JBento (Mount Pleasant)
A cosy neighbourhood bento joint with a huge array of customisable bento and Japanese favourites to choose from.
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Before reading ❗️
Who is this suited for?
Folks after a low-key and customisable Japanese bento box served with onigiri (rice balls) or noodles.
What type of food is available?
Trendy Japanese bento and donburi – with mains ranging from steak, to sashimi, to tempura.
What should I order?
- Miso Butter Steak Bento
- Lotus Crisps with Aonori
- Anything deep fried like their karaage squid and chicken wings (you can get their chicken wings for $5 for each purchase of two bentos)
- Extra serves of their potato salad (if you so desire).
How much will it cost?
- Bentos (main with salad, potato and onigiri) range from $15 – $25
- Donburi (main with rice) range from $12 – $20
- Sides range from $9 – $20.
Where is it?
In the commercial unit on Queen's Road in Mount Pleasant, around 5 minutes drive from Garden City Shopping Center.
The details 📝
Disclaimer
We were invited to dine at JBento, courtesy of The Wander Co. We did not pay for the food shown in this post. All opinions are ours.
We've visited JBento ever since they opened shop in 2013. Those with sharp memories might even remember their OG pop-up in Vic Park where The Sarapan currently operates from. JBento features a trendy, homey and low key decor - think Tokyo minimalistic. As the name implies, JBento, or "Japanese bento" serve a range of takeaway friendly bento which come in cute cardboard packaging. In the warmer months, a top tip from JBento is to take some bento to the nearby foreshore for a nice picnic.
JBento's miso butter steak has been one of their signature dishes since they first opened, featuring sliced scotch filet bathed in deliciously umami miso butter. It's important to spread the butter while the steak is still hot so that each piece is saturated with flavour.
Another staple order of ours is their aburi salmon, which features a generous portion of thickly sliced salmon sashimi, lightly torched and topped with kizami nori (shredded seaweed) and mayo. We often like to swap out the onigiri in this bento with their matcha soba (an additional $4 to swap) for a bit of variety. The matcha soba comes with their soba dipping sauce that is chilled, making it a very refreshing pick for summer time .
The lotus crisps sprinkled with aonori (green seaweed) is freshly deep fried and well seasoned. They're incredibly tasty and very addictive.
It's essential to finish off every JBento experience with their mizu shingen mochi (known as a water drop cake) which is a traditional Japanese confectionary made of water and agar. JBento embeds theirs with a blooming cherry blossom, and served with kinako powder (dried soybean powder) and brown sugar syrup. It doesn't taste overly sweet and makes for a very delicate and beautiful dessert.
Before visiting 🚙
Anything else I should know before visiting?
- It is a relatively small space so it is recommended that you call beforehand to reserve a table, particularly if you're coming in a big group
- JBento does Japanese breakfast on Saturday mornings with bookings essential
- An online ordering system is available if you wish to pre-order your bento for take-away.
What's the address?
Where do I park?
There is street parking available on Queens Road and The Promenade.
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