The Bento Box

Just returned from a satisfying meal at the Bento Box.

The Bento Box occupies a small storefront on Armitage with about 8 tables and a pick up counter. The menu is on a blackboard and consists of 5 or 6 entrees, a couple of vegetables, and might be described as Pan-Asian through a Japanese lens. We started with potstickers, which were fresh, but otherwise ordinary and went onto two bento boxes. The Jidori chicken itself was excellent, juicy and flavorful with well caramelized skin. The accompanying curry had a bright lime flavor and nice body. The Pork Katsu was also very good with a greaseless panko crust. It was somewhat odd to eat udon in a bento box, the broth was good, but it end up being cooler than desirable. The rice was fluffy, and accompanying vegetables with both dishes were good as well.

My take is that Bento Box does exactly what it sets out to do. It provides tasty, well balanced food, not the kind that knocks your socks off, but thoughtful and well executed enough to eat regularly.


Bento Box
2246 West Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL
(773) 278-3932

For lunch today, I picked up bulgogi tacos ($9) from Bento Box. 2 flour shells overstuffed with rice/bulgogi/red cabbage/micro greens and served with egg salad, kimchi cabbage and cuke sides. The bulgogi was well caramelized and flavorful.

The limited menu also included $2 mini bulgogi tacos, a curry and BBQ beef bulgogi as mains ($12, IIRC.)

I ate at bento box today and really enjoyed my lunch of bul gogi. My son had the pork belly soup with chiccerones sp?. Not sure if I spelled it right. It is a very small place with barely enough room for ten people to sit down and no counter space. it has a really limited menu at least at lunch. I think it had three or four items on a black board. very minimalist. It is not a traditional korean meal with all the dishes of kimchi and pickles but its served in a bento box. really tasty asian slaw, kimchi and potato salad along with white rice with meat. I think its a bit pricey but very tasty. My criticism would be that they only offer water and tea for drinks which I thought was very limited and not to my liking. Other than that it was good.

We had an excellent meal at Bento Box last night. About 20 seats were full on Saturday around 9pm. Highlights included the Tempura Spicy Tuna roll and the Red Chile Chicken with Singapore Noodles. Though the Crispy Calamari were perfectly cooked, we found the sauce a bit too sweet for our tastes. A bit of heat, or perhaps just less sauce, would be better. The bison steak bibimbop (with shishito peppers and house made bacon) was quite good as well.

Portions are large, which, combined with BYOB, certainly cut against the prices of entrees. The restaurant is a great neighborhood spot, and we look forward to returning.

Bento Box is still churning out excellent food (albeit from a limited menu). Yesterday, we shared the pork belly curry as well as the ubiquitous red chili chicken and Singapore noodle. Both were great, with bold flavors and textures. They were out of the green curry mussels, unfortunately.

If you haven't yet been, it's still strongly recommended.