Bento Nouveau

DO NOT EVER GO HERE! This place caused my girlfriend to throw up 10 times and get major food poisoning!

Convenient sushi and nice ramen! It’s not a restaurant you would like to enjoy your lunch here, but buy and take away is a good choice!

Hey, man. If this was the ONLY sushi joint in the neighborhood, I would understand. Or, if this was the CHEAPEST sushi joint in the neighborhood, I would also understand. However, there are a number of Japanese places within walking distance that are BOTH cheaper and astronomically better in quality. I beg to wonder how this shanty stays open. The «fish» is so grotesquely strange, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were some soy-​hybrid blend with «fish essence» injected. And it’s paper thin, comically bright in color, slimy and adhered like a Lisa-​Frank sticker on a giant ball of cold, hard rice. And they charge on average $ 10-​$ 13 for this bunk. The nerve. I think people come here for the noodles, which are benignly average, at best. If you add a packet of soysauce, you can almost taste the broth.
Come here to get a kick, if you think wasting money is fun. Like, take a picture, point fingers, scratch-​n-​sniff. But don’t come back. You won’t.

Pretty good sushi at a really reasonable price. Wish there were more comfortable seats

This was ok. Service was quick, although I went during the lunch rush. The staff was friendly, although very busy.
Food wise: the roll was ok. The salmon was smokey tasting. That really threw me off, along with the crunchy onions not being very crunchy. SO it ended up tasting like cold friend salmon? weirdness…
The miso soup is good and only a $ 1 extra.
If in a rush I’d recomend it, maybe I picked the wrong item?

The food is actually alright. The problem is with the background music — the Indian waiters were playing Indian music all along!!! I felt like I was dining in Bollywood with a whole tray of Japanese food in front me!!! Jesus…

Rushed in here because I was starving after doing the Statue of Liberty tour with my sister and her husband.
I got the huge Salmon lovers platter of sushi for $ 13 – 14 and a plain udon noodle $ 4 – 6.
The udon noodles came out piping hot and I actually burned my tongue. That was pretty good.
The sushi however, was rock hard and cold. I was not a fan. The pieces of fish didn’t taste that fresh which was I guess what I get for buying sushi out of a fridge case.
Doubt I’ll go back anytime soon.

Review is for the udon only.
When it comes to lunch options, I usually pass this place. But I was over my usual haunts, and had a craving for noodle soup, so… along came Bento Nouveau.
Place: Clean, simple décor. A little cramped, but this is typical of Financial District eateries.
Service: Just ok.
Fare: I originally ordered the shrimp tempura udon, but they were out of shrimp, so settled for the vegetable tempura. It was meh.
Firstly, the tempura was pre packaged and nuked, and the udon broth was completely bland. Actually, the tempura *added* flavor. Despite this, I was able to eat most of it.
I doubt I’ll be a regular here… there are other Japanese spots in the city that are better in price and quality.
I give this place 2 ½ stars.

Came down here with my little team. The Taste of curry beef is very bad. Don’t come here for anything, the bento box i got has four pieces of veg sushi. … u really don’t like the food here… clean place to sit for a little bit.

I used to go here every couple weeks for udon or sushi. it was decent quality, price was fair for neighborhood. Had wondered if quality was going downhill, haven’t been for a few months. Got sushi today that should not have been sold at any price. Actually the worst I’ve ever experienced, inedible. I stopped after the first bite, and wish that I hadn’t even made it that far. The uneaten portion is noticeably discolored, though you couldn’t tell that from the side facing up.
Wow. If you’re going to sell sushi, you need to have some level of quality controls. I would wager money that this was at least yesterday’s sushi, and probably older. If this was made today, then I would actually be even more concerned.
I should go get money back and maybe make a scene, but not worth it. I think instead I will just avoid at all costs.

There is sushi available as well as udon. I saw seaweed salad, mini tuna rolls, quinoa and avocado california rolls, etc. I ordered the vegetable udon, and it was adequate. I have been to the other one on Broadway, and it was the beef flavor – that one is heavenly. The veggie had mushrooms, arrow shoots, a handful of cut green beans, and stirred onions. I found the the celing décor is moderately nice with wooden interlocking slats similar to ones found in a fancy garden. It is made to be a fast food joint but with healthier options. You have to bus your own table, and there is no waitstaff. The guy working at the counter was decent, but the food was not bad. I still prefer the other Bento Nouveau better.

This review is solely for noodle soups. I never bought pre-​packed Sushi from this place.
There is seating area and it is convenient to grab and go style pre-​packed sushi.
I regularly order Kitsune udon or Tempra Udon. Prices for non-​sushi platter are not so bad.
Last week, I took out Kitsune Udon. The taste was so horrible that I made up my mind never to go back again for noodles.
I think Kitsune (deep fried Tofu) was spoiled…
I gave two stars because a casher lady actually speaks Japanese and the store front is very clean and neat

The food is pricey for what it is, but since the taste is actually pretty acceptable, this place gets three stars.
I came in here to get a quick lunch with a friend before going to run some errands. I got the shrimp tempura udon and an orange juice, which ran me about $ 11. The shrimp tempura was by no means fresh… it was put together in less than 3 minutes and they microwave the pre-​made tempura right in front of you. For how it’s prepared though, the taste of the udon really isn’t that bad. Quick tip: The tempura gets soggy quickly, so eat them immediately.
All in all, Bento Nouveau is a decent place to get really quick, pre-​made Japanese food.

Bento was one of my go-​to lunch spots when I worked in the Financial District. Their sushi was affordable and there were never any long lines. They also have a good rewards card program — after going there 10 times (easy to do when you go there for work lunches), your next order is free.
I’m no sushi expert, but I really enjoyed what they make.

Good if you are craving sushi and have no time to do anything other than walk in, pick an overpriced cold roll, and jet back to your desk.
I cannot get over how expensive the sushi is here, unbelievable.

Crappy sushi with pretty ridiculous prices. They serve 3 kinds of nigiri sushi… shrimp, «tuna,» and salmon. 4 fake tuna nigiri with 4 pieces of tuna roll constitutes a «tuna samurai.» That will run you approximately 10 bucks. The salmon samurai… well, you get the idea.
But if you’re just an American tool and is happy with california rolls and dragon rolls and stuff like that, they’ve got great replicas of those here so I suppose you can satisfy yourselves.
They got udon. They basically dump the 2 dollar packaged udon into hot water, wait a couple of minutes, scoop it up, put it in a paper bowl and pour in some of their premade [meat of your choice] broth.
It’s expensive, it’s bad, but gosh darnit it tastes good when you’re tired out from work and just want something remotely similar to Japanese food at lunch for less than $$$.
Another choice 10 mins walk from here, closer to Wall st is «Niko Niko,» which in my humble opinion has better utility sushi.

Randomly walked in just to grab sushi for lunch. Since they promote the new spices of california roll. I decided to walk in and try it. around 6 dollars for it. I had a little high expectation.
When I reach home and I opened it up, the 5 or 7 spices (i don’t remember” california roll is tasteless. They should name is 1 spice california roll or something. or maybe there were too much spices and they just complicated the taste of it.
Disappointed. :(

Look, if you’re coming here, it had better be because you work nearby. As in next door, like me. And you need a really fast, somewhat nutritious lunch.
If that’s what you want, then I recommend the brown rice vegetable sushi to go. Not because it’s particularly any good. It’s really not — it’s cold, and a little too firm, and so on. But it’s brown rice with decent vegetables; it’s filling; it’s not too expensive; and the lines aren’t very long at all. I can’t imagine buying anything with raw fish in it here, but more power to you if you venture that far.
I can’t say the udon looked promising, but I’ll try it some day in any event.

I really didn’t want to walk in there.
I really didn’t even want to buy the udon after I saw them make it in the little window.
I really didn’t even like the prices especially after seeing them make it in the little window.
But goddamn, I’m always in the mood for udon during my lunch breaks and this is the only place with noodle pictures on the outside. The udon isn’t good and I think even the cooks know it. They never look happy and I’m sure that packaged chicken doesn’t necessarily make them feel deserving of the title «chef».
I ordered the chicken udon the last time I went there and they didn’t even hide the fact that they were putting pre-​cooked and packaged chicken in my udon bowl. I think that’s when I had enough. Udon pictures won’t lure me anymore. Sadly, it worked the first three times but honestly [and I’m a beginner cook] if I can cook that udon myself I really don’t want to pay you 10 dollars for it. So really, I wasn’t even surprised how quick they were able to make it… Because it doesn’t take much. They have the soup already made. They have packaged everything. So it’s bada bing bada boom and there I go out the door.

Decent food at a great price. If you go late at night, all their sushi is like half off or something (I forgot the exact sale/​price reduction).
lots of choices too. hot foods, soups, noodles, sushi, etc.