Cheap bento chain? Tawaraya. Located in Kanda, Nihonbashi, Taito, Adachi, and Matsudo with 9 stores. Basically, all bentos are priced at 300 yen. Let's try it out. The Higashi-Kanda store is located along the Kiyosu Bridge where Kuroki, famous for "duck sensation", is located. It's across from the police box on the north side of Mikurabashi. According to their website, they offer 5 types of bentos: mackerel, salmon, fried chicken, grilled meat, and nori bento. I got the popular fried chicken bento. I ate it back at the office. The fried chicken and rice were average. Nothing special. The potato salad and pickled radish were just placed on top. The rice is probably commercial grade, but not bad. For 300 yen, it's decent. It's acceptable. The nori bento might be a dark horse! Anyway, it's really cheap. Thank you for the meal.

I had a large serving of ramen at Asakusabashi, but just ramen is not enough for me. So, I made a stop at this place that I had been curious about during lunchtime. The inside of the store had a variety of bento boxes, all priced at 300 yen each. There is a convenience store nearby, but buying from here is definitely more cost-effective and I think they don't use strange preservatives. I was torn between choices, but I love fried chicken, so I chose the tartar fried chicken bento. There was a regular fried chicken bento available too, but if the price is the same, I felt the tartar one was a better deal. Although the fried chicken wasn't freshly made, the coating wasn't crispy, but it had a good flavor and went well with the rice! The meat was a bit dry, but considering the price, it was not a problem at all. The store is called "Okomeya" (rice shop), and the rice was delicious even when it cooled down. Buying two bentos and not spending over 1000 yen is a great deal for us hungry commoners.

It's raining a lot lately, making it seem like the rain is targeting my meal outings. Without an umbrella, I decided to push through and ended up getting completely soaked. I found a bento shop called "Tawaraya" on a corner near Kiyosu Bridge Street. I was surprised to see it there. I went in and chatted with the staff, who told me the shop opened on June 20th. They mentioned that the neighborhood ladies often buy bentos from there for convenience. I bought a nori bento for 300 yen and took shelter from the rain for a bit. The bento had various options but I chose the nori bento. The visual of the bento reminded me of old times. The bento had three types of fried dishes, nori, and pickles. It was a simple and satisfying meal, perfect for a rainy day. I headed back home on my bike, completely drenched but content with my meal. It's interesting how the current economic situation is leaning towards cost-saving measures. It seems like we're returning to a deflationary period. Governor Kuroda and doctors are advising us to "keep moving" and increase consumption. How should we navigate these conflicting messages? It's a bit uncertain.