Critic's Review
I had to go to Costco so I decided to try Bento, the only one of the recently opened venues in this center that I'd consider trying. I looked at the breakfast menu at Amaize next door and saw nothing that even seemed edible.
The line was fairly long considering it was 2:40pm. Worse than that was that they only had 1 register open and it was moving VERY slow.
When there are more people on line than in the dining room, you have a problem.
They have a large and somewhat confusing menu that had to be explained to every single person as they reached the register. They also don't have the beverage options on the menu; just 'Boba tea' for $3.50. The display at the POS has some other overpriced options; clearly this is a corporate operation.
It took me 13 minutes to get to the register. I had decided on 4 pieces of rainbow roll and an order of steamed pork dumplings, only to be told that they were out of dumplings. So now I had to decide all over. I just went with a roll combo which was the best deal they had; 2 4 piece choices and 10 piece california roll. Not exciting but I was getting a headache trying to figure out their bowls.
You get a number and a cup. They have the freestyle machine where I got some pink lemonade for a change of pace. No fruit available.
Then you sit and wait and listen to the juvenile music they have playing. Calvin Harris. Shaggy Feat. Bonafide Millenial crap. This place clearly caters to the 16-25yo crowd.
Finally the tray came out. The same tray every Asian restaurant in the world uses, because sushi is such an edgy idea.
The california roll was surprisingly tasteless. The rice didn't have the expected sushi taste.
They also fell apart on impact, which is an annoyance.
The "spicy tuna" roll wasn't very spicy, with not very much tuna. Note that the only sauce they have available other than soy sauce is Sriracha, so I was stuck with plain soy.
The rainbow roll was equally uninspiring. Not very colorful. Some places give you strips of avocado.
A razor thin slice of fish on top.
Cheapness reigns here. A tiny dab of wasabi, a half order of seaweed, and this is the first time EVER that I ran out of ginger. No extras available.
And instead of a spring roll, they gave me some pile of junk that doesn't pair with sushi rolls in any way I could determine.
The good news is no garbage cans, so you can just get up and leave when you're done.
Conclusion
This place is like Pei Wei with less ambiance and higher prices. The 'fast casual' concept is broken by a slow ordering process that makes lunch here take longer than at a full service restaurant. I got much more for my money at Coco Asian Bistro and Suan last week, both of which included soup or salad with the combo.
Add to that nickel and dime cheapness, bad music and not so great tasting food, and you have a place where young people will flock to for no apparent reason.
