Bento Cafe UCF

12250 Strategy Blvd #443

Orlando, FL 32817
(407) 658-8088

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I have always been a fan of Bento Cafe, especially the Downtown Orlando location.

Bento primarily serves up what is best described as Pan-Asian cuisine, with a wide array of different foods from all over Asia. The downtown location is great if you happen to work or live near there, as it has become a staple in that area for quick and fresh Asian cuisine at a reasonable price. I however live on the east side of Orlando, and unless I ask my wife to bring me something home, it’s a bit out of the way. That is why I am very happy to share with you my most recent review of the all new Bento Cafe UCF. Yes you heard right...Bento has a brand new location in the Plaza at University, and the food is just as awesome as it is at any other location.

The Bento Cafe brand, If you are not familiar with them, is a small chain of seven restaurants with more on the way, that offers a creative mixture of Asian inspired dishes from wok stir-fry to fire-grilled items to sushi using the finest Asian spices and the freshest ingredients all at great prices.

The concept at Bento is to bring unique and authentic Asian food in a fast and efficient manner. Everything on the menu is cooked to order and prepared in minutes and served up in an atmosphere that is fun, friendly and stylish. The word “Bento” means boxed-meal in Japanese, and they have a wide selection of traditional boxed meals, but the menu includes a wide variety of sushi rolls, sashimi, nigiri and chirashi bowls as well as soups, udon noodles, rice bowls and noodle bowls. They also offer Boba Tea, a popular Asian beverage that is consisted of milk tea and chewy tapioca pearls.

Every store is designed differently which makes visiting each Bento Cafe an experience. Each store will be either dominated by the warm red dragon colors or the cool blue dragon colors. Each Bento has a sushi station, but the UCF location has seats at the sushi bar, so you can watch the chefs prepare your rolls live and in person.

 

Speaking of sushi, the Jade roll with marinated spicy tuna, eel, avocado, krab delite, masago, scallions and eel sauce tasted just as good as it looked.

For my entree, I chose the the Sesame Wok Stir Fry bowl. This dish comes with your choice of chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu and red bell peppers, snow peas, onions, baby corn in a sesame soy sauce. I really enjoyed the flavors, and the portion was more than I could eat.

Now, I really did enjoy my entree selection, but it would be dishonest of me not to tell you that I was really jealous of my wife’s Bento Box. She opted for the Sriracha Garlic Chicken in a bento box. You can get chicken, shrimp or tofu grilled or fried with red bell peppers and onions with a sweet and spicy Sriracha sauce for dipping. Bento boxes come with your choice of steamed rice or lo mein, ginger salad, and string beans and a dessert. Not only was this delicious and lots of food, it only costs $8.95, and that's a bargain.

The UCF Bento Cafe is the third one to open in the Orlando area, and I can now say I have been to all three, and all three locations have been very consistent in quality and service. Sometimes chains can vary in quality and the overall experience you may have there, and I am impressed with the consistency of Bento Cafe.

If you are looking for some really good Asian food with variety and great flavors in a fast casual environment, check out Bento if you have not done so already. Whats even better is the fact that you can dine there without putting a hurt on your wallet and without sacrificing quality over price.

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