Bento Cafe

Best food in Camden. Worst service in Camden. Been going here for ages cos of the lovely lovely food but always hated the staff, so nice to see other people agree!

They're soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo RUDE!

a couple of times when I went here all the waiters, waitresses and chefs were sitting down to a big meal together (they must do this all the time, Ive seen them do it about three or four times) and seem pissed off that i dare come in to their restaurant during opening hours to buy food! and when I ordered the waiter who got up to serve me said that I would have to wait 20 minutes until the chefs finished eating plus the food cooking time...... uh, WHAT?
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SD
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 7
Saturday, February 02, 2008

I live in the area and have always found the bento cafe consistently good. There is a large selection of dishes and the tempura is delicious. At weekends it is worth booking as it gets pretty busy.
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lissie baldwin
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, January 07, 2008

Tried this place because it had a good review in my Time Out book. The review was right! The food was very, very good, and the prices were excellent -- I went at lunch time where you can get a bento box for £6-7. Sushi was really fresh as well.

It seems folks haven't had great luck with service there from the reviews on here. But mine was fine. I was alone, and it was quite busy, but I was still treated well and seated quickly. I didn't encounter any attitude, the food came quickly, and refills of green tea kept coming. Maybe it was just good luck...

Yes, there was a gratuity charge of 10% (£1 for me), but I was fine with paying it.

I plan to go back, because it was definitely worth it!
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MDM
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 04, 2008

My GOD thats all i have to say.
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Peter Ashbridge
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The food was nice although sometimes when your done the waiters just stand there doing nothing. Food can take long sometimes but overall a good palce to eat, not much people are there so its quiet. Lat time I ate there theautomatic service tip was 10% which I thought was too much.
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Lisa B
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

I LOVE BENTO - it is my favorite restaurant in Camden! The only problem is, there are never tables because they are always to busy. My favs are the volcano maki & hokkai. The ultimate starter is the seared tuna salad - so tasty. I would highly recommend Bento ALL THE TIME
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 03, 2007

I've been to this restaurant about 15 times in the past 2 months! I blame the spicey tuna maki. The food is great, really good value. But the service is absolutely terrible. The staff are very snappy, so prepare yourself for that!
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John
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Friday, November 02, 2007

My partner & i often eat at Bento cafe, we also use there take away service. If sushi is your thing & your in the Camden area make sure you try this place.
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Ibrahim
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 18, 2007

We've been to this restaurant about 10 times and have grown accustomed to the barely adequate service (the food is good). But after tonight we won't be going back. After waiting until all the tables around us were served, we asked if we could get our starters, which was met with a dirty look from one of the waitresses. The main course eventually came, followed by the starters (which we had to ask for several times) 45 minutes late. Our dirty dishes were left on our table until the last minute and we had to ask repeatedly for more drinks.

At the end of the meal, we informed the manager that we'd received very poor service...which was met with a mumbling response followed by what sounded like "have a good one."

Rubbish.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Saturday, June 23, 2007

My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant after reading superb reviews from this website. What we experienced? Well, the food was as good, but the service. oh, the service.

We walked in and asked for table for two. It's probably my fault not to indicate that we wanted non-smoking area, but normally when we go to nice restaurants, the waiter/waitress would ask the question. We were placed in the smoking area. When we tried to change the table, we were told that we would have to wait for a long time for a table, so we decided to stay put. I mentioned that we were not asked at the beginning which area we wanted, the waitress told us that if we were not asked, it meant that the non-smoking area was full. Hmmm, OK I would try to remember this weird rule next time I'm there.

The eating part was good. The food was nice, although not that spectacular. Then along came bad service again. As soon as my boyfriend put his chopsticks down at the end of the meal, a waitress came to whisk his plates away even though I was still eating. I consider this rather rude. She should have waited for both of us to finish the meal. This kind of thing would never happen at good restaurants with well-trained staff.

When the bill came, the gratuity of 10% was added to the bill, with a small print below saying that gratuity is optional at customer's discretion. Having experienced rather bad service, we decided to pay, by cash, an amount which included a 5% rather than 10% tip. As we were leaving the restaurant, a waitress ran after us to the front of the restaurant and demanded the rest of the tip!

My boyfriend pointed out that gratuity is optional (by law and by that small print on the bill). She gave us the first sneer which can only be interpreted as 'you're cheap'. She looked down at the bill, probably trying to find that small print, then asked 'So, was there anything wrong?'. We decided not to waste time explaining everything to her, my boyfriend said, 'nothing, we just decided not to pay'. Then there came the second sneer.

In my opinion, it is so wrong for restaurants to impose 'compulsory' tips on customers. I have been to many nice restaurants which add 12.5% gratuity on the bill, but which do not look down on you when you decide to pay 7.5% instead.

So, my conclusion is this.

Warning: Students and those who work hard to earn their money, if you eat here, you should be prepared to pay the 'discretionary' (but in fact rather compulsory) 10% tip, which can be easily £1.5 -2 for questionable service. Otherwise you might be made to feel so cheap and question yourself whether it's your fault that you don't have loads of money to splash but still want to dine out. For me this might be the last time at Bento. I'd better go back to my usual place, Kyoto, where the owner greets me personally every time even if we were just students who normally pay 5-7.5% tip, and where £1.50 can buy me a lovely tuna sushi.
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Jami
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, May 27, 2007