2012 Memorial Day Weekend Take-Out Bento (Japanese Lunch Box)
One of the great things about living in Southern California is that we have a number of Japanese take-out bento restaurants that are within our reach.
On Saturday morning we woke up and decided to take a quick trip to the beach and pick-up bento at a Japanese take-out restaurant that we like to visit occasionally, Betoss. Every month they usually have a special on a different bento, or Japanese lunch box. Our favorite is the $4.99 chicken teriyaki special. It’s a bargain, and it tastes great.
The chicken teriyaki bento comes with rice, umeboshi (pickled plum), chicken with bell peppers, Japanese style potato salad garnished with a tomato and kaiware daikon (radish sprouts), tsukemono (pink pickled radish), and a small side dish of gobo – ninjin aemono (burdock root and carrot appetizer).
Right next to Bentoss is the Mitsuwa Marketplace (Japanese supermarket), and there, we picked-up some inari sushi, or what we like to call “footballs” in our family. It’s sweet fried tofu wrappers with sushi rice inside.
While not homemade, sometimes, a simple take-out bento can hit the spot and make for a nice picnic outdoors.
While it was clear, blue skies and white sandy beaches at Newport Beach, the weather turned a little cool and breezy. We quickly ate our chicken teriyaki bento, put on our hoodies (because Bebe E and I just got over being sick), made sand castles, looked for sea shells, caught sand crabs and headed home for a nap. It was a nice Saturday picnic at the beach.
In the future, I’ll share Bebe E’s bento that I make for her sometimes. It’s simple, usually involves leftovers but it’s always a hit with her.
Happy Wednesday!
Judy
Bentoss Take-Out
675 Paularino Ave. #3
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714.444.3401
