Bento

I hardly ever do reviews as I'm very easy going....We've had take away from Bento in Balham. Very nice. Tonight we went to the restaurant (treat for my girlfriend). Very Wagamama like (long tables etc). I was expecting a good night. Wrong. Bad service. We had to call a waiter twice to order food (there were about 8 people in the restaurant) and the staff were just hanging around talking. Very bad. Our mains then came about 5 minutes apart. Not too bad but no apology, no smiles. Nothing. No-one asked if we wanted anything else drinkwise even though our drinks were almost finished-I would have liked another Asahi. This despite the fact that there were about the same amount of waiting staff as customers. My girlfriend ordered duck, got beef and I insisted twice to the non plussed waiter (grumpy teenager more like) and both times told I was wrong. I was not. I know beef and I know duck. It was beef. I ordered mussels which were mediocre. As a main for £7.10 (without rice) and getting about 6/7 mussels which were nice but not great, I expected more. Call me fussy. Totally disappointed. No tip. First time in years that I haven't tipped.....
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Sean
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Thursday, September 29, 2011

Absolutley fantastic food! Great atmosphere and very friendly and polite staff.

Will definitely recommend anyone to go there!
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Ada
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 17, 2011

okay.....how should i start?? i ordered a takeaway which was chilli tofu,vegetable tempura and spicy chicken yaki udon...i had to wait for 40min and when i tasted the food..it was disgusting..i wouldnt even let my cat have that food...it was soooooo disgusting,no taste,the corn in vegetable tempura was all brown and the tempura for sure was not made fresh...when i had called for order i told the lady that i wanted chicken udon but when i opened the food,there were prawns....so overall extremely disappointed with BENTO...i didnt even eat the food and had to throw it away...

another japanese restaurant near balham is FUJISAN..There food is extremely tasty and i wouldnt mind spending more money coz its worth it....

very bad bento....
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sam
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, April 04, 2011

I am a regular here and find this the perfect place for a casual lunch or dinner with friends or family. Children are welcome, the staff are always friendly, and the service is always speedy.

The food is a mix of Japanese, Chinese and Thai, and they could maybe do with a smaller menu where they can concentrate on their best dishes.

I like the fact that they have a specialist sushi chef, and the selection of sushi at the price makes this a restaurant well worth going to.

I wish there were more customers as the place could do with more of a "buzz", and this is the sort of local restaurant that should be supported to preserve Balham's village flavour
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David
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Came here as a party of 18. I had such a good time here. The waitress looked after us. She was quite attentive.

The food was great, the drinks were cheap. The best part of it, they don't charge for cakeage fee and gave us a complimentary 'kir royale' for birthday girl! Anybody who wants to celebrate their birthday, just do it at Bento's. No fuss, no problems.
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Dill
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, December 12, 2009

wonderful place, good food with excellent service..long benches to fit in a group of pals...i had been enjoying my 21st birthday party with 5 of my friends in Bento and had an unforgettable birthday last week...the prices for the food are reasonable and affordable as well as delicious...well recommended!!!
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Bell
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, December 12, 2009

I stopped for a quick bite to eat on a Tuesday night with my boyfriend, wanting to find a new local restaurant as a regular haunt we were definately disappointed and wouldnt go back. A shame.

From the long benches I assumed that this would be food and service Wagamama style; fast and good. It was far from it. It took at least 7 mins for a waiter/ waitress to acknowledge us and seat us (the restaurant was half empty restaurant, so I didnt understand what the wait was for), We were brought starters and had no cutlery, we had to ask for cutlery. We then waited a further 30 mins for our food which was a bento box. I found this a bit of a long wait especially when there were only 16 diners in the restuarant. I waved my hand in the air (very obviously) for the attention of a waitress. The waitress saw me, smiled, laughed, then ignored me! Finally, we were over charged for one of our dishes, a small amount.

Overall, the service for Bento was appalling. 5 staff to cover and serve 16 diners should have been more than enough, but they seemed to have perfected the art of looking busy but not really achieving good, fast, efficient service.

The food was okay, I did overhear the next table not liking their food at all and not eating it!

If you're in Balham and you're looking for somewhere to eat, I wouldnt recommend Bento.
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Sarina
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 6
Thursday, September 10, 2009

I had really bad service at this restaurant. Had to ask for a plate!!! was given a saucer instead and a strange look as if i was really out of order!, then no spoons to serve the food. By the time all the elements of the meal had finally made it to the table it was cold. The restaurant wasn't full and there were three surly waiting staff.

the food was cold and unappetising.

Leave well alone !
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linda c
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 08, 2009