Artisan Bento

Food’s ok for the price. They tried to be creative by putting peanut in the miso dressing. I’m allergic and had to go to the emergency room. This is literally the first time that’s ever happened to me with miso dressing and I’ve been eating Japanese food since childhood.
Contacted them, no response.
They were nice enough to take the time to specify on the menu that the fish was gluten free (since it always was confusing whether or not fish had wheat in it) but I guess they got tired before they could specify which dishes have ingredients that could actually kill people. At least the soccer moms with fake allergies are safe.
If you don’t have allergies you might like it. Or if you’re allergic to gluten because they’re on point with that.
Would not try again.

I tried this place for the first time and had the bento box with salmon. The salmon was so seriously over cooked it was hard to cut into. The salad and the ginger cucumber were both pretty good but the miso soup was only so-​so. The place is not a keeper for me.

For what it is, a walk-​in informal dining place, it is very good. Multi grain rice is majestic. You won’t be dissapointed.

I had the bento box with tons of tasty things. Really great food, healthy, quick, easy and delicious!

Always good! Love their miso salmon bento box and cold ramen noodles. All of their sides are healthy and delicious. Friendly, prompt service. Indoor and outdoor seating.

This place is awesome! Great quality and portions for what a meal costs. One of my new favorite go to.

An order-​first-​then-​seat-​yourself place, conveniently located at the corner of 5^th and Laurel, just across the street from Bertrand at Mister A’s.
Not too shabby! Happy hour is cool. Bento boxes are $ 2 cheaper than usual. $ 3 for an Asahi draft. Word on the street is that they have some fun food on Tuesdays. Guess what Tuesdays are known for in San Diego…
Staff is great. Very hospitable, nice, and pretty enthusiastic about the place.
Perhaps you can call this a hipster place since you get this type of food without the whole place looking or seeming a certain way. It’s the area’s bento fix without having to go all the way to the Convoy District.
Very convenient if you’re a Chase member. There’s an ATM right by there as well as a whole Chase building within a block away.
Parking will have to be along any curb you can find. We parked a couple blocks away where it wasn’t metered. Not horribly tough if you want to make happy hour, but it’ll require you to circle around once or twice at least.

This is the best place in Bankershill to get a clean healthy meal for a reasonable price. Service is attentive and food comes out quick. The don bowls are huge!

This place is a hidden gem in Banker’s Hill, quick, fresh and tasty Japanese food… Cool concept, definitely coming back, thanks !

Amidst the various flashy lunch options available in proximity of my office in Bankers Hill, Artisan Bento is small, subdued, and easy to miss.
Just like everything else about the place, the menu is minimalist. Bento boxes, ramen bowls, bao buns, and a few random sushi-​type things are all there to choose from. I’m okay with this, though. I’ll take a short, well curated menu over some unwieldy behemoth any day.
I settled on a bento box with miso salmon, vegetable gyoza, and seaweed salad. (To keep things low-​carb, I swapped the standard rice for a salad.) All bento boxes come with miso soup.
And speaking of miso soup — that’s perhaps the single best thing here. All Japanese spots serve miso soup, and, usually, it all tastes the same to me. On the other hand, Artisan Bento kicks their miso soup up a couple notches. It’s rich, satisfying, and packed with flavor.
Other highlights were the miso salmon (cooked perfectly) and the seaweed salad (fresh and tangy). The vegetable gyoza were a bit disappointing (limp and mushy).
Prices at Artisan Bento are on the steep side, which isn’t surprising given that it’s a high-​quality product in a high-​rent district. That won’t stop me from coming back once in a while, though.

Love this place for lunch. The salmon bento box is my favorite! Try it, you will not be disappointed.

Fresh and wholesome. My favorite lite meal is the Miso Soup and Ckicken Skewers.

My husband went in and ordered food to go. He ordered beef curry, a chicken bowl, and miso soup. Everything tasted good and I will definitely be back again.

New favorite spot right by my house. The poke bowls are yummy. I always get the ahi bowl. It’s full of healthy stuff, like brown rice, spouts, avocado, carrots, lettuce and a delicious teriyaki sauce. It’s about $ 11 the salmon bowl is good too. My new lunch favorite is the ginger pork bao buns, full of flavor. Eat it fast because the sauce can make the bun soggy fast. But is work it for $ 7. There miso soup is the best, made with sweet potato. And the side salad has the best dressing. Everything is yummy. They serve beer and wine to so #winning.

Simple, fresh, and amazing attention to detail. This is going to be a go to for me when downtown.

This place just gets better and better! Since making bento part of my daily diet, I’ve lost 8 pounds ! I love you Artisan Bento !

This place lives up to its name and its 4.5 star rating. Came here for lunch during a day at Balboa Park (which has limited eating options other than El Prado). It’s evident that the ingredients are healthy and fresh. The chirashi bowl with tofu included 15 grain rice (a nice adjustment to normal white rice offering) with pickled radish and radicchio. The bowl was filling but not heavy, and the savoriness was just right (difficult to do with these types of dishes). The tofu was gently fried (not greasy) with a nicely textured center. I wish I had tried the bento boxes or the bao… the menu looks spectacular. Would highly recommend if you’re in the area and need some lunch!

I have tried this place numerous of times and I am a huge fan!
Their menu is fresh, simple and delicious. I usually order the Mixed Poke bowl and it doesn’t get much healthier than this. I have also tired their Salmon Temaki sushi wrap as well as their Mama’s pork Bao Bun. You can not go wrong with any of them. I love that if you order any of their food to go, it’s all environmentally friendly containers. another bonus!
And don’t forget dessert. Their variety of Gluten Free sweet treats are delicious.
Its a super cute, casual place. you can enjoy your meal there inside, or they also have outdoor seating, where my dog has been able to enjoy it with me, and it’s a block away from Balboa park.

Perfect little place to tuck in between appointments and grab a quick wholly satisfying lunch. I’ve been there twice now. I always order the Bento, which they prepare right in front of you in their simple open kitchen. While I’m waiting at the bar, they’re frying potstickers and chopping ingredients.
I think I love the chicken skewers bento best. If I knew in advance they used ground chicken that they mold into oval shapes I may not have ordered them but the truth is it makes every bite well seasoned and juicy. The ginger pork is very good too. Between those you can’t go wrong. They offer 2 little portions so if you go with a friend, have them order whichever one you don’t.
The Bento box comes with «15-​Grain Rice» which has great texture and a wholesome taste –very addictive — and fortunately they give you a heaping double portion which makes the whole meal comfortably filling for only $ 8.95. You also get a little cup of miso soup plus an additional side with this. The only sides I’ve tried are the potstickers and the cucumber salad, and the cuke salad is definitely the way to go, providing the much needed dose of fresh, cool vegetables. Potstickers were awesome, but too much protein-​packed carbiness to pair with the rice and meat.
I’d love to try something else, but the bento is so solid, it’s hard to pass up. What I need to do is come back for happy hour where they offer $ 2 off the already affordable and absolutely stellar Bento Box.

My group went to Artisan Bento for lunch after spending a few hours at Balboa Park.
I had yet to have fish on my trip to San Diego and was excited to try the Temaki sushi wraps. Upon ordering, I asked the size of the wraps. The guy at the counter said they were kind of small and showed me a picture. The picture didn’t look that small so I only ordered two. I probably should have taken heed to his words and ordered three or four. Unfortunately, I was the only person my group to leave hungry. Everyone else ordered box bowls and had plenty of food.
Although not huge in quantity, they were of great quality. I went with the spicy tuna temaki and albacore temaki. The wraps were both prepared differently– the albacore with garlic chips and cucumber and the spicy tuna with avocado and jalapeño.
It was nice that they had a selection of beer and wine, including Stone’s Go-​To IPA.
It’s a nice spot for a casual lunch. Just make sure to order the correct proportions of food.

I wish there was one of these near me because this is a brilliant concept. Who doesn’t love a fun bento box? The menu is simple, but still gives you choices. There is a case by the register that has examples of the sides so it makes building your box easy. I got the regular sushi box with pickled cucumber and cabbage. The fish was incredibly fresh. The miso soup was quality, but it did have potatoes in it which made a little different. The star of the box was the rice though. It was so flavorful that I just kept wanting to eat more and more. I also got a bao dish to try. Not really part of a bento lunch or even Japanese, but these were worth the try. My only complaint was that they were too saucy and the wetness ruined the bottom of the bun. Service was reasonably prompt and the staff were very friendly. I’d be back soon if I lived closer.

A place known for their bento boxes and I get their Chirashi bowl… Yes, go on slap me on the hand… I should have gotten their bento boxes instead but saw that they were the same owners as Azuki sushi so I thought that their Chirashi bowl would be awesome as well.
Their Chirashi bowl wasn’t that bad… But for $ 13 it came with 6 pieces of fish (salmon, tuna, and albacore). The pieces were thick but this isn’t your traditional Chirashi bowl. The rice is a 15 grain rice and trey add in other things like the pickles radish, a wet seaweed salad and chopped radicchio. Not my favorites in a Chirashi bowl… The fish was fresh but not much for the price. (No octopus, yellowtail, tamago, etc.) I think next time I’ll get the bento boxes and skip the Chirashi… My bad.

This is a cute little Japanese café in Banker’s hill. While the food overall was above average, it was really the ambiance and reasonable pricing (for the area) that knocked it up to a 4 for me.
In terms of options, there aren’t many places like this in San Diego so I definitely welcome the variety. I ordered the chicken skewer bento box which comes with seasoned 15 grain rice, miso soup, and your choice of a salad. In terms of the salad, my options were yakitori (japanese noodles), seaweed salad, sweet potatoes, or a potato salad. Everything looked pretty fresh, but I opted for the yakitori. I also ordered the mama’s pork bao buns based on the server’s recommendation.
Of everything I tried, I was most impressed by the chicken skewer. Sounds pretty plain, but it was more like a chicken meatloaf. I’m not exactly sure what was mixed in with the chicken but it seriously had the consistency of a meatloaf (which I love). And when topped with the slightly sweet terriyaki sauce, yummy! Paired very nicely with the seasoned 15 grain rice. The miso soup was pretty good, but the yakitori was very forgettable.
The pork bao bun was ok. I’ve had a lot of pork bao buns in my day, and this just wasn’t that impressive. The pork, while cooked well, was a little too salty, and the aioli/​mayonnaise-​like glaze on the inside of the bun was unnecessary. The addition of purple cabbage also added a slightly bitter taste. I prefer just the pickled carrots/​radish that you find in most bao buns. The bao itself was great though! It really held up nicely and did not get soggy despite the aioli and pork juice. Not bad, but not great either.
I would definitely return just for the chicken skewers and rice. Probably throw in one of their cute-​looking desserts while I’m at it too!

poke bowl with ahi was amazingly fresh and had a wide array of flavors. At $ 11.50 after tax, not sure you can ask anything more of this little gem of a spot.
My pic shows what’s left my delicious dinner.

Unilocal 100 2015 challenge… Impressed with this little japanese Restaraunt on 5^th ave near laurel… Happy hour is 2 bucks off bentos and half off temaki sushi… Everything here looks so fresh and earthy… I lived my bento that only cost 6.95 with chicken skewers, salad, potato salad and onigiri rolls, I remember these fr Japan… Luv these rice balls… My husband got like salad for 10.95… I also got the cold ramen bowl too with salmon very oisshiii I will be back

I like the simplicity of this place because its simplicity speaks volume through the quality of the food they offer. I stopped for lunch and ordered their Boa Bun with the Mama’s Roasted Pork at $ 5.75 and miso soup with sweet potato for $ 2.50
The roasted pork had a mild sweet flavor and was very tender. The sweet and tangy daikon radish and carrots were excellent and had a great crunch. Although the bun was very good and moist, almost chewy in way, the roasted pork was the star of this bao. The fresh mint and jalapenos were a nice touch and provided nice aromatics and kick via the peppers.
I really enjoyed the house made miso soup. It not only had great flavor, but it came with tender pieces of sweet potatoes. They were a nice touch and a first for me in miso. For a beverage I had the iced green tea which was very tasty.
Service was very friendly. Like I said, the menu is simple but they focus on the quality of ingredients and food preparation. Great place for a quick healthy lunch.

Don’t let the name fool you. This place is a cozy little «fast casual» joint with enough seating (most people come here for takeout) inside and out (catch some fresh air in the patio)! And the prices are quite reasonable for what you’re getting though it’s a tad bit pricier than what you’d typically spend on lunch.
You’ve got a few choices to choose from for the bento box. I recommend either the chicken skewers or the miso salmon. The salmon is grilled just right and retains much of the moisture and juice and the miso glaze isn’t too heavy. The sides that go well with the salmon is the seaweed or the lotus root (glazed with sesame seeds).
If you’re in the mood for a bigger entrée, go with their deluxe bento! You can pick two sides along with a dessert. Opt for the matcha tiramisu! It’s not too heavy and has just the perfect amount to where you won’t be feeling too guilty.
Wash down your meal with a hot matcha tea (green tea is known to help your body burn off the calories you’ve just consumed).
Keep up the good work guys, I hope the menu continues to grow!

Date of visit: 3÷13÷2015
My Mom and I were early for my appointment at The White Flower, so we decided to grab a quick bite to eat next door. It seemed a bit more appetizing than Starbucks. There is only street parking in the area that is metered, so make sure you fill your meter to avoid a ticket.
You have to order at the counter first and then they will bring out your food. We decided to order the Chicken Skewer Bento with Seaweed Salad. The chicken skewer was ground chicken with edamame, which tasted pretty good. I also really liked the rice because it was seasoned with the purple spice that you get at Korean restaurants. The miso soup and seaweed salad were pretty standard — you get exactly what you’re expecting, which is good.
Monica and Scotty came while we were eating and ordered a Dirty Chai and an Iced Coffee. They both enjoyed their drinks. This restaurant is a mix of a Japanese restaurant with a coffee shop. You can also buy some Japanese snacks here.
Overall I would definitely go back if I was in the area, but since it’s not a convenient location, I probably won’t.

My friend recommended this place and thought I’d give it a try. I thought it was a sushi restaurant at first and was excited to try it. I was disappointed at first but then after looking at the samples of the food, it looked really nice.
The ambience is really nice and has cute decorations. However, there is very limited seating. When you come in, you order at the register and they kindly explain the choices that they have and what is in each entrée. Service was outstanding.
I got the salad bowl with chicken skewers ($ 10). The salad had two chicken skewers, lettuce with delicious dressing, tiny cut up carrots, avocado, beans, and cucumbers. It also came with miso soup on the side. The salad was actually really good but I couldn’t finish it because it came in a big portion. Only thing I would say is the salads could’ve been a little cheaper.

Delicious Japanese gourmet style food!
Kristine suggested we check this new place out, and we ventured out to Banker’s hill for lunch today since we were around the area.
Parking: Like any other establishments in Banker’s Hill, you will almost always have to find parking on the street. Luckily for us, Saturday lunchtime for the area is like a ghost town, so parking was a breeze.
First impression: What I had in mind for «Artisan Bistro» was an upscale Japanese restaurant. But I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in and noticed that it’s a smaller place with a very welcoming ambiance. There are 4 small tables inside that you can put together for bigger parties, and also a ~10 seat bar upfront.
Service: Something different for this kind of restaurant was that you order your food at the counter, like a fast food place, but they bring out your food to your table. Even so, our order taker at the register was friendly and helpful in explaining the different choices we had and describing each one. The waiter who brought out our food was polite, as well. Another fast food like characteristic of artisan bistro is the condiment bar by the entrance, where you can self-​serve water cups and grab your napkins and utensils as you wish.
Bento box with chicken skewers ($ 9.95): The create your own bento box option came with multi-​grain rice, miso soup, your choice of side salad (I had the sweet potato salad), and your choice of either chicken skewers, ginger pork, or tofu (I had the chicken skewers). The miso soup was dee-​licious! I inhaled that thing first. The sweet potatoes were drizzled with ranch, cooked perfectly, and were sweet sweet sweet, just how I like it. The multi-​grain rice came in two heart shaped pieces, very subtle subliminal message, aligning with their «heahtly» food promotion. Lastly, it came with two chicken skewers, not a big portion for me, wish it came with more, because it was pretty dang good! It looked to be ground chicken that was mixed with edemame (?) and some other spices, and then cooked over a grill.
Welcoming ‘fast-​food’ like environment, good tasting, good quality food, with price that could’ve been a little cheaper, and friendly service.