Bento Ya

Was terrible service ended up waiting for over an hour even though people who ordered after me got their food right away. They asked us 4 times to see what our order was and said it was coming out in a minute… it didn’t. I saw that one of the orders was done but it was waiting for over half an hour waiting for the second order to come out.

Food is great and they’re fast at getting you your food. The service however is 3 Star because I had to remind the counter repeatedly of my order.

Great for fast food. Made when you order with care. Looks older but clean and the ingredients seen fresh. The main guy cooked each piece of the beef and flipped them individually. Egg roll was crisp and tasted fresh. Cheap and fresh.

Oishii! loved the chicken karage. Wished they still made the korokke (deep fried potato) as advertised, but i really appreciated getting that in my stomach!

I’m too happy I can get teriyaki salmon for just $ 6! I usually get the bento box to go with no salad extra rice. I can’t even finish my plate with all the rice they give. The salmon is a pretty big piece for just $ 6 ! I’m very happy I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth!
Besides the bento box I’ve tried the pork ramen, shrimp tempura and the gyoza. I really like the tempura and gyoza. The tempura batter has a nice taste and comes out perfect every time. The sauce they give you is sweet and I really enjoy it. I actually really, really like that sauce lol. The only thing I didn’t care for was the ramen. This isn’t the place to come for noodles at all, you’d do better going to Little Tokyo for that. But the other food I’ve tried has been really good. I can’t comment on the rolls or anything but this is a perfect place for me to grab a quick bite to eat at work. The food in the market can get very expensive so I’m always happy to find a good value. And I can call in my order so by the time I walk there it’s ready.
A definite staple on my lunch rotation!

There’s so much good food in grand central market, so I feel the standards are a bit elevated. This place is okay for a quick lunch. The food is on the less-​expensive side (you can get a meal for $ 5-​$ 7). But it’s not great quality food. I ordered the tempura bento box– it comes with tempura shrimp and vegetables, rice, and salad. You can also add protein (chicken, beef, salmon) for a few more dollars. Again, it’s not bad, it’s just that there are so many better options in the area (even little Tokyo just a few blocks away). I haven’t tried the other dishes (ramen, curry), so maybe those are better.

Decent little Japanese place and my favorite out of all the eateries at grand central market.
I’ve been going here on and off for a good while. I’ve been a fan of the number 12 (Chicken curry) for longer than I can remember and I highly recommend it too.
Domo arigato

This place really deserves a solid 4 stars but I’m rating it as 5 just to make up for all of the stupid people who have given it such low ratings by judging it as an authentic Japanese restaurant when clearly it is a fast food joint in the middle of a busy market. Gosh people are so dumb. If you want authentic food, clearly you shouldn’t be expecting to find it at a food stand.
Everything at Bento Ya is solid, the sushi, the bowls, the bento boxes, everything. Notably, the prices here are GREAT. Nothing about this place is gourmet, and it’s all probably far from authentic but you surely are getting better quality and quantity than a place like Yoshinoya for far cheaper.

While seemingly authentic and having great prices it’s but low quality foods and utterly mediocre taste profiles deminish the experience. The sign by the register says $.25 for cc transactions under $ 10 however I was charged $ 1. Not a recommendation with Little Tokyo so close by.

I want to support this small mom & pop that’s still around in GCM… but it just isn’t that great. The prices are really good, but you really get what you’re paying for ‚(

#9 spicey seafood ramen. Rich broth with bold flavor and low in cost. That’s the true grand central market. For low calorie dish I also go for the chicken salad. Really well seasoned and grilled and the dressing is great! I always hit up the original gcm spots like these.

For the usual Ramen here you only pay $ 5.99 and a small beef salad $ 4.50…not bad.
No reservations, and a very relaxed and casual atmosphere since this stand it’s inside the grand market.

First off what sort of self respecting Japanese restaurant runs out of chopsticks? Like is there some sort of 3 month lead time needed to order new chopsticks?
The Chasu Ramen was very underwhelming. Broth was thin and fairly flavorless and I didn’t even finish it, not enough joy in eating it to warrant the calories. I also tried their «Teriyaki Chicken Roll» which is essentially chopped up teriyaki chicken, a little lettuce wrapped up in a maki roll absolutely nothing special there.
But it’s fast and cheap so if you’re low on cash and time and starving at Grand Central then maybe it’s worth a chance.

I’ve never had such a bad katsu in my life; it was dry, chewy and unsavory.
It was puzzling that the salad was the best part of the meal. Assuming that the food will be good because its neighbor, Sticky rice was good /​= terrible idea.
I had to buy a fish taco across the Bento Ya to dissipate my disappointment. That fish taco wasn’t good, so I didn’t feel much better.
And the worst food in LA I had so far goes to…

This is a great place to grab a quick lunch! I’ve had their grilled beef plate — includes rice, salad and a veggie egg roll! The beef was perfectly tender, super filling and inexpensive — about 5 bucks!
Their menu also includes salmon, chicken and pork plates. They even have sushi and ramen! They are really busy during lunch time — as is every stand in GCM, but it’s not as long of a line as other places because they are extremely quick and efficient.
Parking validation isn’t done here — it’s done at the «front desk» if you need it!

A good quality food spot. I was craving something like this before coming to grand central market so it hit the spot. Pretty cheap and made right in front of you so you know its fresh.
I got the #18 sushi and I went to town on it because it was really good. I liked how it was made quickly and the price for it was pretty fair. So if your looking for anything sushi or Ramen this is your spot. Cash or 25 cent charge on your card. Also they wrap up your food so its ready to go.

Located in Grand Central Market, towards the middle of the area.
This place is all right. Not the greatest of foods, but it’s good.
Most people (since I was waiting for food) ordered #6 which was the Pork Cutlet bento.
I ordered the Salmon bento, and it was quite good. As long as the fish is not dry to the point of where my throat is suffering, then I’m quite happy. It was moist for me.
I’m not judging the stars on their service, but I felt it was a little slow… maybe it was because the staff seemed very tired of the job that day. And I had no idea where the line is to order, but I just hugged the counter and hope for the best.
Good place to go to for food if you need to quickly leave GCM’s parking lot within an hour before you get charged $ 2 for every 15 minutes past the hour.

The next stop in my quest to try every bite of Grand Central Market was Bento Ya — a smaller stand across from Ana Maria & easy to miss.
A very straight forward bento receives a very straight forward review:
Bento Ya offers a variety of cheap & quick bento boxes, noodles and a few other Japanese staples. (nothing on the menu is over 8 bucks).
I went for the #11 deluxe bento which gives you a broad taste of their offerings: grilled beef, salmon, veg & shrimp tempura, gyoza, egg roll, tofu salad & rice
It was a very simple, no surprises box, nothing earth shaking quality or flavor wise but the quantity to cost ratio made it a great value.
Beef: Good flavor, passable quality — kids kept grabbing pieces!
Salmon: A bit overcooked /​thin but passable.
Tempura: On the greasy side, but best of the box
Gyoza: you get one — it was good — it always is :)
Egg-​roll: I could have done without it
Rice: Good and sticky, Could have used a bit more sauce
Salad: On the soggy side
NOTE: .25 cent charge for orders under $ 10 on credit cards — which is surprisingly hard to hit alone!

Bento Ya is located inside Grand Central Market, and it is the only Japanese joint there. If you’re looking for a super affordable lunch and you’re not in the mood for Mexican food, then this is a great place for decent food at comfortable prices. Their menu is pretty extensive compared to the other eateries inside GCM. They have bento boxes, ramen, curries, teriyaki bowls, and sushi rolls… and there is so much variety.
I wanted to try a little bit of everything inside GCM so I only ordered a Salmon Teriyaki & Avocado roll and a side order of shrimp tempura. The salmon roll came with 8 pieces and they were HUGE for $ 5.50! It was a lot of food. The rice was still nice and warm when I ate the roll, and it was really fresh. Surprising for a Japanese FAST FOOD STAND! I shared the roll with my coworkers because it was too filling to finish on my own. The shrimp tempura came with 3 pieces for $ 2.99 and the tempura was fantastic– CRISPY, FLAKY, AND HOT! I took it to-​go and even after sitting in a plastic container for about 15 minutes the texture remained perfectly crunchy.
I mean, this aint no SugarFish. This isn’t authentic or die-​and-​go-​to-​heaven food. Again, it’s a fast food stand. But for the ridiculous CHEAP prices, the food is a bang for your buck. Better than anything you can get at Yoshinoya or SanSai, and for a much better price tag.
Note: $ 0.25 service fee for credit card charges under $ 10

Cheap find at the Grand Central Market! Had a grilled pork bento box ($ 5.50) which came with salad, a gyoza and rice. Pork was tender and had really great sweet flavor.
About 6 different bento box options, curry, ramen etc.
Friendly workers, cheap food and near the center of the GCM. Try it out!