We were in Nagoya for a work conference and for each day of the main conference, we would each pick up a bento box and juice/tea box for lunch. Now these were clearly mass produced bento boxes (they would have required about 1000 bento boxes per day) but the quality and variety of the food in each box was astounding.
On the first day, we received this beauty. It was a bit rice heavy but the fried fish, prawn (I got a second because my colleague couldn’t eat hers) and little hamburger were lovely. Everything was delicious.
Our second bento was in the most beautiful box that I even managed to keep and bring back to London (after emptying out the food covered dividers!). Again there were three lots of rice but this was improved by having one of the rices cooked together with carrots and mushrooms. The sweet included in the top right corner was a curiosity – two large beans cooked in syrup! In the top left, there was an excellent braised tofu bundle filled with vegetables. Of all the bentos we had at that conference, I liked this one the best.
The bentos handed out on the third and last day had one of its rices in the form of a Nagoya speciality – tenmusu, an onigiri with a prawn tempura in it. This last box was a bit fried-heavy (the tenmusu, the prawn, pork in the middle and karaage in the top left corner) but just look at the designs printed on the food dividers!
We even got a taste of ekiben, the railway bentos that can only be purchased at train stations or at special ekiben fairs. After our time in Nagoya, we took the shinkansen to Tokyo and while I bought this katsu-sando (most convenient for a train journey where you’ve not got a tray because your suitcase is in the way)….
….my colleague purchased this chicken yakitori ekiben that’s one of the specialities of Nagoya. He said it was brilliant.
I only wish there had been more time and more stomach space for me to try more bentos on this trip!
Wed, 23 Oct, 2013 at 22:45
Yum! Love the teeny paper dividers. Interesting that the bentos were all so rice-heavy, where here in the States grains of all kinds are looked upon very unfavorably (well, not by ME, but by many people I know!).
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:26
I ate A LOT of rice in Japan! Loved every grain!
Thu, 24 Oct, 2013 at 10:38
Reblogged this on MAXIMUSOPTIMUSDOMINUS and commented:
Bentos Japan : : :
Thu, 24 Oct, 2013 at 10:52
Japanese bentos are so tasty and visually stunning. The katsu sando is one of my favourite! The last time I flew out of Japan we took them onto the plane to eat instead of the inflight meal – best choice ever.
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:28
Ooooh, I wish I’d thought of that! Hehe, we spent most of our time at the airport shopping!
Thu, 24 Oct, 2013 at 11:21
These all look so amazing! Just got back from a trip to Japan where I ate a number of ekibens and I wish I’d had enough room in my suitcase to take home the containers, some were so nice!
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:29
They’re beautiful, aren’t they? I stuffed a whole lot of my work junk into mine and then packed it into my suitcase.
Thu, 24 Oct, 2013 at 15:23
Delicious..:-)
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:31
They were amazing!
Thu, 24 Oct, 2013 at 22:20
Su-Lin, I love Japan and bentos! So lovely and fun to explore…
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:31
I really miss Japan… I want to go back!
Fri, 25 Oct, 2013 at 06:50
so jealous – inducing. the Japanese are such geniuses with food and their bentos!
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:39
I love them. I’m perhaps slightly concerned about the amount of packaging they use for everything though…
Fri, 25 Oct, 2013 at 21:35
They look amazing. No comparison with the stuff I have seen sold as sushi in Munich. I wish I could be beamed to japan…
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:46
Oooh, you would have loved even the prepacked sushi at the convenience stores… I loved those Japanese convenience stores…
Wed, 30 Oct, 2013 at 02:52
Loving your Japan posts!
Tue, 5 Nov, 2013 at 11:48
Thank you! I’m really enjoying writing them as well!
Sat, 23 Nov, 2013 at 04:20
japanese bentos always look and taste amazing, wish I could present my pack ed lunch as much!