Believe or not, it is a take of the traditional dabba, or the fancy Japanese bento box.
And, as far as it works, who’s asking?
There are many factors driving this trend — Bengaluru’s traffic and parking horrors, the idiosyncratic work culture, the “no time for lunch” IT slaves, the “I eat at my workstation” kind of persons, endless board meetings where the team lunches happen at the conference table, and the need to finish fast and move on to the next thing. The endless trays of the same old food at a buffet with a temptation to pile up your plate is done away with. No worries every morning of what to pack.
With delivery services galore, there’s a meal ready and waiting to be delivered at every corner.
Bent upon Japanese?
Restaurant: Shiro
Tuck into: Traditional Japanese Bento boxes from this Oriental lounge bar come in six options: veg makimono, veg donburi, non-veg makimono, seafood donburi, chicken donburi and sushi, sashimi & makimono bento. Each box is served with chef’s salad and dim sum.
Price: Rs. 445 to Rs. 625
Sold per day: An average of 15 Bento boxes.
Who’s ordering: Largely corporates in the CBD. , specially at conferences. Small gatherings at home, ladies hosting kitty parties, and nuclear families not far behind.
“Shiro’s located in the Central Business District. We saw tremendous potential in corporate luncheons and — we wanted our regulars to enjoy their favourite cuisine at office if they’re having a busy day, or even at home if that’s what they’re craving,” says Dhiren Pawar, brand head, Shiro.
Contact: 4173 8861
French-iest food in town
Restaurant: Café Noir
What: The French Box — French food in simple cardboard boxes all neatly tied up with a ribbon. Five variants — Viennese (selection of croissants and brioche), French macarons, pastry, quiche, and tea time (muffins, cookies, cakes, brownies).
Price: Stars at Rs. 650 per box, discounts on subscriptions
Sold per day: About 45 a day, with more deliveries on weekends
Who’s feasting: The large expat community in Bengaluru, specially people in Whitefield, . And youngsters in Indiranagar and Koramangala, and . on weekends, the area around UB city.
People’s favourites: Croissants for breakfast, quiche for lunch
“All the foodies in of Bengaluru love this idea, especially, the . More so expats. in the city. People like our food because it’s fresh. You place an order the night before and the croissant is prepared at night and delivered to you for at breakfast! We decided to start this delivery service for people who can’t come down to one of our five locations from far off areas. On weekends, even those who live around our restaurants order in the boxes — the lazy ones I think,” laughs Thierry, co-owner of Cafe Noir.
Contact: 4098 2050
Thali in a box
Restaurant: Khandani Rajdhani
Jack in the box: If you like a full meal, no, a feast they have the ‘Elite’ thali meal box. A special box brings you two variants of each kind of dish instead of four in the Elite. A working meal box is for the light eater who is happier with one of each kind. The snack box is loaded with the day’s farsan.
Price: Rs. 60 to Rs 225.
Who loves these thalis: It’s a favourite with tour groups that want to eat a traditional meal on the go. But now it’s mostly corporates who love their meal but have no time to come get it at the restaurant.
No of boxes sold per day: About 1,800 to 2,000 from across all 10 outlets
“The snack box, which is a collection of the farsan of the day is a favourite for office celebrations – we’ve seen people order it as a birthday treat like at about 10.30 a.m. for their team, or as a teatime snack by evening,” says Aji Nair, COO, F&B division of Mirah Hospitality that owns the restaurant. “Earlier we wouldn’t deliver single orders. But now with delivery apps and aggregators in the picture, we do single deliveries too, and the demand for such convenient food boxes has increased.”
Contact: 25212517/ 67266053
Box-ing to beat traffic
Restaurant: Bayleaf
What's sought after: While they have a veg and non-veg meal, it’s their seafood meal that’s a hit with people, specially the Bengali populace in the city. Two each of starters, and main courses, salad, subji, roti, dessert and more come in each box. The sealed tray can be micro waved for a minute.
Sold per day: An average of 50 a day.
Price: Rs. 299 to Rs 499.
“We found people struggling to make it in traffic during lunch break in and around Koramangala and Indiranagar where we are located. Now we sometimes get up to 80 orders per office. Eating out of a box is more organised for working professionals, rather than eating at a buffet. You don’t need to find parking! While we deliver in a five-kilometre radius, we make an exception for our regulars in Whitefield,” says Shubha Prasad, MD, Bayleaf. “Our boxes are most ordered by IT companies when they have their corporate meetings and want to finish a meal in 20 minutes Or when they have a visiting foreign delegation — we even tailor spice levels for them.”
Contact: 25535050 / 41104018
South Indian at your system
Restaurant: South Indies, UpSouth, Bon South (sister chains)
In the box: The South Indies veg meal box has variety rice, curd rice, porial, raita, chapati/parota, pickle, chutney, dessert. They do a non-veg meal too.
What’s hot: Bon South’s non-veg starter platter with a mix of 12 pieces of chicken, fish, mutton, prawn snacks. People love to make a meal out of it.
Price: Rs. 220 to Rs. 250
Sold per day: Both South Indies and Bon South sell an average of 45 to 60 boxes each.
“Most of the corporates who buy our box meals are those who have eaten at our buffet and have requested that we start a packed meal service. In Bengaluru people just don’t have the time to eat leisurely, except on weekends,” observes Chef Manu Nair, corporate executive chef, South Indies. “Many of our customers work from home, or eat at their work table, so this is convenient. And it was difficult otherwise to get south Indian food delivered at home earlier.”
Contact: 4163 6363/ 4965 2551
If it’s summer it must be salad
Delivered by: Fresh Menu
What: Salad meals in a bento box, served with a pair of crostini and a dip.
For calorie counters: Buckwheat and millet salad – 180 calories, Mexican diced salad – 150 cal, Summer cooler salad – 135 cal, Three bean quinoa salad – 160 cal, Black rice & tortilla chip salad – 165 cal, Hawaiian chicken salad - 150 cal, and Chicken fattoush salad – 190 cal.
Price: Veg salads at Rs. 180, non-veg salads at Rs. 230
“The Salad Meals are for people who want to keep a watch on calories, want variety every day in their food and not compromise on taste. The salads are high in fibre, nutrient-dense, and the portions are sensible, with fresh ingredients,” says Rashmi Daga, founder and CEO, Fresh Menu.
Contact: 9019245000
