Chorney-Booth: Bento lunches outside the box — celebrating the symbol of Japanese culture and friendship

If someone makes you a homemade lunch, they likely really care about you. This is as true in Japan as anywhere else.

Case in point: a month ago, on May 20, I spent my morning in the kitchen of the Japanese Consulate-General, watching resident chef Keisuke Oyama scoop rice from an enormous rice cooker into 40 takeout containers, placing sheets of nori, minced soboro chicken, sesame-dressed spinach, and scrambled eggs on top. Additional staff and Consul-General Takehiko Wajima himself worked to finish each bento lunch with chunks of teriyaki chicken, cherry tomatoes and a few other garnishes.

These Japanese ambassadors weren't making lunch for a fancy reception or a group of dignitaries scheduled to visit the Consulate. Rather, the rice bowls were prepared as gifts for the officers and staff at the Calgary Police Service District 3 station. The meal was intended as a token of gratitude for the work CPS does for the city (including the citizens and businesses that make up Calgary's Japanese community) and a way to share Japanese culture with Canadians.

The act of friendship was particularly meaningful to Consul-General Wajima, who was posted in New York City in 2001 during the events of 9/11. That experience — and the way the city rallied around those risking their lives in public service — left a lasting impression on him, spurring an ongoing commitment to creating connections with first responders.

“I witnessed so many firefighters and police officers sacrifice their lives to try to save people, so I really like to do something for those in service,†Wajima says. “We wanted them to enjoy our bentos.â€

The rice bowls prepared by Wajima's team may not look like what most Canadians consider a “bento.†Typically, the North American idea consists of a segmented lacquered box — known as a makunouchi — with each compartment filled with rice, salad, sushi, and other Japanese items. The term is so connected to the box, similarly segmented lunch vessels packed with peanut butter sandwiches, raw veggies, and Goldfish crackers are typically called “bentos†even when there's no Japanese food in the equation (the concept has been particularly popular with parenting bloggers over the past decade or so).

As it turns out, Westerners have only been getting a small part of the bento story. As Wajima's economic analyst, Yuuki Ito, tells me, in Japan, a “bento†is any type of portable lunch. The Consulate-General's sanshoku (i.e. “tri-colourâ€) bento is marked by its bright vegetables and minced meat and eggs, whereas ekiben bentos are lunches sold at Japanese train stations, and kyaraben feature items styled as cartoonish characters. In Japan, essentially any packed lunch qualifies as a bento.

“It's basically about convenience,†Ito says. “When you're having lunch to go, you'll take a bento. It's almost synonymous with the word ‘lunch.' â€

The Consulate-General plans to continue sending lunches to first responders, including both police and fire stations. For the rest of us, there are plenty of Japanese restaurants in town that are happy to sell bento-style lunches. Here are just a few options:

Globefish Sushi

The menus at the city's various Globefish locations vary, but most offer a good lunchtime bento option. Globefish Kensington (332 14th St. N.W.) is particularly bento-focused, with an all-day bento menu featuring six different options. Choose boxes full of rice, salad, and combinations of sushi, teriyaki, agedashi tofu, and other goodies.

Takumi Sushi

Takumi Sushi's original location (150 Crowfoot Cres. N.W.) is a longstanding northwest favourite and now the restaurant has opened a second location in the southwest at 30 Springborough Blvd S.W. The lunch bento boxes come with salad and sushi and choices including gyoza, tempura, or sashimi, as well as beef, chicken, or tofu over rice (my advice is to go for the tofu — it is delicious).

Tokyo Street Market

The multiple Tokyo Street Market locations are all a little different from one another, but they've each mastered the art of inexpensive and convenient Japanese meals, channelling the spirit of the broader category of bentos. While you won't necessarily find the classic makunouchi bentos (though they are on the menu at the Macleod location), there are plenty of grab-and-go meals, rice bowls, and other lunch-worthy takeaway items.

Lonely Mouth Pineapple Hall

For a quick downtown bento lunch, the Lonely Mouth location in Pineapple Hall (#205, 225 7th Ave. S.W.) offers a quick service “Build Your Own Bento†option. Lunchers can choose a katsu sando (chicken, pork, or cauliflower), one type of tempura, a sushi hand roll, and a vegetable side, all for $23.

Nanao Kimono

You can't eat a bento lunch at this lovely Japanese giftware shop at 215A 10th St. N.W., but you will be able to find the perfect box to pack your own homemade bento lunch. Boxes range from elegant woodgrain cases for adults to cute and colourful plastic boxes adorned with illustrations of adorable shiba inu dogs.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at elizabooth@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @elizabooth or sign up for her newsletter at hungrycalgary.substack.com.

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