When Kid Kyoto opened in the heart of Sydney's business district, there were a lot of hype around their lunch time bentos. Served during the work week, these $35-a-pop bentos were tooted as the best bento in Sydney.
As a frequent customer of dinner delivery services, I am no stranger to bento, and I am a huge fan of them - a small salad, a protein main, some sushi / sashimi, some rice - not only does the bento box provide variety, it is a pretty balanced meal and as healthy as takeaway gets.
However, I also know that the bento boxes we are familiar with from Deliveroo or Uber Eats doesn't do the bento justice - like many Japanese things, the bento can be elevated to a work of art. That's what I imagined the Kid Kyoto bento would be.
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| Kid Kyoto Bento, $35 |
Upon first glance, it's not bad. However, it's really not great either - the entire affair had a whiff of the pick n' mix, where pre-prepared, cold food could be lined up and simply put onto a tray. The only warm items in the bento box are the bao and the miso soup, but even then, they were luke-warm.
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| Smokey edemame |
The smokey edemame is offered out as a snack to diners who do not pick the bento box - I saw that the table next to us were offered this and wondered why I hadn't been offered, but it did make sense when the bento boxes arrived. It's hard to mess up edemame - after all, they taste great just blanched in salted water - but I must give credit to Kid Kyoto for creating something that is salty, umami, smokey and incredibly moorish.
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| Miso soup |
The miso soup had an unpleasant sourness. I have no idea how they managed that - either over-fermentation (I hope not) or an unfortunate and unnecessary squeeze of citrus. Either way, I do not recommend.
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| Pork bao |
Apart from being slightly lukewarm, the bao is delightful. Well-seasoned, soft and tender, the pork is glazed in a gorgeous sauce, and the bao itself is light and fluffy.
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| Salad of yamaimo / koniaku? |
Soft and gelatinous (but not chewy), I have trouble discerning what this is. I think it may be a jelly of some kind of root vegetable. I have no complaint regarding the texture, but the flavour is a big fail it is so heavily salted with nothing else in the bento box to temper it. I really struggled to even eat half.
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| Fried rice ball |
Cold fried rice. Just no.
Score: 1.5 / 5
Cost: $35. Wayyyyyy overpriced.
Address: 17-19 Bridge Street, entry via, Bridge Ln, Sydney
Website: https://kidkyoto.com.au/
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