Bento39

This is your classic little gem that can easily be missed if you don’t look carefully. It mostly caters to a Japanese customer base, which tells me automatically that I want to eat there. The people who own this place are very kind and family based. The dishes mostly have pictures up that you can point to fit ease of ordering. The dish I got was delicious! I got a breaded pork cutlet in a bowl of rice with other goodies in it. I will definitely go back when I am back in the area.

Great food, authentic and delicious Japanese Bento. Very affordable price. Nice and clean place but limited seating and hours. Best pickup Asian lunch place in the area. Especially for rice lover.

Our saving grace in a sea of basic eateries. Creative speciality rolls, fresh/​crisp vegetables, sushi rice prepared perfectly. Respectful of food integrity and Japanese tradition. Thank you Bento39!

This little hole in the wall Japanese restaurant is probably the most authentic Japanese food you’ll find in Michigan. It has been open for a little over 2 years now, but only recently got a new sign outside according to the owner. Walk inside and everyone is speaking Japanese, from the owner to the chef and customers. There are a few tables to eat-​in, but the place caters mostly to take-​out orders. We chose to eat-​in and had the friendlies service ever! Everything tasted great, miso ramen, unagi bowl, and katsu bowl with runny egg just the way it should be made. Give this place a try if you’re looking for some real Japanese food! I’ll definitely be coming back often.

This little japanese restaurant is just great! They are friendly and welcoming. The fact that we got a very good genmaicha as we were waiting for our food is simply lovely. Highly recommended!

Terrific Japanese food. Blink and you miss it. If you’re in the Novi area or live here, well worth checking out. Great lunch. Especially love the pork dishes.

Cool for Japanese for sushi or Korean (at the table BBQ). Loved the lemon dessert which I do not know the name

Thanks, Andy S., for the great review that inspired me to try Bento39! They recently put up a façade sign (about a month ago), so maybe this gem won’t be quite so hidden going forward.
When you walk in, you won’t be able to read the menu unless you read Japanese. Not to worry, because there is a picture of every dish offered that day posted on a bulletin board. And if you ask the owner, as I did, he won’t shy away from telling you what you should order. I followed his recommendation and ordered a delicious pork dish whose name I can’t recall. It was pork, deep fried, then cooked with an egg. It was lightly covered in a delicious sauce over a bed of rice. And it was accompanied by a pickled root vegetable of unknown (to me) origin. Maybe parsnip? Anyway, it was yum, yum, yummy!
My choice cost me only $ 9.00. Some choices are as low as $ 8.00. What a tasty, darn good deal! Thank you, Bento39, for being around the corner from my house.

This is a legit Japanese owned carry out restaurant. The menu offering is simple, straightforward and a little old school. Just a heads up the name of the restaurant does not mean there are 39 menu items to choose from like Baskin Robbins. When you pronounce the 3 and 9 separately it sounds like ‘thank you’ so the name of the restaurant is Bento Thank You!
We ordered the Ebi Fry (panko crusted shrimp) and Tonkatsu (panko crusted pork) both were crunchy and juicy! It also came with nimono which is an assortment of stewed veggies in dashi, soy sauce and sake. Kuromame which is a sweet black bean always eaten on New Year’s Day.
If you’re craving fried Japanese food this is the spot!

They are no longer the best Japanese bento style restaurant in the area. The chief manager and his wife left management and the restaurant. The chef’s daily special bento is also gone. They were so upset and I feel bad for them. I wish the previous staff would come back.

OK, if you’re looking for it from the road you probably won’t see it. They have a sign in the window, but not on the façade. It’s next to the Chinese place. There you go.
Stopped in today and had the daily special Bento. I had no Idea what was in it because I’m a dumb American, but I didn’t want the fast-​speaking Japanese gentleman at the counter to have to slow down and repeat himself, so I went with it. There is an English –translated menu on the wall, but I already ordered so what the heck.
I had the exact special that Jack M. helpfully posted earlier, and it was quite good. Panko fried shrimp, pork, squid and fish. All were good, the pork was amazingly tender as was as the squid and shrimp. Squid is tricky. Nice job. Not rubbery at all. The standout was the fish. Really flaky and tender. Along with a few pieces of veg, rice, a little noodle salad and some katsu sauce it was a great lunch. Really, just look at Jack’s pic. It was exactly like that.
I do wish the squid was bigger, but that’s a quibble. Nice spot.

Bento39 is a hidden gem. I live a mile away and had no idea it even existed until stumbling across it on Unilocal.It is in the old strip mall on Novi Rd. tucked away next to China Crown. You’ll have a hard time seeing the sign unless you pull into the parking lot.
I walked in to a small, modern looking take out place and realized that all of the signage was in Japanese. The owner saw my confusion and immediately came out to explain the Bento Box concept and showed me an example. I was sold! The prices are amazingly reasonable for the food and variety you get — a Bento Box special of the day is $ 8.50. I wussed out and got the teriyaki beef, which was amazing! Thick, tender slices of sirloin cooked with onions and broccoli in a delicious teriyaki sauce. It came with a scoop of rice and a mini ginger salad. All of the food was fresh and clearly from scratch. All of this was only $ 7.50. I love finding awesome new places like Bento39 and can’t wait to try a Bento Box special!

The bento here is good and reasonably priced. The great thing about this place is that the bentos are made from scratch, rather than simply serving you pre-​made. This is only a take-​out place!

There is no shortage of Japanese restaurants in the Novi area and most are pretty good. I finally made it to Bento39 today which is near the corner of Novi Road and 9 Mile Road in the CVS shopping center. Bento39 is relatively new and seems to be a family run business. They were fairly busy during lunch time and it took about 20 mins. to get my fried oyster bento box, which came with three large panko fried oysters, two type of Japanese vegetables, cabbage and tomato, big serving of white rice, and miso soup. Everything was fresh and delicious! It was more than enough food for one person and came to $ 9. I think I found my new lunch spot! The menu has about a dozen items all similarly priced except for the rolls which are lower priced. There are two tables that seat four each, and an L shaped counter with stools.