Tomo-E Bento

Used to be the old I-​Kane takeout. Had Lunch Box A with 8 varieties. (see picture)
Everything was flavorful.

I have a place I visit once a week and it’s here! It is so hidden that most people don’t even know it’s exists. This place has actually been here for a long long time but not really ever crowded. This is a two person shop, one person answers the phone and the other one cooks.
This is a take-​out food only.
I have some tips:
1) Call your order in because the cook is the owner.
2) You can come in an order but expect to wait.
3) The most popular item is — Lunch Box A (Bento Box)
4) They make only so many bento boxes, when you call they will tell you if they are sold out.
5) It may be cash only — I am unsure.
I usually get the Beef Teriyaki with rice and spaghetti and macaroni salad. My wife only gets the Lunch Box — A.
Love it!

Great place for delicious & lovingly made Japanese food, especially the bento boxes. This is going to be my new lunch spot when I crave authentic & yummy Japanese food. Prices are more than reasonable for the quality & amount of food. Service is genuine.

This place rocks, if you can find it. A literal hole in the wall, these loving japanese women excel in making fresh, homemade bento. It’s only togo, but that’s typically how bento is eaten so this isn’t a problem! The ‘A’ bento box comes with 8 different varieties of main goods, like teriyaki chicken, mini hamburg steak, salmon, croquette, tempura and so forth. On top of that, a few pickled veggies, potato salad really round out this kick-​ass lunch. If you’re in Gardena, in between classes at elco or just hunting for some Japanese grindz, Tomo-​e-​bento satisfies! Bring your appetite!

Beautiful little bento box, with many wonderful treats. Our six-​variety box ($ 7.10) included a large serving of rice, miso soup, and delicious mini servings of teriyaki chicken, salmon, potato salad, tempura, tsukemono, omelette, and other goodies.
Everything was homemade on site, and perfect!

This is one difficult place to find but it is so good. Authentic bento boxes!!! Entrance is behind the building through the small parking lot off of Denker. The little ladies work really hard to bring a taste of Japan to the South Bay and it’s very commendable. After that first bite, I thought I was back at Waseda again. The menu is a bit complicated so it’s probably best to call in first otherwise it’ll be just three options: A, B, or C set. Nothing else. Cash only. Expect to spend no more than $ 10 pp.

Classic Japanese Bento take out place.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss this place. It might have a Redondo Beach Blvd address, but the entrance is in the back by the parking lot.
Once you see their sign, enter through the door and keep walking. It will get you to an open space and a wall with a hole in it. That’s them. Lol. Don’t let that fool you. The food here is good.
I got the Makunouchi Bento Lunch Box A
The description said I would get 8 varieties, I got that and more.
*Vegetable: Kabocha Squash & Green Beans in a sweet soy with sesame oil sauce. Outstanding! The kabocha was so tender and sweet and the green beans still had a snap in them (perfectly cooked) Delicious
*Potato Salad and Lotus Root Ball? — Both were very good
*Teriyaki Chicken — was good, not great
*Salmon — was grilled and dry, but still good.
*Mini Teriyaki Hamburger Patty — OMG, so good! It’s on the sweet side, but super tasty.
*Tempura: Potato, Fish Cake? & Eggplant. The potato and fish cake were just okay. It needed a tempura sauce IMO, soy sauce made it okay. The eggplant was very good. Yum!
*Shumai — meh!
*Miscellaneous items — Boiled Carrot, Konnyaku, Burdock Root, Fish Cake, Cucumber salad and Tamago (egg omelet) I liked everything on this list. Specially the burdock and tamago, so GOOD!
Not everything was a hit but all in all, it’s a very good lunch for a very very reasonable price.
Tip: call in your order.
Note: they have a sign in the parking lot saying you can’t eat there. Lmao!
Rating: 3 ½ Stars, bumped up to 4 Stars because the two grandma’s working there are sweethearts (yes, I’m a softy, lol)
For a fast and cheap bento lunch that’s good, Tomo-​E Bento is the place to go.
2015 Review #125

Tucked away from the Main Street Tomo-​E Bento is not exactly visible at first glance. In fact if you blink, you might miss it. Basically it’s a very small bento shop (across the street from Sakae Sushi).
This is a no frills place that only sells to-​go. The day we visited, there was only one cute older lady doing everything! She was so friendly.
We ended up ordering the karaage bento which takes 10 min because it was cooked fresh to order. Served with a healthy scoop of rice, spaghetti, and potato salad, the karaage was just ok. There were 7 tiny pieces of karaage and the taste was passable but not memorable. Perhaps our recent trip to Japan influenced my overall expectations because the food we found in a small Tokyo convenience store seemed a lot better.
I really wanted to love this place because I like to support small mom and pop places. But given all the yummy places in the South Bay, it will be some time before we give it another try.

One, two, three, four, five
My mom and son are in my car, and off we drive
To a small take-​out stand in West LA
It’s an overcast and cold lazy Saturday
Walked into the building and saw a single white counter
With this nice waitress lady it was my first encounter
I perused the huge wall menu and saw Marunouchi «A»
I wanted three of those bentos to come my way
The waitress sauntered back to her bento-​making station
And then she started making our working-​class degustation
When she finished, she filled the boxes with steaming rice
And by the looks of the lunch, it was very nice!
A little bit of gobo in my box
A little burger patty that super rocks!
A little chicken thigh sauced teriyaki
A little konyaku filled me with glee
A little potato salad amazing taste
A little kamaboko that didn’t go to waste
A little yellow omelet Japanese-​style
A little salted salmon that was worth my while!
I chomped up and down
My tongue moved all around
A new bento place I’ve found
That makes food soothing and sound
My mom was so happy by all the variety
And so many items filled me with glee
I brought one home for wifey, who said ’twas fresh and good
I will go back when I’m in the neighborhood!
A little bit of fish cake lightly fried
A little sunomono foiled cup inside
A little shrimp siu mai that wifey liked
A little potato tempura whose flavor got me psyched
A little boiled carrot balanced well
A little price of $ 8 that for one lunch did sell
A little mom-​and-​pop shop super great!
A lot of super bento goodies that I ate!

Well, i like it. They have a large menu, but i usually just do combo A which will keep you adequately fed. The B and C are smaller in size so if your not that hunrgy, get those. These are traditional bento boxes, and the taste is homemade. No dine in, just pick up. All cooked by a nice japanese granny. Recommend for that traditional taste.

There are not a lot of really great bento places left in the South Bay area, so I’m glad that Tomo-​E is around! Tomo-​E is pretty difficult to find if you’re not looking for it. Located behind a video store, you can’t see it from Redondo Beach Blvd., so make sure you turn down Denker Ave., and you’ll see a small parking lot on your right hand side. Take-​out only. There is just one window to order/​pick-​up food but no tables or chairs to eat there.
I always get the Makunouchi «Lunch Box A» Bento. This comes with a piece of chicken, salted salmon, shumai, mini teriyaki-​glazed hamburger patty, a couple pieces of tempura, potato salad, broccoli, sunomono (cucumber salad), kamaboko, tamagoyaki (omelet egg), cooked carrot, konnyaku, renkon (lotus root), kinpira gobo (braised burdock root), a generous portion of rice, and miso soup. Every so often they will substitute a few items. Hopefully it’s not one of your favorites… like when they replaced the mini hamburger patty for a not-​so-​tasty sausage. Sad. Overall, though, everything is very good!
You also have the option of ordering bentos with less variety for a cheaper price. If bentos aren’t your thing, they have chicken karaage, curry, teriyaki chicken/​beef plates, too.
Service is not the fastest, and it can get very crowded around lunchtime, but you can tell that they put a lot of care in arranging each piece of food in the bento. It is understandable that having this much variety in one box would take time to make!

Tomo-​E Bento makes the best bento! 2 lovely Japanese ladies there who prepare the bento. They make each bento fresh so it could take a while. If you are in a hurry do call ahead! If you don’t have a nice Japanese grandma who can make you bento, at least come to Tomo-​E bento. Because these ladies are just like your Japanese grandmothers. My favorite is karaage bento (Fried chicken)

I have had a mediocre at best makunouchi bento here before and was craving karaage chicken, so I decided to stop by. The two ladies behind the counter saw me (the only person in the place) and continued chatting amongst each other. When I stepped up to the counter, one of the ladies said (in Japanese) «What would you like»? I said Karaage bento. She said «We don’t have any Karaage». I proceeded to ask «What do you have? She said «It’s really busy, we don’t have any rice». I thought «really»? You let me stand there (at a bento shop) and decide what I will order only to tell me no rice? The rudeness precedes the so-​so bentos and kills any desire to ever come back to this spot. No sweat, I just had some bomb lup cheong and shrimp fried rice from down the street instead. Good luck Tomo-​e Bento.

This hidden place has delicious traditional Japanese food for takeout. I think it’s the best bento around. It’s literally a hole in the wall in the back of a commercial building. Also, the world’s smallest video store used to occupy a corner of the lobby.
The bento boxes have little pieces of a lot of different foods like chicken kara-​age, kinpira goba, kamaboko, etc. The gyoza is pretty good and the katsu kare is good.
Don’t expect fine dining or even to sit down and eat. And the parking lot signage is a bit inhospitable.

I worked in Gardena for 10 years and had the pleasure of many a Tomo-​E Bento lunch. I respect these ladies and their dedication more than words can say. There is a reason why there is a wait.

Going to Tomo-​E Bento makes me feel like I just had a Japanese grandma make a Japanese style picnic lunch box for me.
A Japanese lady and her assistant run the place. When they were closed for a few months last summer, I went into a panic and even called the florist next door to find out if they were going to reopen. Luckily for me, they’ve been back in business.
There’s only one type of bento box that I order from here which is the Makunouchi A Bento containing an assortment of umami-​packed bite size goodies like salted salmon, stewed veggies, a mini-​version of a glazed Japanese hamburger, potato salad, etc. with steamed white rice. Also included is a bowl of miso soup.
Phone in your order beforehand, but during peak times it might take more than 30 minutes.
I’ve tried quite a few places that serve the Makunouchi style bento and this place is definitely my favorite! I’d give it 5 stars, except that there’s no place to sit down and eat.
The address is West Redondo Beach Blvd, but their storefront is actually accessible from Denker. To find Tomo-​E Bento, go on W. Redondo Beach and you’ll see a sneaker store on the NE corner of W. Redondo Beach and Denker — the bento shop is on the backside of the building.
Overall, 4.5 stars.

Nice place to get a bento or lunch set at fairly decent prices. Much better than the cold options you get at Marukai or Nijiya.
I called ahead using the menu picture on Unilocal and had no problems. The lady taking my order was very nice — even when I had to call again to change one of my orders. She did mention it will be ready in 30 minutes but that was fine.
The items in the bento are very traditional bento items and there are a lot of different pieces. I’m just happy this place is still here. Sort of how I feel about Sakuraya Mochi.
Tomo-​E Bento is definitely on my list when I need a takeout lunch or in the mood for a traditional bento.
It is difficult to find if you haven’t been here before. It is located on the north east corner at Redondo Beach Blvd and Denker. The entrance is behind the building at that corner and there are no signs facing Redondo Beach Blvd.

don’t know why only 3 reviews for this hidding place, but I found this place because of Unilocal,thanks for these 3 reviews.
the 2 old ladies were super nice and they know english when I was there.
I got the B lunch box since it’s my first time here so I just think I’ll have a little bit of everything in one box and it was really good!
it’s kind of hard to find, you have to go in from the back of parking lot.
I’ll come back to try others.

Suprisingly tasty!!!
I came here on a friend’s suggestion and must say, though not great, it’s promising.
Located in a partially vacated building across from Sakae Sushi and Spoon House, this place is what you’d expect to find at your grandma’s place. Total home cooking!
Their spam musubi ‘aint great. Too much rice n not enuff spam.
Chicken curry is flavorful, but the chicken is shredded, not sliced.
Where they really excel is their GYOZA!!! Fantastic! I still dream of ‘em!
The menu is small.
Only open Tue-​Sat. limited hrs.
Cash only.
I do wanna come back n conquer the rest of the menu!!!

Tomo-​E is located in a really old building. You would never know there’s a bento place unless you’ve been there before.
The food is good and the prices are reasonable. However, the owner is really rude and the wait is sometimes ridiculous. Example, I called in today ordering 1 lunch special. I knew it takes a while so I waited 30 mins before I went to go pick it up.
When I got there, I was advised I still have to wait for at least another 10 mins. I called in the order so I didn’t have to wait.
The owner should either 1) retire or 2) hire help so food can get prepared quicker. I would of gave it more stars if the lady wasn’t such a bitch.