Bento Box

I had a general idea of what a bento box was, though I had never had one. I had NO IDEA that bentos in Hawaii are so big!! Hubby called me and asked if I wanted lunch from Mickey Ds or a bento from the new Kiawe Grill. I figured a bento was like a plate lunch in a box. (One day I will have to write a post on plate lunch for everyone that doesn't live on the island.) But if I thought plate lunch was big, holy moly, this was really big! A bento box is a Japanese boxed lunch that is meant for one person. But in Hawaii, the bento is not limited to just Japanese food. This bento came with chicken, beef, pork katsu, fish, mandoo (dumplings), spam, and mac salad. This was served over a mountain of rice. I passed on the mac salad. If you can imagine mac salad being flavorful, this was it. I took a couple of bites, and gave it to Hubby because there was so much else to eat! The kiawe grill (also the name of the restaurant) makes a difference in the food. The meat is seared over live flames below the Korean grill. Kiawe wood deepens the flavor of the meat, and actually makes it much healthier than cooking the meat in a pan or in an oven. Mmm...ono! Kiawe Grill just opened their third restaurant on my side of the island! It is one of those local places that people love!