BentoLicious — Restaurant in Pleasanton

I am thoroughly impressed with this place. I didn’t feel like having panda express or Greek or my usual lean cuisine. I searched on Yelp to see what was available and this place was one of the recommendation. I had the railroad bento lunch with sides. Earlier before I came here, I called to see what was available as the sides because it did not show on their website or anywhere else. I called and the gentleman on the phone said I need to come in because I am new. I didn’t know what it meant until I arrived. I am definitely impressed with how they care about the customers during the pandemic. They keep their customers in line… Literally… From each other and keep a distance where the hot plate and where the customers are standing. It appears that the sides change each day. One or two items are different each day I’m guessing. I guess I will have to return next time to try the other dishes. The price is decent, the quality is definitely A+.

Highly recommended: get the Thai iced tea before it sells out. I got there around 12:20pm and three customer ahead of me bought the last the last drop of the Thai iced tea. If you are too late for the Thai iced tea, try the sarsaparilla soda. It’s not a typical sarsaparilla I’m used to but it does change things up with your lunch in a good way.

Price: A + Service: A + Quality: A +

It’s pretty moot at this point if I’m commenting about returning because I’m definitely coming back to try the other items...

I didn’t know Taiwanese food could be so different from other Chinese food, but this is healthy, nutritious, low carb (if you pass on eating all the rice) and delicious. I’m pre-diabetic and doing all I can to avoid it and this really hits the spot. Lots of good veggies like Napa cabbage and the meats are so good, like stewed chicken or beef in a Chinese style sauce or soup. The best one I had is the Railroad pork, a pork chop with spices and herbs in a delicious sauce over rice…probably the best and healthiest Chinese food in America, and maybe in China. No msg, not too salty or sweet or sour. Perfectly balanced, in my view. Owners are very nice, genuine people who work hard at their family-owned business. When I eat there, it’s usually $10-18, sometimes I grab two dishes. Give them a shot....

Good quality, authentic Taiwanese food. I had the #1 ichiban chicken for $10.38 after tax. This is a good price point (same as Sweet Tomatoes next door and a couple bucks more than 2 items from Panda Express). The fried chicken was surprisingly good (not dry or overly salty). The mapo tofu (without meat) and the eggplant tofu were excellent. The steamed rice is much better than what you'd get from Panda Express. The egg was nothing special (a tea egg, otoh, would be special).

What I'd like to see: a cheaper 滷肉飯 option. It'd also be nice if they could include a small hot soup (doesn't have to be fancy).

Overall, much fresher tasting and higher quality than I'd normally expect from a bento. Portion size was also generous, but prices shouldn't increase any more - there are too many options...