Try a Japanese-style faux bento box

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/29/try-a-japanese-style-faux-ben.html

1 Like

Maybe look for a metal one over plastic? Can be harder for the kids top open but they’ll last forever and can be recycled.

8 Likes

Stainless is awesome. Only downside is that you can’t reheat your lunch with a microwave (which is probably not an issue for a child’s lunch). It has been my barrier to buying a nice stainless tiffin for my lunches.

4 Likes

What’s faux about this bento box?

9 Likes

I use something similar and have one suggestion: I often put a sandwich in one side, cold stuff in the other - meaning I separate them with one going in the fridge when I get to work. But the band that comes with is only useful for holding the two sections and the lid together as a whole. Separate them and you have a lid that just falls off and there go your utensils.

I recommend picking up an adjustable silicone band of some type, for holding together both and single boxes when needed. Mine looks like a little vine, with the leaves acting like buttons. (I’ll post a photo later, but can’t find an image online. I bought it at Oomomo.)

1 Like

Flickr “bento porn”:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?group_id=396900%40N24&view_all=1&text=

Yeah, this is a tiffin vs bento smackdown, I think.

I’ve been using tiffins for years. We are not a microwave-using family. Plus, plastics are well documented bad actors re human endocrine system health. NB: if you live in the U.S., only some bad actor plastics and plasticizers have been banned. If you live in Europe, your governments care more your health and these kinds of things.

So, stainless steel, yes please.

4 Likes

Bentgo makes glass bento boxes that have dividers, microwave safe, pretty cool. I own one, admittedly haven’t used it yet.

3 Likes

Nothing, it is a bento box. It’s a general term for a meal box that is divided into compartments, they don’t have to be made of laquered wood.Just as a Tiffin box is anything that is stackable but most commonly are round and made of metal. I prefer tiffin boxes because you can use them for soup but bento works better if you need to carry it in a backpack. The other advantage is that the handle on the tiffin box is easy to hang from the handle bar of your moto.

2 Likes

Yeah, I wonder what his imagined criteria for a ‘real’ bento box are. Do they have to be awash in kawaii?

4 Likes

what should i fill it with though? i’m incredibly depressed and just ate thai curry takeout because i was too lazy to make a cheese sandwich. please send help

+1 for “faux” being superfluous. These are just called a 弁当箱 (bentobako) here in Japan, no qualifier necessary. See: 1 2 3

2 Likes

19 posts were split to a new topic: On the etiquette of break rooms

That was not what I was expecting…

Old meme incoming:

I’m looking for a bento box, it cant be pinku (that’s Japanese for pink) or any girl color. It has to be of 2 or more kotoba (that’s Japanese for 2 compartments) and has be be chibi (small) sized. And has to be really kawaii (cute). Also It has to be about 10-20 bux. And you have to post pics of it first (i want to make shure it’s kawaii [cute]). And it would be nice if it came with matching chopstick holder (WITH chopsticks). OH! and it CANNOT have any cartoon pictures, or be made out of plastic. It has to be made of ceramic, or something like that. Also it would be nice if it was made in japan. and not in china or corea (Korea) or whatever. I have found a bento box similar to the one im describing in e-bay, but it was 1 kotoba, and i don’t want my gohan (rice) to touch my other things (it can get wet and i would not like that, plus 2 compartments looks more kawaii)

There are no chopsticks.

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.