*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a complimentary eARC for review purposes*
 
A fun and interesting introduction to Bento. I love seeing others creations and this book has given me the tools I need to give it a try myself. 
I loved the pictures and just wish there were more of them.

I found this book to be so fun and exciting. I loved the recipes and they seemed like they will be simple to do as well as artistic. I smiled while looking through the photos of the colorful balanced bento boxes. I like that you can use different kinds of boxes and you can be creative with the small meals you put in the boxes. I liked that there were many recipes I just wish there was a photo for every recipe. I want to know how each one is suppose to look. I am thankful it included a history of the boxes and the stables that someone may want to have when making them.

While I'm clearly never going to start dedicating my mornings to making bento boxes, there were some really good tips and recipes in here (plus the bentos pictured look AMAZING). It definitely made me think that I should start putting more effort into my husband's packed lunches, even if just on occasion.

This is a really inspiring and accessible bento cookbook with useful recipes and ideas for Japanese cooking. I’m often intimidated by bento but this makes it seem a lot easier!

Thank you Netgalley/Quarto/Race Point for my ARC.

Bento is a very well curated and developed recipe collection for Japanese style make-ahead lunches. Taken from content originally published in 2018, this reformatted condensed version is due out 1st Sept 2020 from Quarto on their Race Point imprint. It's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an updated introduction to bento for westerners. Bento can be healthy and tasty with eye appeal, organization, variety, and portion control in one package. This collection also shows that it doesn't need to be very time consuming or difficult.

The introduction includes suggestions and tutorials for basic bento followed by chapters arranged roughly thematically: classic Japanese bento, sushi & onigiri, noodles, popular bento, 10 minute lunches, rice and grain bowls, vegan choices, special occasions and side dishes (and partial recipes).

The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard with metric/SI units in parentheses (yay!). Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Most of the ingredients are easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store.

Well written and organized, this could be a fun addition to the lunchbox repertoire. It would also lend itself very well to fans of meal planning or once-a-week-cooking. Most of these recipes make several servings which could easily be used for a week's lunch planning. I've been avoiding buying food at the cafe at work during the pandemic and these recipes have provided good mileage for avoiding boring lunches at work for me.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was a great introduction to Bento for me. I'm fairly familiar with bento, but haven't made a huge effort to work on bento boxes -- however I think bento lends itself to be a refreshed iteration of a charcuterie board for me, and I'm excited to try to merge the two. While there are a few recipes with ingredients I'd have to be on the hunt for, there are recipes that I'm super happy to make with ingredients I normally have on hand (antipasto bento,  quinoa salad bento, etc).  #Bento #NetGalley

When life for the entire universe and planet turns on its end and like everyone else you "have nothing to do" while your place of work is closed and you are continuing to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation,  superspeed readers like me can read 250+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today. And it is way too hot to go outside, so why not sit in from of the blasting a/c and read and review books??  BTW - stay home and save lives!!!!!!!! No tan is worth dying for.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

From the creators of the website Japanese Cooking 101, Bento (a newly reformatted edition of Simply Bento) is a complete collection of over 50 delicious and healthy box lunch ideas for everyone in the family. 

Ready to make lunch quick, easy, and tasty? Japanese bento boxes are single-portion packed lunches, perfect for anyone looking to save money and eat a balanced, satisfying meal for lunch every single day.

Bento features over 100 healthy and delicious recipes—including mains and sides—that you can make every day of the week and mix and match using a combination of traditional and nontraditional ingredients. Learn about different types of bento boxes and accessories, how to assemble your box and everyday items you will need in your pantry, as well as how to plan ahead so that your morning prep is a breeze.

Bento shows you the finer points of bento-making, and there is something for everyone: 
**Classic Japanese Bento
**Sandwich Bento 
**Sushi and Onigiri Bento
**Noodle Bento
**Popular Japanese Bento
**10-Minute Bento Rice
**Grain Bowl Bento
**Low-Carb Bento
**Vegan Bento
**Bento for Special Occasions (including for the first day of school and Halloween!)
**Bento at Home 

So, if you're in the mood for Chicken Teriyaki, Ramen, Shrimp Avocado Pasta Salad, Cauliflower Fried Rice, Falafel, Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Tempura, or Chicken Nuggets (for the kids), Bento has the recipes—plus much more!

One reason I have never liked lunch is that it is usually sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches - that might make Joey Tribbiani happy but not me as my stomach only likes fermented doughs  This book is amazing as it has so many ideas that will work for any eating plan or diet. Great recipes, wonderful photos and endless opportunities to make some amazing meals.

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube  Millionaires/etc. " on Instagram and Twitter... Get a real job, people!) so let's give it 🍱🍱🍱🍱🍱
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