My Little Bento, 12 Margaret Street, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9372 8585

There have been changes made at 12 Margaret Street in Moonee Ponds.

What was Kingyo izayaka has become My Little Bento.

This switch appears to be a reaction to covid factors – yet could just as easily be interpreted as a canny business move.

 

 

The menu (see below) has been slimmed down and the prices are extraordinarily low.

Yet I know for sure that food will be every bit as fine as the goodies that served as a basis for our Kingyo izayaka review.

How so?

 

 

It’s all about the pickles – the same crunchy, sour delights that figured in our earlier visits are still in the house.

We order a side serve ($7) of them … just, you know, to make sure.

Yep all good – better than good!

So no worries at all, as two lunch-time visits – one with Nat, another with Bennie – happily attest.

 

 

Miso soup ($4) – regular-style, simple and every bit as good as expected.

Nat’s sashimi bento ($18, top picture) is oh-so-pretty with its array of textures, colours and flavours.

 

 

My “chicken katsu sando” from the specials board ($14) is good, a tangy sauce accompanying the crisp chicken and with more of those pickles joining in the fun. My chips, though, are warm. Just. But still eat good.

 

 

Bennie really digs his chicken bento ($15.50) – and I think we all enjoy the bentos here being arrayed on plate instead of boxes.

So lovely!

The fried chicken is excellent, as are all the other features – including a crumbed, deep-fried croquette. Perhaps, he reckons, filled with red bean paste as found in Chinese buns.

 

 

The chicken is even better – and more flavoursome – in the form of katsu curry don ($15.50), with which comes with a variation on the pickle theme.

The curry gravy is as rich in flavour as its deep brown colour suggests.

It’s tempting to indulge in hyperbole and proclaim that My Little Bento is delivering the best Japanese food in the west.

But as there’s at least one place we haven’t tried, we’ll settle for saying it’s definitely our fave.