I'm HUNGRY.

January 29, 2007 9:26 AM

Lunch-box-rescue-filter! Help me find a Mr. Bento lunch box (or similar multi-compartmented box) in London, UK.

I really want a Mr. Bento lunchbox after seeing those cool lunch pictures from this flickR group. Amazon won't ship it to the UK, the official Zojirushi website is useless, and e-bay has crazy quotes which seem to be more than the item's normal price. Anyone know of a website or a store that sell this product?

Alternatively, does anyone know where I could find a similar product in London (my only criteria is that I want at least 3 containers, not two)?

posted by Sijeka to food & drink (17 comments total)

I don't know where to buy one in the UK, but that thing is awesome!
posted by dcjd at 9:37 AM on January 29, 2007

I know! :-(

... anyone? Or, any suggestions?
posted by Sijeka at 9:46 AM on January 29, 2007

My wife got me one of these for Christmas. I normally wouldn't comment without an answer but I did want to warn you: while it is extremely awesome, there is one bowl that is not water tight.

When/if you get it, it is the one with the thicker lid that turns a quarter turn to lock on. The instructions may say the same, but mine were not in English.

Good luck.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 9:48 AM on January 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Do you know anyone in the US who's willing to buy one on your behalf & send it to you? That might be your best bet, especially considering the crazy UK-US currency exchange rate these days.
posted by AthenaPolias at 9:51 AM on January 29, 2007

How about a tiffin? They are nowhere in build-quality to what you're describing, but they are the orginal compartmentalised lunch box.
posted by gadha at 9:58 AM on January 29, 2007

If you paypal\google checkout\whatever me the money, I'll buy it and send it to you. You'll have to pay the extra shipping from my house to the UK though. E-mail's in the profile.
posted by !Jim at 10:02 AM on January 29, 2007

hmm... well I am not from the uk, but I searched on my lunch break and came up with this site and here.

I went to google pages in the uk, looked up online shopping and from there found mr.bento. Good luck in finding one, I have two on my wedding registry and I really hope to get them (funny thing is I discovered it this week, with the exact same pictures as you :D)
posted by ForeverDcember at 10:10 AM on January 29, 2007

If you're looking for function over form there's this on eBay. It has 3 containers, but looks like crap.
posted by essexjan at 10:20 AM on January 29, 2007

I get most of my bento supplies from either ebay or Jbox. Search for "bento box" on ebay and you'll probably find lots of options.
posted by frykitty at 10:35 AM on January 29, 2007

Forever dcember - thanks! I was hopeful for a second, but when I tried it said it doesn't ship to the UK. It seems my quest is an impossible one.
posted by Sijeka at 12:34 PM on January 29, 2007

Have you read the negative reviews on Amazon? No way I'd buy this after reading those.
posted by dobbs at 1:12 PM on January 29, 2007

alright... I have searched again! Laptop lunches After that, I am finding nuttin...
posted by ForeverDcember at 1:16 PM on January 29, 2007

It still has a good average score based on reviews, and I like mine. Like I said above, one of the containers does leak, but its design is rather specific.

I haven't had any problem microwaving the bowls, but it does say not to put it in a dishwasher (although the dishwasher can play hell with most plastics).

That said, it is rather bulky, and I haven't needed to test its insulating properties yet.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:21 PM on January 29, 2007

This isn't insulated but it looks pretty nice, and the melamine ones might be microwavable...
posted by leahwrenn at 2:29 PM on January 29, 2007

How odd; I was just looking at the same thing yesterday and found these (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
posted by reynir at 2:49 PM on January 29, 2007

When I lived in the middle east Indian and Pakistani workers typically carried their lunches in a similar container that look just like these. They are stainless steel but non-insulated and can be found with different sizes and different numbers of compartments.

My guess, living in London, it shouldn't be too hard to find one. Maybe print out a picture (upper left on the page) and head over to India-town or whatever the ethnic place(s) in London is.
posted by 6550 at 3:36 PM on January 29, 2007

Depending in what part of London that you are at here are some shopping options:

Picadilly Circus there is the The Japan Centre who you can contact and probably order a Mr. Bento.

In Zone 2 Putney there is the Japanese Kitchen which maybe able to order you a Mr. Bento though they seem to stock the more traditional Bento

If you are in the northwest and willing to browse there is the Oriental City shopping centre that has a mish-mash of various stores but is a good source for food, ingredients and goods if you are willing to look. Located on Edgeware road you may find a Mr. Bento or his equivalent if not order one from the various Japanese stores there. If not, the food court is pretty good though the Vietnamese stand needs some help (Go to Hackney for Vietnamese food).
posted by jadepearl at 4:31 PM on January 29, 2007