Natsunoya Tea House
A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that a good friend of mine had accepted a promotion to a new position within our company and would be leaving the office at the end of the month. Last Friday, we had a luncheon in the office to celebrate this event and to wish her well in her new position.
Leading up to the event, we had discussed a luncheon and after tossing around some ideas, we decided on ordering food from Natsunoya Tea House.
Natsunoya provided several types of bentos and menus to choose from and in the end we decided to order from the shokado bento menu. Four different menus were offered with a minimum of 5 orders per menu choice. I decided to choose the Natsunoya Deluxe (US$13.00) -- more information on the items included to be provided later.
When lunch arrived, I wasn't in my office. When I returned to my desk, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lacquered shokado bento box on my desk.

I was surprised that this wasn't served in the standard styrofoam take out container. This was a nice touch, especially when you take the price we paid into consideration.

Here a list of the bento box's contents:
- katsuboshi chicken
- nishime
- tamago yaki
- niku teriyaki
- 2 pieces shrimp tempura
- pumpkin (kabocha) tempura
- namasu
- misoyaki butterfish
- rice and tsukemono
There didn't seem to be any pumpkin tempura in the box. Instead, it was substituted with Okinawan sweet potato tempura. I didn't see any tsukemono in the box either, and didn't notice any substitution for it. Here are the contents of the shokado bento that I ordered, shown individually.
Katsuboshi chicken.

The chicken was deep fried, but a little oily -- probably from sitting in the bento box for a little too long before being eaten. The chicken was well seasoned, though just a little too salty for me.
Tamago-yaki and nishime.

The tamago yaki was a bit bland, with not enough shoyu or sugar used to season the eggs. The nishime, traditionally a New Years' dish, was much better. The vegetables here were cooked to perfect "doneness" -- meaning, the vegetables retained their texture and "bite". Most times when eating nishime at restaurants, I find that the vegetables have been simmered for too long, causing them to become "mushy". There was one piece each: carrot, bamboo shoot, konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), daikon (Japanese radish) and araimo (Japanese taro).
Misoyaki butterfish and niku teriyaki.

The misoyaki butterfish was a big disappointment. Too much sake had been used in the marinade causing the bitter sake flavor to overpower the sweetness of the miso. The niku (beef) teriyaki was very delicious. The grilled meat was lean and tender, and had just the right amount of sweetness to it. It was also nice that they decided to use ginger in the marinade -- many places don't do this anymore.
Shrimp and Okinawan sweet potato tempura.

The shrimp and Okinawan sweet potato tempura were good, but already a little soft. Again, this is probably due to sitting in the bento box for a while before being eaten. The napkin lining the compartment was soaked with oil meaning that the tempura wasn't drained too well before put into the bento box.
Rice and namasu.

The pressed rice was unseasoned (maybe a little salt) and was served topped with a generous sprinkling of black sesame seeds (kuro goma). The namasu, a side dish of vinegared cucumbers and daikon, was given to a friend who enjoyed them. For some reason, namasu is a dish that I've never eaten.
Here are the other three shokado bento menus that we were offered:
Tea House Special (US$11.00):
katsuboshi chicken
nishime
tamago yaki
niku teriyaki
shrimp tempura
pumpkin tempura
namasu
croquette
rice and tsukemono
Vegetarian (US$11.00):
somen salad
nishime
kabocha
miso nasubi
vegetable tempura
namasu
musubi and tsukemono
Chef Special (US$13.55):
katsuboshi chicken
misoyaki butterfish
tamago yaki
kuri maki namasu
shrimp tempura
vegetable tempura
nishime
spinach goma
musubi
Customized shokado bento menus also available for the depending on the number of bentos ordered. Free delivery is provided to downtown Honolulu.
Natsunoya Tea House
1935 Makanani Drive
Telephone: (808)595-4488
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