I visited a bento chain store called "Hotto Motto Uguisudani Kitaguchi Store" at around 5:00 PM on a Saturday in March 2023. The store is located about a 5-minute walk from Uguisudani Station. The small store had no customers when I arrived. I ordered the "BIG Nori Bento" for ¥610 at the order counter, requesting soy sauce as my choice of sauce, and paid for it. After waiting for about 5 minutes, I received my bento and decided to take it back to the office to eat. The bento consisted of half Nori Bento and half Napolitan, with white fish fry, chikuwa tempura, fried egg, sausage, kinpira gobou, and pickles. I enjoyed the Nori Bento by pouring dashi soy sauce over it. The combination of white fish fry, kinpira gobou, nori, and rice was delightful. The large chikuwa tempura added to the happiness in my mouth when eaten with rice. I savored the B-grade taste of the bento. The Napolitan had the perfect texture of noodles and the right amount of ketchup sauce. It tasted even better when eaten with the fried egg. I enjoyed the sausage while savoring the pasta with chopsticks. The BIG Nori Bento was delicious whether eaten with nori and rice or with Napolitan. After finishing the meal, I felt a strong sense of satisfaction. The perfect level of junkiness in the bento makes it a dish I occasionally crave. Despite wanting to try various items on the menu, I always end up ordering the "BIG Nori Bento," which I consider Hotto Motto's personal killer menu. I felt that I would continue to enjoy it regularly in the future.

In the distant past, I never paid attention to side dishes like pumpkin stew, yellowtail and daikon stew, udo, or taro stew when I was a kid or when I was young. But now, I have a strong urge to eat such dishes. Perhaps it's because I have become an old man, or maybe because my taste buds have become more refined. The other day, I happily compared and ate the five major "pumpkin stew" dishes from Lawson, 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Circle K, and Origin Bento all by myself! It may seem like a scary sight, but as I've grown older and my body has started to break down, I have become more sensitive to healthy bento options. However, the reduced-salt and low-calorie bento boxes from Nichirei, Wa-Min, and other major bento shops are expensive and hard to buy at the right time. In such times, I came across this "Colorful Bento with 20 Types of Vegetables" for 500 yen and decided to try it! After waiting for about 8 minutes... It's quite a forceful mix of 20 ingredients, with three types of beans and turnips included, but it feels like it could be good for the body. It's impressive that it's under 500 calories in total! It has a decent amount of volume, and the taste is not bad. It's said to be reduced-salt, but it still has a good flavor. However, honestly, it's not very delicious... It might be tough to eat this every day! I imagine the aforementioned reduced-salt and low-calorie bento boxes would be even less tasty. Are frozen foods the worst? And the side dishes I desire are probably not low in calories or reduced-salt either. It seems that living a long life is impossible for me. For now, I will try to offset my regret for eating greasy food for lunch with this bento and a cup of "Healthy Body Tea W" for dinner.

I didn't know that there was a different version of the classic "noriben"! I was really surprised to find out when I saw the menu at the back of the store while waiting to buy a "gapao bento" the other day. I'll say it again. There was a different version of noriben! Of course, there are probably many people who already knew about it, but I was surprised to learn that "noriben" had quietly evolved without my knowledge. For those who, like me, didn't know, there is a "tuna mayo noriben" where tuna mayo is spread on the white rice part of the "seaweed bento" instead of bonito flakes! I wonder when this item was introduced. Probably, they decided to use the popular "tuna mayo" onigiri as a topping for noriben. It's a good idea! The appearance and toppings are the same as usual, but underneath the seaweed, there is tuna mayo spread (although in a small amount). It's a bit richer and heavier than the bonito flakes on white rice, but it feels a bit fresher. The taste is normal. There were no particularly new discoveries. --- The "special makunouchi bento" may have surpassed deli bento at the department store! I decided to splurge a bit and bought a bento for dinner! The "special makunouchi bento" costs 790 yen. I had been curious about it for a while, but I honestly couldn't easily bring myself to buy an 800 yen bento. With 800 yen, I could eat out normally. But when I actually bought it and tasted it, the quality of this makunouchi bento was not at all like a regular bento! It gives off a warm and delicious taste, making it feel like the dishes are made fresh. There is no disappointment in any of the side dishes! The texture, flavor, and variety of nutrients are all rich. It feels like each dish has its own life. The joy of the "makunouchi" is that each dish is a little delicious. The quality of each dish is important since the "makunouchi bento" is available everywhere. The delicacy of the side dishes makes the bento refined. It's really delicious! It may be a bit expensive for a bento, but it's affordable compared to a meal at a restaurant. The balance of price and quality is high, making it a bento that you would want to buy and eat when you feel like treating yourself a little! --- Extra edition of the Tempura Theater @ "HottoMotto" Seafood Tempura Bowl \490! It was my first time buying a tempura bowl at "HottoMotto"! It's the currently advertised "seafood tempura bowl." I've always thought about buying it if I happen to be near a "HottoMotto" since there isn't one near my home. Even though it's a simple bento shop, as a tempura lover, I had to try it. The tempura ingredients include two small shrimp, two scallops, two green beans, squid, renkon (lotus root), among others. The variety at this price is amazing! It's a testament to the large chain's procurement system. A thoughtful touch is that there is a kitchen paper between the tempura and the rice. The paper has quite a bit of oil from the tempura, making it a welcome consideration. The tempura is still lightly fried as it is protected by the paper. The tempura sauce comes in a separate packet, so this kind of service is possible. I ate it as soon as I got home, and there was hardly any greasy feeling in the batter. You can customize the tempura to your liking, such as eating one of the two shrimp tempura with salt. However, the tempura sauce is sweet. It has quite a thick, syrupy consistency. This may divide opinions as some may prefer it. Although it's sweet, I still think the tempura sauce from "Tenya" is tastier. However, the rich flavors of the various ingredients shine through, so the sweet sauce is still enjoyable.

Today, I was too busy to have a leisurely lunch, so I decided to buy a bento and have a quick meal. I came to this shop to try the Gapao Rice that I've been curious about from a recent TV commercial. This is a bento shop called Uguisudani, which has branches nationwide. As planned, I purchased the Gapao Rice (590 yen). However, when I opened it, I found that the Gapao Rice had very few ingredients. It came with a small packet of nam pla, but it felt like a stretch to call this Gapao Rice. Other than the nam pla, there was no ethnic feel, and the basil, which is essential for Gapao Rice, was hardly noticeable. It seems a bit overpriced for what it is. It looks like it will be a while before I can truly enjoy ethnic cuisine from a bento shop.