Nippon Bento & Catering

My boyfriend always warns me never to eat anywhere in downtown. He claims its old, dirty, & rat infested. He used to work for a termination company over a decade ago and the stories I’d hear really traumatized me. However, good food and cheap eats usually win over the germaphobe in me.
For those days you’re stretching your wallet and not feeling like eating fast food: Nippon comes to the rescue. For $ 3 and some change you can get a light meal for breakfast or lunch (it’s not a great meal but it’s definitely more than decent & for a few bucks more you can get a regular sized bento. Once you’ve made your selection you walk over to the cashier (whom by the way is such a nice sweet lady). I absolutely love that the most about this place. They also have a menu up front to order from for items not sitting in their display cases & from what I’ve gathered through observation their beef stew is a hot item.
Location is hidden. They’re on Bishop street and you’ll have to walk down some stairs to get there. The steps are right next to Hawaiian Islands Stamp & Coin. There are other take out places surrounding the area along with outside seating. Not sure if it’s the proper name but people who are familiar with the area call this place the Remington College food court. Food: 3 stars, Customer Service & affordability: gets an additional star.
Tip: If you’re conscious of overly oily food skip their noodles (it really isn’t worth it even if you’re craving for some).

I absolutely LOVE their mochiko chicken and their friendly cashier! I usually get the small bento ($ 2.50 mochiko chicken and rice ball) and small individual containers of potato salad and bean sprouts. It’s filling and comes out to less than $ 5.

I wouldn’t say that this is the best bento place there is, but it isn’t bad for the price. As a bonus, the bento’s are discounted after 2:00pm. Which is a good deal when I need to take a late lunch.
Items I recommend:
–Miso butterfish bento

This place has been feeding me for quite a while now. Since I eat by myself a lot, there’s no good reason for me to find a pricey sit-​down place so I swing by and grab a cheap bento. They have just about every combination you can think of that’s common in a bento place (beef, pork, chicken, tofu, salmon, ahi, meat jun, tempura, various veggies, noodles, rice, etc.) In the late afternoon, you can get a regular sized bento for 3.60 and there’s a 2 for 5.25 deal. It does get a little old so I try to find new combinations. I can’t eat the mochiko chicken anymore. I think it’s gross compared to how Sumo Ramen makes it because it’s super greasy and it leaves you with gas for the rest of the day (coming out of your mouth).

That old adage «You get what you pay for» certainly rings true in the case of Nippon Bento & Catering.
If you’re on a tight budget, or a starving college student, this place might be the kind of restaurant you’ve been looking for. They have quite an array of hot prepared bento boxes to choose from, ranging from $ 3.50 to $ 8.75. Each bento box is packed with food– but the lower the price, the smaller the box. And unfortunately, I thought most of the food here is overly greasy, and somewhat small in size. [-1 star]
The curry also seemed extremely watered down, and lacking in flavor. But then, I guess its to be expected when you can buy most items here for less than $ 4 dollars.
On one occasion, after I ordered the Curry & Chicken Katsu plate, I discovered that my Katsu was cold, Curry was flavorless, and I found a small rock (yes, a ROCK) in my food! So I immediately took it back and showed them the rock, and then they gave me my money back no questions asked… I suppose mistakes like that are bound to happen sometimes, but still– I won’t be coming back here for bento or curry anymore… [-2 stars]
The location is not so great either — I personally would’ve never even found this place if it hadn’t been for Unilocal.The restaurant can’t be seen from the street (or the sidewalk) so its very easy to miss. But if you’re looking for it, its located downstairs (near the elevators) by the Remington College building. So you’ll either need to walk down the stairs or take the elevator to get to it, and its on the far right side, hidden out of view.
On the positive side, I did like their Saimin bowl however, its full of vegetables and flavor, and its a good price too.
To sum things up, If you’re looking for *authentic* high quality Japanese food, don’t look here; almost everything they serve is tighly wrapped in little plastic boxes with a rubberband to keep the lid on. But if you want very cheap food, which you can quickly grab and go, you might wanna check them out. But don’t have high hopes.

when you’re in the mood for simple local-​style bentoes, this is the place to be… nothing over $ 7… and, if you take a chance and go after 1pm, all bentoes are marked down — nothing over $ 4!

Only discovered this place a few months ago. Went to lunch with a college classmate and he suggested to get lunch here.
This place is located in the Remington College Food Court on the bottom level. I honestly never went to the bottom level before this. I always stayed around Fort Street lol.
Super thankful my friend took me here. They have a great selection of bentos and for really reasonable prices as well! Win-​Win to meeeeeee: D
I love the butterfish bentos here! YUM! Just watch out for them bones!

This is my favorite place to pick up a bento, lots of choices, different price ranges, something for everyone. They also have Korean side vegetable dishes and both Japanese and Korean Sushi, along with salads and somen noodles, both very affordable and they really pack it in the containers! After 2 pm the most of the food except for the side dishes are between 30 to 50% off. Lots of people know about this so the pickings get slim if you dilly dally and look for the bargains after 3 pm, they close at 3:30pm. You can also order from their menu, saimin, stews, etc.
I love their mochiko chicken, Korean sushi and miso butterfish, smaller pieces but tasty.
They have covered seating just outside their door. Nice place to meet friends and talk story.

Korean mamasan knows what she’s doing with her garlic miso chicken and butterfish!
I havent tried anything else but those two combos are the perfect lunch meal!
FYI they have a $ 5.00 minimum on card purchases.

Nippon Bento and Catering is located in the lower level food court of the Remington College building in downtown.
In search of a quick lunch I went inside and browsed through their many different prepared bentos including vegetarian. They have mini bentos for $ 4.50, regular bentos for $ 5.75, regular fish bentos for $ 6, large bentos for $ 7.25, large fish bentos for $ 8.25 and combination bentos for $ 8.75. Besides bentos they also offer curry, udon, beef stew, saimin and tofu.
What caught my eye while browsing through the bentos on display was the miso butterfish which included rice, daikon and stir-​fried vegetables. I immediately picked up and purchased this bento for $ 6 which is a good deal. Butterfish bentos at some other places are priced much more so this was a treat for me.
The portions ended up being just right and the butterfish was tasty that I enjoyed eating it with the rice.
Overall their prices are reasonable for downtown as their menu items are all under $ 10.

Since I started working in town I have been coming here at least twice a month. After 2 PM it is half-​off bentos and even when I’m dining on a dime I come here during lunch hour. Trying to avoid rice I usually get one piece of miso garlic chicken and the $ 2 salad. I’ve tried the butterfish bento and regular garlic chicken and I love it all, some days are oilier than others. Another good deal is the chop chae and garlic chicken for $ 2.50, it may look small but it’s definitely filling.

Came back again, for more fried rice.
This time the cashier was nicer and even mentioned the kimchee fried rice, though I stuck with the one I chose.
For less than $ 2 that was a lot of fried rice! Made me satisfied before class started.
Just remember not to spill any!
Coming back when I’m craving again or try another bento.

Disclaimer: My review is based solely on the tofu bowl and nothing else.
I went in to grab something to eat, and was pleasantly surprised to see the prices were as great as everyone had toted them to be. I wanted something that would be filling and I figured the tofu bowl would surely be enough.
The first bite I took was the most disappointing bite I have ever taken. Rather than the salty and savory taste of mapo tofu (which I explicitly asked if it was mapo tofu) was actually sweet. After a few more bites, I just found it completely inedible. I decided to add salt to see if that would alleviate the problem: no.
So to sum it up, if you’re gonna go there for something cheap and fried, by all means that is your go-​to (cause who can really mess up fried items?). But if you’re going to go for something that requires a bit more handiwork, stay far far away.
On that note, I also want to add that I saw them using a microwave to heat up the mapo tofu. Last I checked, that doesn’t meet the criteria of «cooking». I could’ve heated something up too.
The best deal I got out of that place was the free water. I’ll be going back for the free water and nothing else.

This isn’t the best food in the downtown, but it might be the best for the price.
People always talk about the prices of things, but at Nippon you can get a mini bento for as low as $ 2.50. For that you get a starch (fried rice, or noodles) and some type of meat (Mochiko Chicken, bbq pork, etc). That is cheaper then musubi’s at some restaurants.
For about $ 6 you can get a bento with Miso Butterfish, Mochiko Chicken and rice (my favorite). The servings are generous and the quality of the food is surprisingly good. Like I said at the top its not going to be the greatest food on the planet, but I don’t know anywhere else to get a bento with miso butterfish for $ 6.
It’s not the easiest place to find being downstairs in the remington center, but since I have found it my wife and I meet there at least once a week for lunch here.

So one of my New Year’s resolutions is to seriously save money. I love to eat, and I love to eat out, so I always struggle during lunch. My coworker, since we started working together about a year ago, always goes to lunch around 2:30pm and goes to the «bento lady.» She snacks all day so taking a late lunch works for her.
So one day, I asked my coworker to enlighten me about this bento lady. She then told me about Nippon Bento and how their bentos are marked down 50% after 2:30pm. For real, in the name of saving money, I started to snack at my desk all day long too, waiting for 2:30pm to come by.
The selections pretty good and if you go early enough, you’ll find a great deal.

Tracy S is right on the ¥en with calling this place BENTOLICIOUS!
I came here on my first day of classes at HPU because of her fabulous review! I promised myself to do some exploring in downtown to really find what is happening.
After 3 years of Fort Street Café, La Taqueria de Ramiro and the former BaLe, it’s definitely time for change. Thank Charles de Gaulle Le Crêpe Café opened last semester!
Even with all of yo’ crackhead residents and color coordinating HPU cheerleaders, Fort Street, you still bore me to death…
At least gastronomically. So I headed over to Remington College building because it seems to do a good job of hiding mom n pop establishments, like BENTOLICIOUS, very well! We need to change that Tracy. We really do!
I walked in and literally had to take a step back. Mini bento for NANIIIII? $ 4.50?! Regular bento for only 2 dollah more?!! NEEEEH?! Side namasu/​banchan for $ 1 – 2?!
I must be in portable local lunch heaven because I’ve never seen such reasonable prices for some rather nicely packed bentos! BENT-​OISHI-​LICIOUS-​DESU-​NEH~
I picked up a Mochiko Chicken Spam mini bento and a small side of kim chee for 6 buckeroos! I only had chisai cash, so this place was a good idea.
But I must warn. You get what you pay for! And what I got had potential, it was just dampened by it own steam. Nothing like soggy chicken and mandoo :/​.
I must go back when they’re putting out the fresh bento bakos so I can reassure that this place is worth the trek from Fort Street.
(this place is more like 3.5 stars for cheap eats of course!)
Review #037/​365

Very meh. The only reason why they are getting three stars instead of two is because of the price.
There was a $ 5 minimum for credit card, so I got two $ 2.50 bentos. Super cheap! I guess it is only good for those of us who don’t eat too much, though. I got a garlic (or was it mochiko) chicken and ume musubi bento and a garlic chicken and fried noodles (chow mein? saimin?) bento. The chicken was tasty, but awfully greasy. In fact, I can feel the grease sliding around my tummy right now…(ew). The noodles were really not that great. It was definitely not fresh. They were having a grand opening special for August so I got a free fountain drink. During my meal, I found little black dots in my orange soda… I wonder what that was… but it totally grossed me out… I am picky about these sorts of things…
There is definitely a lot of variety and different combinations available. Very reasonable price. I would say it doesn’t look too clean in there but I’m trying not to expect too much from these downtown restaurants. Today was actually the second time I went inside – the first time, I was put off by the smell inside so I didn’t get a bento. It kind of smells like fresh paint or something, who knows.
Anyway, the food was mediocre. I would come back for a $ 2.50 bento.

My coworkers and I decided to try this new place since we received a flier with their menu items. The items were reasonable and that caught our attention.
I got the mochiko chicken mini plate for $ 4.50. I even had the choice of adding brown rice instead of white rice. It also came with one mandoo and one spam and for the month of August you get a free drink.
The reason why I gave it only 3 stars is because it was really just «okay». The food wasn’t «out of this world fantastic» but it wasn’t «great» to me either. I thought it was decent for the price I paid.
Their soda machine is broken, I think… because when I went to get soda, there was no carbonation at all! I tried to get a little bit of the sierra mist, diet pepsi, and regular pepsi, and all had no carbonation. I guess that’s why it’s free???
In all, this place is okay. I would come back if I just want a small bento since it is cheap.

New location at Remington College Food Court lower level.
It wasn’t my favorite spot at Alakea (which is closing down right now, but Nippon already moved on out and found a new location) so no surprise it’s 3 stars. But it was worth a shot.
I remember the curry from the Alakea location was just ok, so I opted for something different – the Tofu mochiko chicken plate. For $ 6 you get 2 scoops rice, a heap of pork tofu, mochiko chicken, daikon and seaweed. Ok there’s tax so it’s a little over 6 bucks… It’s a lot of food, just checkout my photo! The women even said, «this too heavy for you! too much food!» Never, I say!
Anyway it’s tasty. The mochiko chicken is very fried so if you like the lightly fried one, this isn’t for you. But it’s tasty. The pork tofu is a little too salty for me and loaded with pork (if you love pork, then go for it). The sauce is actually really dark – not spicy at all. The tofu was super silky though. And the rice is probably the best part – they make super soft and fluffy white japanese style rice. They do not scrimp on the rice here! Surprise because most places in downtown just serve you nasty hard rice that tastes like it came out of the microwave.
The line to the cash register is filled with various bentos that range in price from the mini bentos at $ 4.50 up through ones with fish and meat and gyoza and such. They have mini sushi prepacked bentos and also sides of seaweed and kim chee and such ($ 1). It’s still not a quick grab and go because you still have to wait in line to pay behind people like me who order off the menu (the menu includes, curry, tofu, udon, oxtail, and saimin).
For the month of August, free drink (limited only to canned sodas and water, if they have any) with purchase of $ 4.50.
Cash AND credit card (at this point they take Visa/​MC/​Amex and a fourth one but I can’t remember if it was discover or JCB or something).
It’s not bad, but it’s not spectacular. Worth going back when you want value japanese quick food.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #13/​365
August 13, 2011

From its home base in Kalihi, Nippon now has its newest location in the heart of downtown. BENTOLICIOUS!
I walk in and, after seeing the bento variety all lined up just for me (and you!), I instantly get the Nippon-​effect (definition: a marveling of all that is delicious that dumbfounds you into making a final decision on what you’re going to eat, which is usually marked by a person wandering around for a while). I am a veteran of Nippon so I have learned to tame the effect with my experience and narrow down my food targets. I keep a keen eye out for their butterfish and mochi (different from ‘mochiko’) chicken. Out of all their glorious items, those are my absolute favorites. As the people scatter, I see it! There it is! The only deluxe bento (~$ 9) remaining with both the butterfish and mochi chicken I was searching for! I’ve never tried their mandoo so I got a set ala carte too.
Aside from my butterfish-​mochi-​chicken obsession, other Nippon goodies range from their:
+ teri beef
+ mochiko chicken
+ miso butterfish (vs. plain… I love both)
+ black been chicken
+ miso garlic chicken
+ sweet sour pork
+ to all of their ala carte items
(i.e. kim chee, bean sprouts, namasu, macaroni salad, etc.)
My first Nippon-​trip was a few years ago at their Waiakamilo location, and in my Unilocal opinion, this business has stood the test of time. Their amazing, signature flavors are still things to write home ( Unilocal) about.