Met a friend at Zen Bento for lunch and ordered a Chicken Bento Bowl with Teriyaki Sauce and Noodles instead of rice. My friend ordered a chicken salad. The wait time was short and there was plenty of open seating. The dining room felt clean, but nothing remarkable about it. They have a handful of 2 and 4 top tables to choose from. Then one long table with lots of to-go bags and some to-go utensils. My bento bowl was okay. Good amount of chicken, but I would have preferred a better vegetable to noodle ratio. There was definitely an abundance of noodles, which is filling, but it could have used some more veggies. I would also have liked a little more sauce on my bowl as well. The chicken was a little dry without enough sauce on it. My friend's salad was delicious and she raved about how good it was. I appreciate that they put the salad dressing in the side so you can control how much you want. Next time, I will definitely opt for a salad over a bento bowl. read more

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Great service and food! Fast and tasty! Affordable!! Always consistently excellent!! Great for lunch!! read more

Pretty dang good, good vibes and SUPER FAST!! These girls have got it down. Clean, convenient and tasty. We had bento bowls, tofu and chicken with ginger soy sauce. Oh my!! Will return! Hana hou! read more

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Wife loves the salmon bento - low cal, ginger soy dressing. I end up going to Apple St. location because they are open until 6. Yum.

Hungry for lunch or dinner...this is a good solution. Fresh food, tasty, reasonable mix of vegetables and meat. Although the pictures shows a lid, there are tables to eat your food at within or without if the weather is nice. I was satisfied with my portion size and it was a good, fresh tasting lunch. read more

Zen Bento - Beef Bento with Ginger dressing. - Japanese Near Me - Boise, Idaho

We are excited to have Zen Bento in the neighborhood. We have enjoyed the downtown location for a long time. Now we have them closer to home! We ordered the spicy poke and the chicken with extra vegies. We enjoyed the Zen, Ginger Soy, and Kamikazi sauces with oir bowls. Both bowls were very tasty. The food is clean and fresh and that is the huge difference maker. The different sauces that are available make it fun to mix and match. I highly recommend this place to anybody looking for healthy, clean, fresh food. Cheers Always! read more

Zen Bento - two people standing at a counter in a restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Boise, Idaho

Staff is friendly and helpful in answering any questions. However the food is not good, I've been here twice and both times my veggies were practically raw, barely steamed. The sauces aren't as flavorful as you would expect and taste like they are loaded with sugar/preservatives. On my last visit the woman who helped me had a baby in a carrier on the front, which was a little surprising but didn't bother me as I assumed she was just taking orders. Turns out she was also making my bowl, the baby sneezed twice while she was making my order, while I love babies, I don't want their sneeze all over my food- just like if anyone else had sneezed on it. I found it very unsanitary and unprofessional. Had she only been taking orders I wouldn't really have been bothered by it. read more

Food was not that good, staff said maybe 10 words to us and Why on earth do they put macaroni salad in a Bento box? We were very disappointed read more

It's unfortunate. Steamed vegetable was raw, brown rice was hard, chicken was tasteless. But staffs were friendly. read more

Zen Bento - a bowl of stir fried vegetables and chicken - Japanese Near Me - Boise, Idaho

We love Zen Bento and were so excited when they went back to be open till 6:00 Tuesday-Friday. But just be aware they stop answering the phone at 5:45 even though your order only takes 10 minutes. I was disappointed today. They answered at 5:43 today- I heard murmuring and then they hung up. Called again till 5:50, stopped by at 5:55. Of course they were gone but I had to see for myself. read more

Hard to believe that I've now been coming here for 15 years! Boise staple, glad they're still around with a closer location to my house!

When Zen Bento opened right next to my house, it was like Christmas morning! I have always found their food to be fresh and delicious. I get a tofu bento with brown rice, lots of green onions (which they add on for free), and half ginger soy/half zen sauce and it is heavenly. The vegetables are great too. My sister and mom also love this place- it's our go-to when we get together (we get take out). I try not to order from here more than once every couple of weeks but it gets difficult not to! read more

Can be super hit or miss. The staff rarely greets you when you walk in and aren't the nicest over the phone either. This place is great for a quick healthy meal. read more

Awesome place to pick up some quick healthy food. It's hard to find a restaurant that serves delicious bowls that aren't loaded with oil and grease. Lean protein, great rice and lightly steamed veggies! read more

I sure love how fresh Zen Bento tastes and the price point is spot on! I will definitely be back.

Food is very good. The hours of operation however are frustrating. The downtown location is not open on weekends which seems absurd and closes at 7pm. Almost any time I choose to go to zen bento it is closed. As well, the employees at the downtown location have been rude on several occasions. read more

Well that was more than disappointing. Had to go back because the ahi I ordered smelled so bad it was not edible. Returned home with a beef bowl and brown rice. 90% of the veggies were broccoli and cabbage. Yeah! Very little carrot or zucchini. Staff was great just wish the food was as good. Save the money find a good Mongolian place. At least it will have flavor. read more

Struggle with take out service - make sure you check all of your bowls when ordering take out. My family and I ordered three bowls. Multiple sauces were not included on two of the three bowls (including kamikaze sauce and zen sauce, which are very noticeable). When we called back, they offered to provide sauces - which were not worth it as we live 20 minutes from the location. Long story short, make sure you check your bowls - even on very simple orders. read more

I cannot say enough great things about this place! I was so happy to hear that they were opening a location on Apple St, considering it is around the corner from where I work. The location is great and the drive up window is so convenient for a grab and go meal when you call in your order ahead of time. The store itself is well kept and very clean. I typically get a chicken bowl with brown rice and it's amazing! The vegetables are always my favorite part. They are cooked just perfectly. The staff is so friendly and welcoming. They are so helpful and always answer any questions I have, especially Chance! He always cooks my bowls just to my liking and has the best recommendations on new things to try out. I highly recommend Zen Bento, especially this location. If you haven't tried this place yet, you need to! read more

I love Zen Bento and am so happy they opened a location outside of downtown! I've been there three times since they've opened because I love it so much. The bowls are reasonably priced, healthy, tasty, satisfying portions, good customer service. I will definitely keep going to Zen Bento as long as they don't change a thing! read more

Bland, flavorless steamed tofu, vegetables and rice. The sauce basaltic honey glaze sauce tasted gross and I couldn't even eat the rice because of it. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. I would of rather payed half the price next door at subway. 2 stars because the service was not bad. read more

Got the best chicken bento here, and when I said extra veggies...they did NOT disappoint! Yummmm! I'll be back!

I love Zen Bento. I usually get the low-carb Salmon because their vegetables are so yummy and they cook them perfectly al dente. I hate soggy vegetables. I've noticed other reviews comment on under cooked vegetables and I wonder if they're expecting soggy vegetables?? If you like soggy you'll probably be disappointed, if you enjoy your vegetables to still have a bit of a crunch you'll be in heaven. I also eat the steak and chicken. The chicken is okay, the steak goes between okay and amazing (when it's fresh off the grill!). I'm almost always happy with the salmon though so that's usually my go to meat :) read more

Nice little casual place for a light lunch or take out dinner, great to have another spot on the s.e. side that includes healthy food options. read more

This is my favorite place for lunch! I love the options and variety you get, I like trying new things every time I go in there. The salmon is amazing as well as the ahi, the kamikaze sauce is delicious and adds the perfect amount of spice. They have amazing service and I'm always greeted with a smile and the staff is willing to answer any question I have. Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I call in and use their convenient drive thru window so I can be on my way, quick and easy. :) very satisfied everytime read more

Questionable cleanliness of work area and food handling. High prices for low quality food and poor presentation.

We tried this place tonight. I was hopeful, but we were both a bit disappointed in our meals. I had a seared ahi salad. The ahi was very good and it was a good sized portion. But the cabbage and top ramen noodles that were broken up with the cabbage were not very good at all. The way the cabbage was cut made it hard to eat it - it was cut in squares about 3/4" in size and it was just hard to eat. I love raw shredded cabbage usually in a salad but this cut was awkward. And I don't know why they bother with crushed top ramen noodles. It added nothing and seemed 'cheap'. The dressing was heavy and coagulating on the cabbage. We had a chicken teriyaki bowl also, and again, the chicken was in large cubes, which made it hard to eat. Did not tasted grilled or anything. The teriyaki sauce was congealed like the salad dressing and not appetizing at all. Neither one of us finished out bowls and I am sorry but we won't be returning. read more