Bentoss

My fambam loves bento! And we love how your bento is made to order here! So it is fresh made and still nice and warm when you get home!
Will be back again for sure!

I stumbled upon this place when I was exploring Mitsuwa Marketplace for the first time and the surrounding area.
My selection (s): Bentoss Makunoichi.
Setting (⁴⁄₅): Clean and well managed. The only thing that I would change is probably add another small table if possible, but that’s probably asking for too much. The design is meant to be for take out not as a sit in and eat kind of place.
Service (³⁄₅): Average service, you state what you want and then they go and make it. Clear cut and straight to the point.
Taste (⁴⁄₅): The food was surprisingly filling, and it had an assortment of different things within a single bento order. For me this is something that is fun and interesting because you’re taking in various flavors on each bite and can try things you haven’t. I would describe it as being just enough for a meal, this would be good if you are trying not to overeat.
Time (⁴⁄₅): It takes a little while to get your bento but the wait isn’t too bad. As I said, this place is designed to be a take out kind of business. You get your bento in a cute paper box and then you’re off to do whatever you want to do.
Price ($$): It’s a bit expensive depending on what you order, but it does take some work for them to make these bentos look neat and arrange the food nicely. It’s professional, so I believe you get what you pay for.
Worth revisiting?: Yes.

I love this place and come here at least once a week. Everything here is delicious and on point, I have never been disappointed. I especially love their sansai rice and karaage.

I think Gene Y. below summarized it the best.
Bentoss has better bento than Mitsuwa, Nijiya, or Marukai.
Bento here is not cheapest in the area but you are getting
yourself a hearty meal that tastes better than expected.
Also, it appears to be cooked-​to-​order operation so you
know you will be getting fresh bento. Not some bento
that sat in the fridge for who knows how long.
You will have to wait couple of minutes before the order is ready
but that’s a small price to pay.
If you are impatient, you can order online at
or
maybe call-​in your order.

I always order last. I can never make a decision, and I can never stick to the decision I made. Whatever I ordered looks good, but whatever I didn’t order looks great.
Bentoss was made for people like me. The variation is endless, and I really can have a little bit of everything. Korean BBQ Bento? Strips of bbq and slice of salmon for a midday surf n’ turf? Yes, yes please.
Maybe I really do want to try every last thing on the menu. Wafu Makunouchi it is. There’s a fried chunk of chicken for protein, and the cold, stew-​like combo of rice noodles and potatoes is surprisingly hearty. The tempura somehow never gets soggy, and the pickles and tamago are nice in-​between bites.
The boxes are well-​balanced, with just enough of anything and more than enough of everything to send one person into a midday food coma/​coffee nap.

I normally go to Mitsuwa for my bento boxes but when I’m feeling lazy to walk in there, BENTOSS is my go-​to! Going inside Mitsuwa is a struggle at times. Too crowded & long lines. Anyways, I’ve ordered from Bentoss a few times for lunch already and they always deliver! Not literally though. They take orders via walk-​ins, phone-​ins & online! The food quality here is consistent, and that’s enough to keep me wanting more. It’s not your typical sit-​down place. There’s only one table, two seater for a quick grub. Aside from that, there’s a couple of chairs for waiting. I just stay in the car or wait outside, or walk around Daiso – but leave your wallet in the car! HA! The orders take about 10 – 30 minutes, depending on how big your order is and if it’s during peak hours. I call in around 11 or 11:30 am & my boxes are made by the time I arrive. Make sure you ask them to repeat your orders back to you. One time, a friend of mine wanted only a box for himself & the lady misheard his order, and she was trying to charge him for 5 boxes! LOL
They’re easy to spot inside the Eastgate Plaza on Western Ave & Carson St. It’s right across Daiso and alongside Matsui and Torihei. Most of their customers work in the local businesses so that’s an advantage for them. They should consider taking delivery orders!

Great mix of healthy, tasty and selection of Japanese style bento.

I decided to try Bentoss a couple of days ago as it is was very close to home and I was not in the mood to drive to Teri’s Place or At Home Kitchen which are my go-​to places for Japanese food. Bentoss is located in the same plaza that hosts 85 Degree Café and a host of other Japanese restaurants. Parking here is always chaotic but available. Bentoss is like a pure to-​go place as it has only 4 chairs inside to wait for your food. The menu is long and there are a ton of options but most of them are pretty standard. At the peak lunch hour there were two people ahead of me who had ordered and were waiting for their food. I decided to get the Omucurry Bento ($ 8.99) which consists of a Japanese style omelette and rice along with curry, a shrimp tempura and a fried chicken. After ordering it was a 10 – 12 minute wait to get the food. It seems the food here is made to order which was a surprise as I was expecting a pre-​made bento box to be handed over to me. The food was nicely packed and the contents of the bento looked very appealing all of which showed the care that had gone into its preparation.
Taste wise the shrimp tempura and chicken were both good. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the Japanese style omelette and rice with curry. The rice was not neatly wrapped inside the omelette but instead had the omelette simply placed on top. The omelette itself was paper thin and overcooked so was devoid of any taste. The curry was just plain blah. Overall I thought it was just about OK and felt that there was significant scope for improving this dish. Price wise it was in line with what you would pay at other places. I guess I will be back only when I am not up to drive to one of my preferred places.

Bentoss is inside the shopping center with 85 and Daiso. I went with my ex husband and picked up three bentos for $ 21 plus.
You can substitute brown rice for free. There are plenty of options. It took about 10 minutes.

This is the new location for the shop that used to be at Pacific Square.
Strictly a take out place. There are 4 chairs to use while you wait for your order.
Our orders were exactly as pictured on the menu.
The taste is a little bland when comparing it to other bento shops.
Unlike some places, the bentos are prepared when you order them.
Fair value for the price and a good selection of bentos.

Lots of choices :) lots of healthy choices! And they give you a lot of food for the price. Definitely my favorite bento place :)

cheap!
it is really a lunch take out place… the food taste wise is ok

I am a fan of good food at an affordable price, and this place has it!
This is a to-​go only place with a good selection of healthy bentos for a good price and a good amount of food portions. Great service and food orders are fast too!
For $ 10.45 inc. tax, I got a nicely packaged bento box with a wide selection of food items including generous portions of wild vegetable rice, shrimp and pumpkin tempura, fried chicken, side dishes like kinpira gobo (chopped carrots and roots), nikujaga (potato meat stew), radish and potato salad! Yes, I can’t say the food itself is mind-​blowing, as you get what you pay for, but it definitely exceeded my expectations as a bento box in terms of quantity, variety, and presentation. My lunch from this place made me a happy camper that afternoon :)
Note: Not all bentos are nicely packed in the same green illustrated paper box, it depends on what you order.

Lots of Bento Box choices here. Definitely better Bento Boxes than at Mitsuwa, Nijiya Market, and Marukai.
You can order specific pieces of food in additional to your bento box. For example, tempura pumpkin, etc.
This location moved from Pacific Square.

Walked in at 11AM and proceeded to order the chicken karaage… the lady said it was sold out. I then said the chicken katsu… once again, sold out. Their hours state they open at 10:30… what time did I need to place my order for things not to be sold out?!? Maybe they had a mass order for those items just before I tried to place my order… if so, the lady just could’ve explained it that way. I went with chicken bento with the sauce held. Food’s nothing to rave about… it’s just ok.

I love me some bentos! Why? Cause I can get a little bit of everything. It’s basically a combo meal. It’s not always the best choice though because then that means the restaurant makes a lot of different dishes and the quality suffers. Many just make the food ahead of time or it’s just average stuff.
I almost didn’t try eating at Bentoss because they didn’t have any seating. I was looking for a place to eat lunch and popped my head in to see. Just waiting chairs. But I’m glad I decided to try it. It’s takeout only and they only have a counter to order at and a few chairs for waiting.
The menu is the usual wide variety of Japanese items. All combo meals and all made order by order. Which is great because my bento was made fresh and while it was made simply it was pretty good. A great choice for a bento! Just wish they had seating so that I could enjoy their freshly made bento there instead of having to wait til I got somewhere to sit.
Beef Sukiyaki Bento
This came with the beef sukiyaki, white rice, salad, potato salad, pickled ginger, and some veggies. All very simple stuff but well made and fresh. I can’t say that it will blow you away entirely, but it’s impressive that they make each one to order instead of giving food made previously in batches. I didn’t have tempura in mine, but my husband did so I of course snagged some. Usually that’s horrible in bentos but this was pretty darn good. Piping hot and definitely fried after we ordered it. The breading wasn’t too thick but it was crispy yet light (for fried breading). My beef sukiyaki was great and they added an ume (pickled plum) to the rice.
There’s something about eating off a compartmentalized tray that is really fun and touches back to childhood. Definitely will come back here to try out their menu items. So far way better quality than other bento places!!! Love that they make it all to order! And btw, pricing is still good too.

Nothing to write home about, but if you’re a fan of Japanese food and want a warm bento-​style meal this is a good place to come. Portions are fair, and the food seems pretty healthy with a lot of options. The first time I came I got the chicken Karaage and was very happy with the pricing and portions. The second time was for their big anniversary sale, and they had the Sansai Makunouchi on promotion for 50% off — it was worth the 50% price (good variety and taste) but didn’t quite fill me up.

Pacific Market (Marukai) by Sea Empress, Tea Station, etc used to be where Bentoss was located, inside in the food court. Pacific is going to close down on ⁸⁄₂ to get remodeled, so that’s a good thing. They moved next to Mitsuwa Market where the «Back home in Lahaina» was, it’s a small take out only place. Anyways, Bentoss is an authentic Japanese bento lunch place. A bento is a japanese packed meal, usually consists of rice, and a few different side items, and a typical authentic japanese meal is like their makunouchi bento lunches. But they make all the typical japanese lunch style foods, chicken karaage (fried chicken), tonkatsu (chicken or pork cutlet), curry, salmon bento, and i like their sansai rice, which is a seasoned rice with wild vegetables (different greens that are harvested in the forest in japan). And i like it not because it’s a huge lunch, but it’s made like a typical japanese lunch, with maybe a small salad, sometimes has japanese sides like hijiki, black seasoned seaweed, kimpira gobo, the carrot/​burdock root that’s a little sweet with sesame seeds, always good. It’s the little things like this that make it a real bento (japanese lunch box). Anyways, here’s a link to their menu and webpage.

They are in the mini mall corner of carson/​western avenues (north/​west corner) closer to mitsuwa. Prices are pretty reasonable, 7 – 10 dollar range for most typical lunches and a little higher for the larger makunouchi lunches. They also make party trays for catering or home parties. I do get a craving every now and then for a typical «japanesey» style lunch and this is where i go to fill it. Quality was always good and foods seem freshly made. Take out only, but if you have to eat it there, there are extra tables on the side inside Mitsuwa food court.

This business has moved from the Pacific Marukai Gardena, and opened in Torrance by Mitsuwa & Daiso on July 7, 2015. They have a variety of Bento boxes to go. Take-​out only, no dining space. I had #26 Chicken Karaage Nori Bento for $ 6.49. It was good and large portion. I’d rather get hot food from here with a little more money than buying small cold bento box from Mitsuwa. I will come back here. They have party trays as well. Credit cards are accepted.