Mr. Sato goes to test on Nihamaru Bento in Shin Okubo.
In Japan, you’ll typically see budget-friendly eating places trumpeting their “one-coin” meals. This implies it’s a meal that you could buy for 500 yen (US$3.60), with the title coming from the truth that the 500-yen coin is the largest coin Japan has.
However for the actually value-conscious, it’s even higher if you can’t solely pay on your meal with a single 500-yen coin, but additionally get some change again, and that frugal ambition is what had our ace reporter Mr. Sato just lately reminiscing about Nihamaru Bento, a bento boxed lunch takeout place in downtown Tokyo’s Shin Okubo neighborhood. Nihamaru Bento has a particular place in Mr. Sato’s reminiscences due to their boxed lunches that you may purchase for under 290 yen (US$2.10)!
We’re not speaking about minuscule parts and barely edible parts, both. On Mr. Sato’s final go to, he obtained this completely tasty karaage bento, with 4 items of fried hen, rice with black sesame seeds, and a few pickles for 290 yen.
Along with his abdomen and pockets each feeling uncomfortably near empty, Mr. Sato thought a return journey to Nihamaru Bento was so as, however he wasn’t certain one was going to be doable. See, the final time Mr. Sato hit the place up was in August of 2016, when he took this snapshot.
Since then, although, we had a pandemic that severely broken the restaurant business, adopted by the worst inflation Japan has seen in generations and an prolonged rice scarcity this previous summer time and September. Add within the regular high-competitive amongst meals and beverage companies in downtown Tokyo, and Mr. Sato figured there was an excellent likelihood that Nihamaru Bento had closed down since he’d final been there.
So think about his reduction when, after getting off the practice at Shin Okubo and strolling about 10 minutes east from the station, he noticed Nihamaru Bento’s signal nonetheless there, and the place nonetheless in enterprise!
Nevertheless it was nonetheless too early to rejoice. Like we stated, inflation has been working rampant in Japan for greater than a yr now, and Mr. Sato braced himself for the potential shock of Nihamaru Bento having raised their costs. Positive sufficient, as he obtained nearer he may see indicators confirming that worry, however the blow was significantly softened as a result of…
…they haven’t raised them very a lot in any respect.
OK, so it seems the value improve is definitely to slightly greater than 298 yen. Since 2016, Japan has had some adjustments to its consumption/gross sales tax rules, and companies at the moment are allowed to show their costs in pre-tax type, which is what the 298 yen is indicating on Nihamaru Bento’s indicators. Nonetheless, even after tax that works out to solely 320 yen (US$2.30), simply 30 yen greater than eight years in the past and nonetheless a ridiculously whole lot.
Mr. Sato’s wild emotional rollercoaster trip continued when he walked into the shop and noticed that they now have a two-tier value system for boxed lunches, with 320 yen being the lower-priced possibility and premium bento costing a nonetheless very low-cost 420 yen. The dearer bento supposedly are made with dearer components, however even on the 320-yen stage Mr. Sato may select from boxed lunches with hearty predominant dishes like hamburger steak or the chinjao rosu (Chinese language-style stir-fried beef, inexperienced peppers, and bamboo shoots) that he selected.
And maybe as a result of he was so comfortable to search out Nihamaru Bento nonetheless doing enterprise and dealing so onerous to offer reasonably priced meals to its clients, Mr. Sato determined so as to add on just a few facet orders too, grabbing a pack of Taiwanese-style ji pai fried hen steak for 210 yen…
…and a dried tofu strip salad, which like all of Nihamaru Bento’s salads is priced at 150 yen.
Even with these add-ons, Mr. Sato’s entire unfold got here to simply 680 yen, whereas a bento and two facet orders will run you nearer to 1,000 at main comfort retailer chains.
With Nihamaru Bento not too removed from SoraNews24 HQ, Mr. Sato is perhaps making it a part of his common lunch run (or dinner run, because it’s open 24 hours), and the remainder of us could also be tossing him just a few cash to deliver again bento for us too.
Location data
Nihamru Bento / ニハマル弁当
Handle: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shin Okubo 1-6-12
東京都新宿区大久保1丁目6-12
Open 24 hours
Photographs ©SoraNews24
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