Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar Review

It's a great "lunchbox" if you adapt your menu to it.

First the description
The lunchbox is a Thermos Jar with a non-insulated plastic top. There are four containers that fit into the jar in a specific order.
-The bottom container is a insulated bowl. It has a gasket sealed screw on top, insulated side walls and a small vent for pressure. The most insulative of the bunch it is designed for soup or other liquids
-The next container is the biggest. It has a slide and lock insulated top.
-The third container is notably smaller and has a Tupperware like pop top.
-The fourth container is smaller yet and has the same top.
You stack the containers in the jar and then clip the top on with little side clips. The whole thing then goes in a nice nylon carry bag that also has a pair of chopsticks in a narrow plastic box. There are little pockets on the side for extra sauce packets or condiments (or I-pod video's to watch while your eating lunch).

This unit is optimally designed for the Japanese style lunch. A soup, Rice, entrée and pickled/salted vegetables. Normally you'd put your soup in the bottom container, fill the middle container up with rice. Your entrée would go in the third and the veggies in the fourth. Since the soup and the rice container both have insulated tops they stay warm. The other containers are not insulated and neither is the top. This allows some heat coming off the bottom two containers to escape so that your veggies are at room temperature. Understanding this is important. Its not supposed to keep the entire meal at the same temperature. Its supposed to keep one part hot and the other part at room temperature.

I've found that in real use the soup container stays steaming hot. The stuff in the rice container stays warm (but not hot) the stuff in the top two containers heats up to room temperature, maybe a little bit more.

Naturally you don't have to use it as designed (soup/rice/entrée/veggie) but departures require a little bit adaptation and creativity. You need to balance both amounts and what you want to keep the hottest vs coolest. Also if you have access to a microwave at lunch it kind of makes this not quite as useful since you could just heat your food up there (as opposed to heating it up in the morning before you go). You could use the whole thing as a cooler (everything remains cold/cool till you heat up what you want). That might be a better way to go if your using it for the office.

The size of the room temperature containers is not large enough to handle American sized sandwiches and breads, so if your looking to take that traditional lunch box stuff this isn't the best unit for that.

If your looking to make the most of this unit you might check out some Bento Box cookbooks. They give receipies and menu sets more in line with what this is designed to handle. In particular I enjoyed the book "Bento Boxes" by Naomi Kijima

Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go

I'll cook something up out of that and thrown in a packet of instant miso soup for a Japanese style lunch.

Pros-
Compact and efficient use of space- It all goes in the tube, no bag full of different containers
Allows for two temperatures in the same container - Allows for flexible combinations
Lots of interesting comments from your co-workers

Cons-
Cleanup is a bit of a pain - Not dishwasher safe. The soup top is a little tricky at times.
Soft plastic will eventually pick up strong smells/Stains
Two temperatures in the same container - Requires a little creativity, doesn't keep everything uniformly hot/cold.

Conclusion-
As long as you understand how it works and adapt it's a great product. Might encourage you to cook a bit more healthy food and eat more vegetables.



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Product Description:
Whether in the office or on the go, you can take a healthier, tastier, more interesting lunch with you thanks to Zojirushi's Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar. One of the most versatile lunch boxes you'll ever come across, the Mr. Bento lunch jar comes with four different containers that allow you to pack a multi-course lunch of both hot and cold items easily and securely.
The jar itself, made of vacuum-insulated, stainless steel, houses four plastic containers with lids: a 15.2-ounce main bowl; a 9.5-ounce soup bowl; a 6.8-ounce small side bowl; and a 10.1-ounce large side bowl. The large soup bowl comes with gasket-sealed lid to prevent messy spills and is specially insulated to keep soup hot. All pieces should be washed by hand with non-abrasive cleaning pads. Inner bowls are microwave-safe. A spork with its own protective cover attaches to the Mr. Bento lunch jar, and the jar itself has its own lid with lock and comes in a zippered carry bag with a strap for easy transport.
What's in the Box
Zippered carrying bag with strap; outer container with lock and lid; 6.8-ounce small side bowl with lid; 10.1-ounce large side bowl with lid; 15.2-ounce main bowl with lid; 9.5-ounce soup bowl with gasket, valve, and lid; forked spoon with cover and holder. Container measures 10 by 6 by 6 inches.

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