Last time we went shopping at the Westboro Superstore, though, we found something new: microwaveable bento boxes, in salmon teriyaki and chicken yakitori varieties:

I tried the salmon teriyaki one yesterday. It included two pieces of teriyaki salmon, a vegetable gyoza, furikake rice, and edamame and “mixed vegetables” (read: carrots). The actual food looked like so:

While it appears a bit rice-heavy, the proportions were about right. The salmon was tasty if a bit too cloyingly teriyaki-sweet; the gyoza was a little soggy but good; the rice texture was perfect for (included) chopsticks. The edamame was just okay, a bit too salty — and indeed, the nutritional information shows that this contains 880mg of sodium! (The chicken bento contains 1.2g.)

It’s a change from single-bowl Lean Cuisine-style microwave meals, but the packaging makes the whole thing inconveniently large, and the food is pretty unremarkable. And the more I think about it, the more a reheatable, frozen prepackaged bento box seems familar somehow:

So I don’t think I’ll bother with the PC bento boxes much after I finish the chicken one in the freezer at home.

That said, I would like to get a Laptop Lunch or Mr. Bento for school next year. (Especially after seeing the lunches of a friend of Candice’s!)