Nagomi Bento

I can't even describe how annoyed I am, I had originally written the first half of this post maybe a month or two ago when I went by myself. I did the full shebang, uploaded pictures, captioned them, wrote loving descriptions of the food and the restaurants origins.

All it needed was another meal. I planned a return trip and when I went to upload the pictures, the post was mysteriously missing. I had put a lot of effort into researching its origins, and I can't remember what for the life of me, I had written here. 

I've been going to Nagomi Bento for a long time, like circa 2008 or something.

Right across from Jude/Coffe Club

The place has really changed a lot since I first started going here. They started opening up izakaya at night, small pickings to occupy drinks. As you can see on the signs below.

Just some more ideas~

When they first opened, they were one of the few places to use these buzzers. You put in your order and got handed over one of these buzzers. You could easily wander away, grab a seat or something and then when it rang, you went to the pick up zone and grabbed your meal. Its really good at decluttering the counter especially during a busy time like lunch time in the city. I can admit I've been turned off from a place because of the sheer amount of people milling around looking at menus. Speaking of which.

I always get startled by the buzzer going off

Otherwise, it's quite a plain place. Somewhere to get a fast meal, have a bit of a chat while enjoying the cool sea breeze before heading off to work again.

The counter!

As you can see, the tables are quite spartan. Despite their appearance, you can have quite a bit of comfortable elbow space with however you're sitting with. Big tables are a godsend for big appetites :)

The solid wooden tables

The chicken karaage bento box is an absolute classic. It comes with so many interesting bits to nibble on, you quickly find yourself full before you realise it! I ordered mine with an additional side of Japanese curry which was a dollar extra. The karaage here is some of the crunchiest you'll ever find, juicy thigh pieces with a great nubbly, crunchy coating. It comes with a little garnish of curly leaf parsley, a little tub of kewpie mayonnaise and a lemon slice. The potato salad on top of the balsamic vinegar dressed salad of spinach and fancy lettuce, is divine, I have no idea what they put in their potato salad but it is delicious. Its ridiculously creamy and the potato is almost a little too soft but it works very well. The pan fried pork gyoza pieces are very crunchy. The potato croquette is a lovely contrast between crunchy and super pillowy insides. I always eat my potato croquette first. The sushi rice is nothing special and I didn't end up finishing much of it. The edamame is a great snack, more on that later.

Chicken karaage bento box!

Almost all gone!

I came back a few days later and decided to have the seafood salad. I chose to have the sesame dressing with it because I've never tried it before. Sesame dressing is amazing, super creamy like mayonnaise with a mild nutty flavour and a sweet tang, I honestly debated getting another tub. The seafood salad had a strange assortment of toppings above their spinach, red onion and fancy lettuce salad. It had several prawns, shredded crab meat, seaweed salad, firm slices of fresh salmon, cooked tuna mixed with mayonnaise and corn and flying fish roe. I tried mixing them all together, but it wasn't a great idea, it's great if you pick things off one at a time and eat it that way. The prawns were good, sweet and cooked well. The fresh salmon was firm, creamy and yet melting on the tongue. The seaweed salad was crunchy, sweet and sour, I liked the bigger chunks although I prefer the brighter appearance of most seaweed salads. The cooked tuna was actually my favourite topping since it was so close to the flying fish roe, a blob of that classic combo of tuna and mayo, with sweet bursts of corn and salty pops from the roe.

Tasty mishmash of foods

Both times I ordered a container of edamame, the order in container is as big as a salad bowl! All for only $2! The takeaway container is as big as their normal sushi containers, possibly the cheapest edamame in Brisbane. I just took pictures because I remember how Gill told me she first ate them pod and all and wondered why everyone loved them. Squeeze the pod, eat the bean people and enjoy the edamame!

Hairy little buggers

2 beans in this one

Squish firmly

Eat the bean!

Nagomi Bento
Atmosphere: 6, cool and refreshing. I love just relaxing here on the pier while grabbing a bite to eat. I have no idea what the inside looks like because I always lurk outside on those wooden tables.
Service: 5, order and then grab your food. Nothing else interesting to be honest.
Food: 8, I've been going here since 2008, I still love this place.