table was occupied by a group of about 8 – 10 guests. How do I know they might be the owner’s family? One employee was too friendly with the large party that he even sat with them at times. Another good indication is how one of the ladies ran into the kitchen. She kept going in and out like she did this all the time. I think it’s great that they dine in their own restaurant. But if you’re posing as patrons to attract others by sitting at the window, then act like it. I could be wrong and maybe they are customers.
I am giving this restaurant 4 stars because despite what I saw, the food is great. I ordered a spicy pork bento. My boyfriend ordered a chicken katsu curry plate. The spicy pork has just the right amount of kick — even my boyfriend liked it (and he’s very picky). The different seaweeds and pickled vegetables are a delight. Not sure what the pickled/​salted round thing was with the pit in the middle. It had a strong flavor — salty/​sour. I decided I liked it too.
We were surprised to be offered a 2^nd helping to miso soup. I thought they were giving away revenue. But then again, their restaurant was empty and they were probably trying to get rid of much of the soup.
This is a good start-​up restaurant. I hope many more foodies find out how good their food is.

I’m one who likes to find new places to visit in my home town for good food or fun. You can’t find too many places in the small town of gardena that has both good food and welcoming or very caring and enjoyable staff. This place has both! Or waitress was the absolute best and even brought us a small bowl of lychee fruit at the end of our meal.
It was a wonderful end to a very stressful day.

Tuesday afternoon
My first time at a place called Jun
Found this Gardena hidden gem
With Marko M
How opportune
Agedashi tofu starts
A motley-​tasting lunch
Miso soup and that tofu
First course I loved a bunch
Creativity
Jun lives it
Quality service
Sara gives it
Served us a myriad
of treasures
For the mouth and eyes!
Your bento is a wonderland!
Your bento is a wonder! Chopsticks in hand!
Your bento is a wonderland!
Seven pieces of tonkatsu served with an apple/​sesame/​worcestershire sauce
mini inari, tamago egg, small hot dog: all were boss
Edamame, shredded imi crab, seaweed salad balanced the other flavor profiles
If you take away one of four pickles and add a boiled veggie, I’ll give a five-​star smile
Creativity
Jun lives it
Quality service
Jun gives it
Served us a myriad
of treasures
For the mouth and eyes!
Your bento is a wonderland!
Your bento is a wonder! Chopsticks in hand!
Your bento is a wonderland!

Jun Bento is pretty impressive! 4.5 Stars, rounded up to 5 STARS!!!
My Unilocal Buddy, Greg N., and I had lunch today. He heard about this new restaurant that is making a splash in the Los Angeles Restaurant community. The restaurant is only 3 weeks old, and it’s called Jun Bento. The Japanese restaurant is owned by a very talented Korean Chef, who has a restaurant in Korea and decided to open a restaurant in Los Angeles. You walk into the place, and you are greeted by SUPER FRIENDLY staff (Shout out to Sara, the ROCKING wait staff!) and about 10 tables. This place is CLEAN and the food is good! Service Grade: A+!
After ordering, Sara (Did I mention — a super friendly and ROCKING wait staff?) delivered miso soup (with soft tofu in it) and fried tofu (topped with bonito flakes). The fried tofu appetizer was cripsy (ish) on the outside, with a nice layer of sauce on the outside. Yum! Appetizers Grade: B+
Did I mention that the food here is good? Sara mentioned that one of the restaurant’s top sellers is the Bul Gol Gee combination bowl. Loved it! It was a clash between the Japanese and Korean cuisines! First, the dish was plated like a Chirashi-​Sushi style — where there was rice on the bottom and all kinds of goodies showcased on the top of the rice. The thing that I liked best about this dish was that it came with 10+ different types of Tsukemono (Japanese pickled veggies) — ranging from pickled purple cucumbers, daikon, tamago (egg), umeboshi (plum), seaweed salad, cut brown seaweed, hot dog pieces, pickled scallions, red ginger, pink ginger, etc… The dish was BEAUTIFUL! Each type of the 10+ tsukemono was skillfully and artfully placed on the dish. The dish had a mound of Korean style Bul Gol Gee on it. The meat was tender and cooked with sliced white onions. Flavors were truly authentic to Korean food! YUM! This dish is a must-​have during your visit. Presentation Grade: A+ Taste Grade: A-​.
Unilocal Bro Greg N. ordered the Pork Tonkatsu bowl, which came with about 8 – 10 generous slices of tonkatsu. There were just as many beautiful tsukemono varieties on his dish as well. I tasted the Pork Tonkatsu, and it was cripsy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The dish was delicous. My only reservation about this dish was the tonkatsu dipping sauce. I wasn’t used to the style of tonkatsu sauce that they served — it was well made and it was presented very beautifully (in a side dish with sprinkles of sesame seed). It had a bit of a sweet bite to it. My guess is that it is made with apple sauce, which made it a bit on the sweet and calm side. Please note — the sauce was not bad, I just wasn’t used to it! Presentation Grade: A+. Taste Grade (based on one piece of tonkatsu): B+.
The bathrooms here are CLEAN! Everything about the restaurant is clean and well kept. My favorite part of the experience was chatting with the waitress, Sara. She told us the history of the restaurant, she provided excellent customer service, and she was super super friendly and helpful! Great choice, Greg N! I enjoyed sharing a meal with you!
I’ll be back again!
Food Grade: A–
Service Grade: A+ (Thanks Sara).
Overall impression: A-.

Service here is great! Paul was our waiter, & he was very nice. He came to check up on us frequently to ask us how we were doing & whether we needed anything.
Food-​wise, I ordered the udon & chicken karaage (soy sauce fried chicken) combo, but nothing really wowed me about them. They tasted fine. My fiancé had the sausage curry, & that didn’t really wow us either. But among everything that we tried there, I liked their agedashi tofu the most.
I wouldn’t mind going back there again, but it may not be for a while unless I couldn’t think of any other restaurant to eat at.
Maybe if they had «tempura udon» on the menu (because that’s one of my main dishes I like to get at Japanese restaurants), maybe I’d go back.

I had pretty high expectations of this place after reading through the other reviews. Even so, Jun Bento blew me away.
I had the pork belly bento box, which included about 4 types of pickles, tamago, inari, miso soup, tofu, seaweed salad, and rice. There wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like. All the sides were very fresh and the pork belly itself was cooked perfectly. They also had it sliced to a very good thickness. Usually pork belly will be too thin so it ends up frying like uncured bacon but this was thin enough to get a nice crust yet thick enough to enjoy the fatty meatiness of it. In one word, awesome. In two words, awesome awesome.
Aside from the food, service was astounding. The hostess was very friendly and always made sure we were enjoying ourselves. It is truly impressive when a customer’s experience really seems to mean something to the staff.
I highly recommend you check Jun Bento out. There’s not a single factor they’re missing. Great food, amazing service, and reasonable prices. I will be back again and again.

Such a cute place! They gave me miso soup (which was one of the best i’ve ever had) along with fried tofu (crunchy on the outside, soft and delicious on the inside) as the appetizer. I ordered the Unagi bento (eel) for lunch a few days ago, and it was very delicious! Along with perfectly cooked unagi and rice, the bowl had various other condiments such as a quail egg, seaweed, and daikon. Yummy! The beef bento is just as satisfying and delicious, too! I can’t wait to eat here again!