This cookbook is simply lovely. It has gorgeous pictures (though fair warning, not all recipes have pictures), and the instructions are clear. The recipes are traditionally Japanese, which is precisely what I want when I am looking at a bento cookbook, there are even some vegan options! The downside is that if you don't live near a Japanese market, some ingredients might be a little harder to find. Nonetheless, I bought a bento box to make sure I could take these recipes out for a spin, and I'm excited!

This was a interesting book to say the least! I have always been intrigued by bento boxes, and have always wanted to know more about them. So I jumped on the opportunity when I seen this available on NetGalley. I was not let down! The recipes all sound delicious, and relatively easy to attempt. I absolutely love how the pages were laid out, and I will admit that the colorful photography had me sitting here drooling. I would love to get a physical copy for my cookbook collection.

Thank you to NetGalley, as well as the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

A great introduction to preparing bento lunches. The recipes are accessible and will ramp up your lunch game. I prepared a few of the recipes while I read the ARC and both students and fellow teachers were commenting on how appealing/appetizing my lunches were.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing for Simply Bento by Yuji Yagi and Noriko Yura. I am not quite sold on what makes Bento special or how it is different from any other packed lunch, except for the cute packaging, but I did find some good recipes in this book.

The book starts with a great introduction, seven key points to make Bento, pantry essentials, tips on how to prepare Bento, etc. I like that each main recipe comes with a description, and a list of other items to include in the lunch. This helps you to plan for meals. The recipes for the sides are included in the back of the book and the page numbers are given to make them easy to find.

Some of my favorite Bento lunches include: Antipasto Bento, Ramen Bento, Hamburger Steak Bento, Sweet and Sour Meatballs Bento, Cold Shabu Shabu Salad Bento, Spicy Chicken Wrap Bento, Cauliflower Fried Rice Bento, Falafel Bento, and Roast Beef Bento (especially the Wasabi Cream Sauce). The book includes many pictures which I find helpful in choosing recipes. Also, most recipes are easy to follow, but some use more unusual ingredients (but tips are given as to where to find them). Overall, the recipes I tried have been very good, but I eat them as normal meals and normal leftovers.

I love the simplicity of this book and it has encouraged me to think more about my lunches. The recipes are easy to read and make it a fun thing to prepare a meal.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy of Simply Bento.

This book is fabulous for the beginner be to maker. I have used my children as guinea pigs and they enjoyed a lot of the recipes. The steps are clear and easy to follow. A be to box for lunch makes a refreshing change from sandwiches and wraps for lunch. The food is flavoursome and easy to prepare.

5 stars, highly recommended.

Bento boxes are very trendy nowadays, especially in areas with large Asian populations. The boxes are generally beautiful, and the contents come in both hot and cold varieties. Although most of us don’t think of making these wonderful packed meals which are usually served at lunchtime, Simply Bento: Delicious Box Lunch Ideas for Healthy Portions to Go, an excellent cookbook by Yuko and Noriko, explains just how to make them at home. While several of the beautiful bento boxes are a bit time consuming, there is also a section on 10-minute bento boxes and others that take a little planning, but are quick to put together.

The recipes included are mouthwatering and are for popular Japanese dishes ranging from chicken and beef to vegetarian and vegan. Most of the dishes are quite easy and fairly quick to make. For those who like to take lunches to work, this cookbook has dozens of ideas to combat boring meals. Most of the meals are healthy, and many are fairly low in fat and calories.

For those who love Japanese food and like food to be beautiful, this is a perfect cookbook to add to a cookbook collection.

This is the perfect book to learn how to make bento! Having spent some time in japan I was attracted to this book because I know how great Japanese bento are. Not only does everything taste amazing, even when it’s cold/room temp, but it looks amazing too. This easy to follow book helps me make lunches like that here in America! Love all the background information about Japanese food culture, how to make a bento, how to make a bento look great etc. the recipes are easy to follow and most ingredients can be found locally. There are a wide variety of recipes with tons of vegetables! I can’t wait to try more of these recipes.
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher. This has in no way influenced my review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

Beautiful photographs and delicious recipes. Excellent for people that eat out most of the time, like myself.

This was a really fascinating read with lots of good recipes. I enjoyed many of them and found the instructions to be easy to follow.

I LOVE BENTOS!! This book shows healthy and easy recipes to make with bentos. I would have loved seeing more pictures.

I reviewed this book as part of my Weekend Cooking series. I'll submit the link and more information when adding notes directly to the publisher.

I loved the ideas and pictures from this book. My husband tends to try to eat out while at work so I wanted to get some ideas on how to pack enticing lunches for him and myself. It is a little more work to prepare these but I become more excited about what I have packed for lunches. The recipes I've tried were very easy and yummy. Overall, I have been packing more lunches and eating less out so this was a success.

Simple elegance!

I really liked the simple explanation of what Bento is and the historical back ground in the introduction.
It struck a nerve! "What motivates us to make bento is that it enable us to make safe and healthy lunches for our families."
There are other reasons of course but when my 'fussy eating' kids were in school we had the 'anglo' equivalent. The plastic sectioned container that they had to pack themselves (fussy comes with a price tag--and no they didn't have allergies, they had preferences), with the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum strips, fruits (blueberries, strawberries etc.) As they became older it was salads and other goodies that could sit in their lockers safely without becoming bacteria's playground.
Now if we'd have had this fabulous book then, their culinary expertise could have expanded ... and mine I guess as chief food purchaser. Mind you half the fun is the box itself. There's a lovely section describing these. Makes me want to rush off and buy some for my grandkids. So much more chichi (elegant) than the cheap plastic containers we used.
The recipes are straightforward and mouthwatering. The color plates really are attractive and add to the overall presentation of such a welcome and understated addition to our culture that this recipe book for Bento is.

A NetGalley ARC

Simply Bento
My thanks to #NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Simply Bento is a fantastic cookbook for bento lovers with beautiful photographs. Simple and practical, the cookbook includes the use of leftovers the Recipes include the use of leftovers and planned-for-leftovers using what is already in the house and supplementing with pre-cut vegetables. This is an excellent cookbook for making a beautiful presentation of a simple lunch: The whole purpose is to keep bento or lunch simple and fresh, but also healthy, practical and even beautiful.

My sister loves bento boxes so I decided to give this book a try.. What a great book. These lunch boxes are an inspiration for some creative, fun lunches. The book is for beginners and well written. There are a lot of recipes and they are easy to make. And a variety of different kinds of foods for these lunches. It is also a good introduction to Japanese foods. There are also pictures to go along with the recipes and they are wonderful. Plus, they make you hungry! I think this is a great book, one that all should read that take their lunches to work or school, or even for picnics. I highly recommend it!

The decision to pick up this book was pretty random but I am very glad that it happened. Simple Bento has an endless list of easy lunch ideas that are healthy, some of them vegan, some low carb, some of them just traditional Japanese lunches and even some more Americanized lunches.   

I found myself liking the cookbook from the first few pages. I loved that the authors started with a comprehensive list of ingredients you should have if you want to cook Japanese food. Some of them I had heard of before, but I had never stumbled on a complete list of kitchen essentials. For that alone I would buy this book someday. 

From there I found that the recipes were easy to follow, everything looked and sounded so tasty. It gave me a lot of different ideas on how to change up what I eat for lunch. For me lunch is the hardest meal of the day, and usually I stick to leftovers but sometimes that gets old. And what I liked about Simply Bento was that each recipe had a section called "make ahead" which tells which parts you can make the night before to make assembly easier the next day.

In all this is a great book. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

You NEED this book! Seriously though, I was looking for more easy, quick, and delicious lunch ideas and this book was packed with nearly 100 of them! I ended up buying this book so I could have a physical copy.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine!

#SimplyBento #NetGalley

This is an absolutely fabulous cookbook which I will be adding both to my library's and my own shelves. The recipes are approachable, healthy, and designed for busy families. The tone is chatty and fun, and I loved both reading and cooking from this book. The photos are really beautiful, and give the reader many many great ideas for arranging food to be appetizing and appealing. This cookbook has revolutionized the way I pack lunches in my house!

This is a clear and detailed bento cookbook, the best I’ve come across. It includes a lot of recipes. The cauliflower rice and avocado pasta were particular hits here and there are plenty of fresh and protein heavy/low carb recipes.
You do have to be fan of oriental flavours such as soy, fish sauce or mirin for most of the dishes. And a few ingredients aren’t always easy to get hold of.
But basically this is the ideal book for anyone wanting to start making bento boxes. I highly recommend,
I was given a ARC by Netgalley, all opinions are my own.