Bento — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I feel like Bento could be a really good place to have a quick (and healthy) dinner, but a couple of things need some work. First, the positives. Front of house staff are friendly, attentive and helpful. Good range of food on display, ready to eat and reasonably priced. Negatives: Just two things really but they did significantly spoil things. First: relaxing and atmosphere-appropriate music being played out front totally clashing with the back of house staff playing music on their phones (didn't realise I could hate Uptown Funk anymore than I already do, but this experience was an eye-opener). Second: hot food is kept out front in what would best be described as ideal bacteria-growing conditions. I had the chicken teriyaki and miso soup and both were lukewarm. I have no idea how long the food was sitting there but there is no way that it is safe to keep cooked meat sitting at that temperature for even half an hour minimum. I honestly wouldn't have minded waiting to have the hot food prepared. So, two things, Bento; one, have a shift manager in place keeping the kitchen in line, no point in them serving good food if they're killing the atmosphere at the same time. Two, sort out your hot holding before your...

Really good value and nice range of fresh and tasty sushi with some hot food options (bao, gyoza, rice bowls) and desserts (mochi). I think (from the texture) that they use frozen veg in the bowls and fresh in the sushi.

Sushi, gyoza, rice bowls and mochi are all really nice (haven't tried poke). Sushi rice is perfectly cooked and flavoured and the fillings are fresh and very tasty. Gyoza and mochi are properly filled and also very tasty. Flavours in the rice bowls might not be super authentic but they are very tasty and the bowls are healthy and filling.

The pork bao has a decent amount of filling, but it's smaller than you might think (given the size of the bao) and it's a hard lump with a big air gap between it and the bread. I don't think I'd order it again. The BBQ pork bao are mostly sauce with a few fatty bits of pork, I didn't think they were worth the price.

Ambiance is fast food rather than restaurant, which is fine as it suits bento. Only knocked off one star because we often find it uncomfortably cold inside. We tend to get takeaway or delivery because of this, but it's a regular...

Avoid this place. I’ve took the sushi for a takeout in this location and two sets out 4 were spoiled. I previously had sushi from Bento in other location and didn’t experience any issues so I’ve decided to take the sushi from them again on the next day. When I got home noticed that they leaked through the paper bag and my carrier bag smelled of fish. When I’ve opened them two sets seemed fine but two had an awful smell and were not edible. The next day I’ve got a food poisoning and contacted the customer service on which they replied to me that if I wanted to get refund I’ve supposed to bring those sushi to the store. This is completely ridiculous that to get a refund I have to take sushi that I’ve binned and go to the store when I’m feeling sick. Don’t make my mistake, avoid this location or check sushi in the store. Because they were...