Bento! #267: Tonkatsu meshi from the neighborhood bentou-ya

It's large and it's yum. Comes with a bunch of stuff as well -- potato/ham salad, some seaweeds, and a cabbage bedding.

And tonkatsu sauce and mustard, of course! Forgot how much this was, but it was totally worth it. I think it was around 600 yen.

Bento! #266: Cafeteria Tan-Tan Men + Gyoza

Thanks to Okada san for the photo.

I actually ordered this again on another day because I forgot to take a photo of it when I ate it with the tantanmen.

Perfect combination. Forgot the prices though, but I'm sure this is all around 500 yen only. 

Also, I forgot if they call the ramen as tantanmen or "Taiwan ramen."

Incidentally, today is also a "perfect combination" : 13.4.4 (April 4, 2013). 1+3 = four / 4 / 四 / よん / yon, which is sometimes pronounced as shi, as in "April" / 四月 / しがつ / shigatsu, which is the same pronunciation as for "death" in both Chinese and Japanese and so... it's an unlucky number in Chinese (like they don't have floors with the number 4 in their buildings). But it's not so much like that for Japanese (like they have 4th, 14th, 24th, 34th, and 40th to 49th floors, etc.).

Bento! #265: Fried Xiao Long Bao

510 yen for 6 pieces of this 上海名物 / shanhai meibutsu / Shanghai specialty that's sold at this small store in Machida, Tokyo. And about a 15 minute wait?

Bento! #264: Canned sardines in miso sauce

I think this was around 105 yen at the supermarket? You can also find these at your local 100-yen store (e.g. Daiso).

 いわし / iwashi = sardine. 味 = miso. And that other kanji... :D

Pretty good. I've always hesitated trying this because I thought it might be too sweet. It is sweet, but it's not too sweet.

Just to show you that this is not an easy-open can with the tab, like on their canned tuna here. Atypical in Japan.

Bento! #263: Party sushi + pizza!

We had a farewell lunch for one of our colleagues here and this is what we had. I love sushi and pizza!

Oh, the suspense!

More photos when you click the "Read more" link!

Bento! #262: Gyuu Suki？ Bentou

"New!!" From 3F.

牛 / gyuu = beef. And... you know sukiyaki, right? This is that except it's not yaki because it's not heated in a metal pan. I forgot how to read the 2nd kanji (4th character above)!

Yummy!

Bento! #261: Canned tuna + cole slaw = quick meal for a busy guy :D

This is larger than the usual canned tuna, good for 1 meal for me. It's actually シーチキン / shii chikin / sea chicken / chicken of the sea; i.e. skipjack tuna. This is probably around 300 yen from the supermarket. I love canned tuna. :D

Kooru suroo sarada / コールスローサラダ / cole slaw salad. 'nuff said.

Bento! #260: Buta Roosu Yaki Niku Bentou

"New!!" From 3F.

Buta / ぶた / 豚 = pig. ロース / roosu = "roast," but it actually means more like a certain slice of pork usually used for tonkatsu. 焼 / やき / yaki = grilled or (teppan-)fried. 肉 / にく / niku = meat. And of course, bentou / べんとう / 弁当 = "lunch box."

Bento! #259: Canned "Akebono" Pink Salmon

Pretty good. I forgot how much -- maybe under 300 yen from the supermarket. By the way, I don't know what akebono means. Maybe.. "dawn"?

Bento! #258: Hambaagu to Ebi Pureeto

A.k.a. hamburger plus shrimp plate. I think this was 440 yen from the school cafeteria. Comes with demi glace sauce, the shrimps are fried breaded ones, plus there's a ball of potato salad, and some salad greens. Not the best in the world, but good enough to satisfy my craving for variety. I also don't like potato salads, macaroni salads, and egg salads. To me, those aren't salads. Oh well.

Bento! #257: Fruits from...

...the Philippines! Love 'em. They're healthy, too.

Painappuru / パイナップル

Banana / バナナ

They're not exactly large. This one's 128 yen I think though I usually get the 98 yen ones.

Bento! #256: Sarada Maki

There was some event one Sunday (last February 3, 2013 to be exact), and I didn't know what it was nor heard of anything about it. But they had a ton of maki (or rolls; more commonly known as sushi rolls) of different kinds at the supermarket. So I got me the "salad roll" / サラダ巻 which was a pretty good meal.

Bento! #255: Iwashi Furai (Fried Breaded Sardines)...F

From the supermarket. I don't know what that lone kanji means.

This was pretty good, but obviously it's "fishy-er" than canned sardines. I love canned/preserved sardines though and this is the first time I had relatively fresher sardines. I can say I love sardines. And (fried) fish in general.

Chokoreeto! #22: Dars Almond

The Japanese actually says ダース　クラッシュ アーモンド / daasu kurasshu aamondo / Dars Crush(ed) Almond. I, just recently, have told you about this phenomenon.

Bento! #254: Spam + Nori + Rice = Spam Musubi?

This was around 450 yen at the supermarket. I wanted the "low sodium" one, but it wasn't available when I went to the supermarket.

+

I bought the cheapest one with 5 packs of this size. I think it was not more than 200 yen for the 5-pack bundle.

+

rice

=

??

Bento! #253: Tori Tatsutaage Bentou + Hakusai Kimuchi

鳥竜田揚げ弁当

498 yen from 3F. They say it's "new," but I feel like I've had this (and blogged about it) before. I did eat it with hakusai (literally, "white vegetable," or Chinese cabbage) kimuchi (Korean kimchi), 158 yen also from 3F. Here's the inside of the kimchi cup:

白菜キムチ

I like kimchi. :D  Meanwhile, here's the "new" fried chicken bento, ready to be devoured by yours truly:

It came with black & white sesame seed sprinkled rice, and a carrot-tofu-spinach (mini) side salad.

Bento! #252: Ebi Tendon

Or 海老天丼 / Shrimp Tempura Rice Bowl. From 3F. Pretty good. There's just two pieces of ebi tenpura though, and the rest are veggie tempura like nasu / eggplant, renkon / lotus root, and kabocha / pumpkin tempura. Oh and I think there's a squid tempura in there too.

Bento! #251: Salmon Roe / Caviar and Clam Onigiri

From 3F. Pretty good. Comes with matching orange-colored pickled radish. いくら / ikura = salmon roe (or caviar). しじみ / shijimi = clam?

Note that ikura also means "how much."

Bento! #250: Dinner from the nearby bentou-ya

I've seen this place many, many times before. And now, after almost 3 years, is the only time I ever tried to order here. Bentou-ya / 弁当屋 means "bento (lunch box / packed lunch) shop." This is almost the equivalent of the "carenderia" and "turo-turo" (small mom-and-pop or hole-in-the-wall restaurants) in the Philippines.

This exact bentou-ya, more specifically, is ほかほか弁当 / hokahoka bentou, which literally translates to "warm lunch."

6 more photos below!

Chokoreeto! #21: Lotte Almond (the regular variety)

I sort of became more lax on my dark-chocolates-only diet... :D