Kaku Bento Box Lunch from Kohan

Item Purchased: Kaku Bento Box Lunch from Kohan
Location Purchased: Kohan Japanese Restaurant / 730 W. Maxwell St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $10.00 + tax

Review: I probably shouldn't be spending so much on lunch right after the holidays, but I don't want to start off '07 by putting crap into my body during lunch time. There's at least 51 more weeks to do that. So, a slightly-more-than-I-would-like-to-pay lunch was in the stars for me again.

That's not to say that this varied and filling lunch isn't worth it, because it is. A bento box from Kohan will get you at least five different offerings in one take-out lunch container. Where to begin?!

Okay... in the order I tasted them. Ready? Go!

First, Kohan's chicken yakitori is glazed and grilled to glossy yumification along with green onion pieces skewered in between the 4-5 chicken chunks on each stick (you get two with this bento box). Next, we have two medium sized goyoza (dumplings, like samosas or peirogis) fried to a crispy consitency and filled with a pork mush seasoned with what tastes like a brown sauce. The cold and limp cucumber salad is surprisingly tasty with its vinegar dressing and chewy bay leaves and cabbage mixed in while the California rolls are a solid average (high point: you receive four... I was expecting two). Finally, if all of this didn't already fill me up, the huge scoop of teriyaki fried rice is so thick and sticky that there is no way I could walk away from this meal hungry.

Whew... In addition to all of that, I also received a cup of miso soup, but was too full to even try it.

While I may not be willing to spend $10.00 on lunch every day, Kohan offers something that no other restaurant in the vicinity of Maxwell Street offers... variety and quality food for one moderate price. The meat and vegetables used are fresh, prepared to perfection and served with a smile that makes you want to stay rather than take your meal back to the office.

In fact, I just may do that tomorrow... I wonder if they have wi-fi.

I know they have sake. :)

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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