Actually chef Brandon says traditional Japanese bento, such as his, is made with transport time in mind (both flavor-wise and temperature-wise).
I ate mine right away only because I was ravenous, but really the bento is designed to travel up to 30 minutes without impairment of the experience.
damnā¦
Wife feared starving to death on the 2 hr 20 min ride from Kyoto to Tokyo.
Me? A couple of smuggled (legally) onboard beers and Iām good to go until we actually hit Shinjuku and fresh prepped eats.
Survival of the fattestā¦ er I mean fittest.
From their website:
We spend all morning cooking in order to ensure that everything tastes great exactly when you arrive, so we strongly recommend eating immediately after pickup
Perhaps a silly question, but is it possible to consume on premises?
Not silly at all.
And the answer is Yes! (Provided thereās a vacant seat among the 8 available at the bar).
Plenty of seating outside on the ROW DTLA campus. Millennial central.
Now only available Fridays and Saturdays
Yup, i donāt think he is increasing how many he is making either.
When do they release new dates for the Bento boxes?
This is wonderful recognition for someone who truly enjoys their craft and sharing it with the world.
@PorkyBelly Great read! Thanks for linking/sharing!
@moonboy403 Based on what I can see, Iād assume its working in a similar way to how his dinner reservations are set up. For the April 12 reservations (Friday), Iād try being on Resy at April 11 (Thursday) at 11:59 PM and waiting for midnight. Probably easier than an n/naka reservation at least haha. In fact, I see availability on Saturday, April 6, right now!
Thanks for the heads up! Reserved two just nowā¦we can eat there right?
Wow, looks like you might have been one of the last ones! All booked up now.
Itās been a while since Iāve had the bento but I would guess as long as thereās seating Iām sure it shouldnāt be a problem. However, given that its now only being served twice a week and every other day is fully booked out, perhaps you could email and ask? I always enjoy sitting at the counter when Iām there, whether its lunch or dinner.
Alternatively, just arrive early and you could see him put the finishing touches on the final bento. Thatās what happened with me when I went but, again, it has been a while and he was doing more of the bento at that time. That time, only one person picked up and everyone else just sat at the counter. If it doesnāt work out, thereās always plenty of space in the Row complex.
http://www.hayatorestaurant.com/faq/
Is there somewhere to eat the bento on site?
Due to the fact that we make more bento than we have seats, all orders are made to be taken away, but there are plentiful tables and outdoor seating areas at ROW where you can enjoy your bento. Part of the reason we decided on a takeout concept at lunch was to take advantage of the outdoor peace and serenity that ROW has to offer. Eating a bento in the shade under the big tree at the end of our building is a wonderful way to escape the commotion of DTLA.
Bummer!
So I was being dumb, tired, or both. For future reference, youād wait on a Friday night at 11:59 pm to get the latest Friday reservations, same as the policy/instructions for dinner reservations. Sorry for the confusion!
There were still some solo dining open slots for dinner available on Resy as of a few days agoā¦
Lunch #2 right after dining at Majordomo
Chef Go is a true craftsman. Every component, with the exception of the slightly overcooked scallop, is excellent. There are plenty of flavor variations in the 16 items so there isnāt a single dull moment. Lastly, I do want to mention that the snow crab claw here, unlike what I had at Majordomo, is is cooked perfectly.
