Kona Bento — Restaurant in Medford

As an outside traveling salesman during the pandemic, finding places to eat can be challenging if you don't want the same fastfood all the time. So as I opened my map, I happened to be only a couple miles away from this place.

You could smell the grill as you pulled up, and my mouth started to water immediately. The staff inside was incredibly friendly, and the food portions were good for the price.

I ordered the Chicken Bento, and while I prefer the white meat chicken, and they serve the thighs, I was happy to see that there wasn't much fat on the meat, and there were no bones. You have a choice of white or brown rice which is nice for someone looking for a healthier choice. The Mac salad was surprisingly delicious. Even considering it was in the same container with the rice, chicken and teriyaki, it didn't matter. A very tasty meal.

The only reason I gave it four instead of five stars... and this is my only real gripe... other than no white meat chicken offered... is the fact that the chicken is an uncut... undiced slab of meat. Again, it was a clean piece with small amounts of fat and no bone... but as most of us are eating out of our cars right now... having to cut the meat with the plastic knife and fork was troublesome inside the car. I may ask if they can dice up the meat for me. I suppose if I was at home or a picnic table it wouldn't have been much of a big deal. I just have no flat places in the car to set the container down to cut. Balancing act to say the least.

But really... that is my only real gripe. They even have two drive through windows to keep the lines down. The boxes they serve the food in are sturdy and snap...

I have been craving lumpia for awhile now since moving to Medford from Southern California, and being half Filipino, that’s what I grew up eating. I was told they make some here but when I was shown a picture of the “lumpia” they were serving, it was not what traditional FILIPINO lumpia looks like, I’m sorry. The wrapper is all wrong. Looks like straight up egg rolls. Lumpia have more like a spring roll wrapper, very thin, smooth, flaky and crispy when fried, not bubbly looking like an egg roll you get at a Chinese restaurant. But I thought I’d still give it a shot and try it out, maybe the filling is just like lumpia, just with a different wrapper? I pulled up to the drive through and a girl took my order. She first tells me that the lumpia is only for special orders and they didn’t have any at the moment. Okay fine, weird that I saw a post on their Instagram that they were serving them today, but okay I’ll try the Hawaiian food. So I ended up getting the teriyaki chicken (with rice and mac salad) and spam musubi. But as the girl is ringing me up, she realized that they do have some lumpia there after all. Honest mistake. So I got a small order of them, but of course, they aren’t lumpia but just regular egg rolls :( I was so disappointed because I had been craving them for so long and there aren’t any Filipino restaurants around here. Even the filling was kind of bland and not what lumpia filling should be like, it was just a straight up egg roll :( and I thought the chicken was just okay and the mac salad honestly wasn’t the best I’ve ever had in Hawaiian food. But they seemed really nice...

Listen up! 👂

I never do reviews unless it was a really good or really bad experience.

Today was hands down some of the best chicken I have ever had! I’m a 32 year old with autism and because of that I’m very selective. I have ARFID. I don’t eat many new foods. Today I had the chicken, rice, and Mac with my apartment complex, WOW! Hands down one of the best places to eat in Medford!

My fiance was saying how great they were also. And as I walked around to have small talk to my neighbors, they all kept bringing up how good the food is! Very impressed.

It was big deal for me to try new food, I usually take a bite and that’s it. I ate the rice, chicken and Mac until I couldn’t! That’s unheard of! Not one is one of my safe foods!

I made sure to contact my other neighbors that didn’t show up for the apartment party, and told them to come get some! 😉

Got yourself new customer! I also heard there will be a new place of there’s opening soon?!...