Review: Red Riding Hood Bento Box

Ever since the Honolulu Advertiser article in February outed me as a bento box maniac with some serious addiction issues, I know that I’ve probably become a point that women make to their husbands during arguments about a bento box takeover of the house.

“Look honey, say what you want, but at least I’m not as bad as Pikko!”

I told myself then that it was time to stop buying boxes and I did pretty well for a while, but with J-List credit coming every 2 months and bento boxes being given to me for reviews, hey, that doesn’t count right?

About a month back, Kristen over at Kir de Vries contacted me to offer me more crack… I mean, a bento box, for review and giveaway. After looking through her stock of Shinzi Katoh bento boxes, I chose the Little Red Riding Hood bento box to review as the slim style seems to be popular nowadays. I planned out a charaben where I’d make the same Red Riding Hood design as the cover. Then I saw that Gamene had done the same thing. LOL!

I decided to instead enter hapa bento’s BOMB contest. I’ve been meaning to do her ongoing contest for months, but haven’t been able to gather enough brain cells to get it done until now. I chose sakura made out of fish sausage and cut some leaves out of half soy beans. Unfortunately, I don’t think sakura leaves look like that except in my frazzled head.

I chose this box because of its bright colors and slim shape. Even with two tiers, it’s a pretty small box at 300 ml, so this is definitely not a box for people with bigger appetites. I think it’s a good size for an elementary school kid, with a whole fruit provided on the side in case they’re still a bit hungry.

I normally hate two tier bento boxes, which is why I haven’t bought one at Marukai in a while (2 months…), mostly because the standard 2 tier bento boxes come with lids that smash down your food, giving you a much shallower dish for charaben and also don’t stay down well. The lid of this box is slightly different though.

I took this photo with the red lid upside down. You can see the rim that secures around the box. It still pushes the food down, but it’s got a lot more grip to the lid, which is great for food security. It comes with one gripping lid for each tier, then has a cover for the top. Included with the box is a red elastic strap to hold both tiers together. (This box is tagged Box #027 btw!)

Buddy saw the bento this morning and did a *gasp* and asked it was for him. He got all sad when I said no, because it was Baby Girl’s Furlough Friday bento, I let him eat one of the fried shrimps as a consolation prize and then made him a musubi. I had bought a pack of ebi fry at Marukai when I saw it on sale to see how it was. It was very convenient, taking 1 minute 20 seconds to nuke in the microwave, but it certainly didn’t live up to taste expectations. I tried one at lunch and didn’t care for the taste or the texture. I think I’d rather go through the hassle of defrosting a few shrimp and frying it fresh than buy it again. Still, in the end, Baby Girl only ate the shrimp. I ate the rice and veggies. *sigh*

Considering my son’s enthusiastic appetite, I think that without the girly design, this would be a great size for him as a 4 year old. He’d have eaten the rice, shrimp, and carrots. I’m not sure why, but they both don’t seem to want corn on the cob lately.

Anyway, on to the giveaway details! To enter to win one of these Red Riding Hood bento boxes, simply head over to Kir de Vries and browse the Shinzi Katoh items. Come back here and post which item is your favorite and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll pick a winner at random and announce the winner next Friday. One entry per person! Good luck!