Imari Bento in Mapunapuna

Last time i went to Ranch about 2 weeks ago, they were closed and all the signage was gone… now what for awesome bentos?

This is some of the best Japanese food on the Island. The service is above and beyond. Every time I come I’m greeted by my first name. Amazing food an amazing service.

Spicy chicken bowl is a winner!

This is my most favorite bento place! We’ve been stalking them since their Keeumoku location. We usually call ahead since we like to customize our bentos and since we hear they don’t offer all their items every day. $ 7.50 for 1 item, $ 9 for 2 items, and $ 10.50 for 3 items. Get the 3 items! Such a deal! Everything is good! The karaage, the korean chicken, the salmon, saba, fried fish! My favorites are their tonkatsu and the American style hamburger steak. The lady who answers the phone is so nice; always telling me thank you! It’s very nice to feel so appreciated. :) We even used them to cater a party. They offer free delivery with a minimum. How convenient is that??? They also offer a selection of ready made bentos and bowls, but those seem to get wiped out fast! One thing that makes me sad is that they no longer serve their super yummy Japanese style potato salad with their bentos. Oh well, better for my waist line.

Okazu items are no longer offered. BUT the bentos are still as good as I remember. I love that they include brown rice in most of their bentos and prices are so cheap for what you get. I usually grab the mixed bento with includes fish, chicken, and nimono. The only downside to taking my bento home is that sometimes the breading on the fish gets soggy. Maybe they need to cool down the food longer before assembling the bentos? In any case, I still love Imari Bento for offering simple, yet yummy and comforting food. I will definitely be back soon.

$ 7.50 (incl tax) for the Original Mix Bento (includes furikake rice, korean chicken, and potato croquette.
Yummy & filling.
Perfect for a lunch bento pick-​up!
CASH ONLY (but there are ATMs in the marketplace)

Sadly, I can’t even comment on the food because even tho I would like to try this place, but have called to make an order from work, TWICE, and both times were told that they were not taking orders. I asked what days they did take orders, and the rude lady says, «on any normal day». I ask, «what days are the normal days»? She says, «just not today». Maybe they are busy doing catering? But it’s not like I was making a 50 plate order or anything. I guess you really just have to go there and pick something off the counter? I don’t know, but the rude telephone conversation put me off. Maybe one day, when I have nothing better to do, and no where else to go, right?

$ 5 (tax INCLUDED) bentos?!
Yummy in my tummy without hurting my wallet!
Cheap. Lifesaving. Goodness.

I’m telling ya, see the difference service with a smile… and maybe cutting of a few loose strings… can do? It’ll earn you two more Unilocalalicious stars, that’s what it’ll do!
Last Friday, I was in a bento-​y mood and wanted to try my luck again. According to my horoscope, I was having a shitty day, but I’m a Taurus so I decided not to listen to that BS and went on an adventure down the road to Mapunapuna for my favorite mixed bento. if they had it, that is.
Luckily, Obaachan was working the register looking all pretty with her spread of dozens of bento just waiting to be purchased. Oh man. It was like they read my review and decided to counter it back.
I felt like testing them again today because Blimpie’s was closed for renovations. What a fooking mess that gas station is. Geeze. So I took the drive down to Moanalua 99, parked right up front (a miracle at 12 noon) and walked in.
I almost bursted into tears seeing the counter just flowing with brand new bentos being put out. I almost shit bricks when Obaachan was pulling her friendliness card out. How could I resist giving her 5 stars?
Not when her chicken/​korokke mixed bentos are the BEST. Today it was white rice, but I’ll let it slide because they put planny pickles and ume boshi and furkikake on top. Yum!
Only thing was missing was the tonkatsu sauce they normally serve with the korokke.
Besides that, this meal was perfection. Especially after being out in the sun for 3 hours shooting pictures of heavy equipment. I basically needed this bento to live.
And here I am, telling you this story. Its hard to refute my claim because what if I didn’t have it? I wouldn’t be reviewing this place, that’s for certain!
Review #022/​365

OMG!!! I have died and gone to bento heaven! If you are in dire need of some bento in your life, satisfy it with Imari!
I haven’t been here for a while since they moved from there keeaumoku store. For a while I was heartbroken because I thought I lost this place. But again thanks to Unilocal I have them back in my life!
I went here for lunch today to order their infamous salmon plate and let me tell you it is the salmon of all salmon! I got a mixed plate that cost $ 8.50 and the portions are huge! I got a salmon and chicken karaage plate and oh my the chicken was so juicy and succulent I had a mouth orgy! The Salmon is what they are know for because of the crispy salmon skin and the flavor of it is so appetizing! And my bf had the Korean chicken and Fried fish, he really enjoyed it, he liked the Korean Chicken it was much favorable then at Zippy’s and he got two pieces of fried fish. My Bf said that he no longer wants to go to Zippy’s anymore. This is his new surf pack meal! Which I can totally agree with him on that. Along with your 2 choices you get rice, and pickled veggies. She use to make this awesome potato salad but I think she discontinued it. That was my favorite side dish.
Sometimes they have the hot items up front for you to choose from, or they have pre-​packed bentos around the counters from mixed plate, curry bowls and etc. But I usually just order the mixed plate that way it is fresh hot when I get it.
So I the food was so yummy I asked my bf if we could come here to eat lunch everyday and he said of course! Which I made him promise me :) But realistically I don’t think we will :(This place is just a treat to go to because the japanese lady that usually is out front is super duper nice and so sweet. She always apologizes for the wait and always has a smiled on her face.
Quick tip: There salmons are so popular at times they do run out and that will just devastated you! I know it happened to me on a number of times.
#Yelp 365 Challenge: ⁰¹⁹⁄₃₆₅

I am a Work-​at-​Home-​Mom. What does this mean? I work from home AND I take care of my baby AND my two older children AND run my household AND love my boyfriend AND have a music career AND now I need a glass of wine. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my kiddies and I would not change my life for anything but there are times when I am close to losing it. To say my life is busy is an understatement. When people tell me they are stressed out I look at them and they automatically say «Oh nevermind.» That’s right, just walk away before you complain about your easy going, single, I get to eat with two hands life! I’m going to give you a big handful of shut the front door!
Every week I take my kiddies to gymnastics (because I’m a crazy over achieving Tiger Mother) and Imari bento curry bowls are my Godsend. Chicken katsu immersed in curry with white rice are just what I need after a day of phone calls, emails, writing and baby screaming. Only $ 5 (includes tax) and ready to go on the counter, they’re a great pre-​dinner meal because I usually don’t eat until I put my children to sleep. In addition, the Imari Bento lady is always very nice. I used to visit her when she was on Keeaumoku and I’m so glad that I’ve once again found her. Parking at her old location was a bear and it’s so much easier to park at her new spot. Now I get to see her twice a week! I’ve been meaning to try her bentos as well, but the curry bowls are always comforting after a long day.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: Review #3/​365 (The Curry Break)

There are a lot of things in life I love to do. Eating a great bento is one of them, however raining on someone’s parade isn’t. I felt compelled to write this review because of the fact that I actually could not eat any of the great bentos that Imari supposedly serves. And because of that, I have to bring the rain.
We’ve been frequenting the 99 Ranch Market ever since we made the move to Salt Lake. It’s close, it’s convenient, there’s a variety and it’s all relatively inexpensive. We’ve passed by Imari at dinner a few times and although we have seen the bentos, there has never been anything in the front area that appears to house okazuya items at some time.
I made a plan to specifically go to Imari during lunch so we could see everything that they had to offer and maybe try some of the items they have on the menu. When we got there, there was no one manning the register, no one to greet us, no bentos and nothing in the front section again. My girlfriend and I exchanged puzzled looks and while this was happening, a man and another woman walked up to the counter.
Suddenly a female appeared from the back and said, «We aren’t taking any orders today!»
«No orders!»
The man that had walked up saw them pushing some of the bentos out of the back and asked, «What about those?»
The lady worker gave him a pissed off look and started putting the lids on the bentos. He said he wanted a few and that the woman that walked up wanted some also.
Again, she shouted «We aren’t taking any orders!»
Okay, I get it. You aren’t taking any orders. You also aren’t a very customer centric employee and you think we’re deaf. I get it.
Never mind the fact that we showed up BEFORE the other two people and walked away empty handed. We didn’t deserve that kind of treatment that day. Hell, no one deserves that kind of treatment ever.
A lot of people love this place. Yeah they won awards, so what. I’d rather pay more to get a product that may not taste as good than have to deal with that kind of crappy service. If I wanted crappy service I would have hit up Morimoto’s or McDonald’s. I simply wanted to see what they have to offer so we could become regular customers since we live so damn close.
I’m actually pretty pissed. We moved away from Aiea and Daiichi to live in Salt Lake next to Ihavecrappycustomerservice Bento.

The best Bento Place. Ever. Supa good ^_^!!!

OMG… thanx for the Unilocal articles on Bentos that led me to discover Imari’s new location!
Yes, I recall distinctly back in Keeumoku that Imari had the BEST bentos ever. I remember each and everytime i’d tried something i was pleasantly satisfied. 99 Ranch market? well if I ever go down there i’d be sure to check them out for sure!

i love imari! i always get their hamburger steak (japanese style with demi-​glacé sauce, you can also get it with a ponzu sauce). sometimes if i’m feeling extra hungry (because the one choice bento comes with two pieces of hamburger steak! plus your choice of two sides and their wonderfully fluffy tasty rice!) i’ll order the two choice bento and get their karaage chicken korean style (which is with this slightly sweet sauce) or their croquettes or their version of barbeque chicken (which is more like teri but drier, not so saucy if that makes any sense). but the two choice combo is really for big eaters because you literally get double the amount of the one choice (for example: two hamburger patties plus two croquettes!). the two japanese ladies who own imari are so nice and polite! even if sometimes there are not opened when they’re supposed to (here it says 10am but i could’ve sworn their sign said 11am? and there was a time when i went but they were closed and there wasn’t any sign or anything saying there were going to be closed.) or are a bit late i don’t mind, i love it here that much! plenty of parking in the lot surrounding the former 99 ranch market (i like how everyone still refers to it as such even though it changed over years ago but no one can remember what it’s called now) and if you’re feeling finicky and don’t wanna eat here you can choose something else because there are other places in such close proximity to imari.

Located in the old 99 Ranch building in Mapunapuna, Imari has come great lunch deals. Every day they have an assortment of $ 5 lunch bowls. Today I had the spicy chicken bowl over brown rice.
It’s good food and it’s cheap. I could eat there every day.

New location? How come no one told me, Ai Sos!
Everyone who’s been to Imari, you don’t really need an introduction of how this «little okazu-​ya that could» took the taste-​good-​torch and kept on. If you haven’t been (reviews here:
), Imari has won prestigous awards for best Hawaii bento and there is no place like it on Oahu. I remember everyone being so disappointed when they closed their Keeamoku doors, changing their profile from cutting edge comfort food to catering company. Only reason why I stumbled onto their (new) store front is because I was in the mood for Hanaki at 99 Ranch Market. Checkmate! What a way to end my 4^th of July weekend.
That sushi rice! Their famous karaage (fried) chicken and delectable fish dishes haven’t changed. In fact everything is the same but they did add one new feature: now they have their entrees out in heated pans to pick and choose from, delicatessen style. So if you ever wondered how their Korean style chicken and hamburger patties looked like? Hot cha-​cha-​cha! A two choice combo will run you about $ 8. For quality food, not bad at all.
I personally thought, though still good, their shoyu chicken and hamburger patties (more like a meatloaf with sweet gravy) weren’t their best. What really stands out for me here is their deep fried foods. Their panko battered fish is my personal favorite. Fact, all the fish dishes here are primo! It’s all in that dash of fresh lemon juice. Serious. As for sides: their namako (pickled seaweed and cucumber) and potato salad, though served in small portions, they help dot the «i» in Imari. Your meal wouldn’t be the same with out them.
Cash only I believe, as the new location don’t seem to have a register (or charge tax for that matter). Hrmm.
4 stars
Imari Bento in the 99 Ranch Market food court