Pros: One of the only restaurants that sells Bento Boxes in Grand Central Market. Cons: While quantity of the food was good, I felt that it was just average in terms of taste. I had the Chicken Bento Box and it wasn't anything spectacular or bad, but just average. Overall: Stop by if you are craving a Bento Box but if you are open to something else, there are definitely better offerings in GCM. read more

I have been going to Bento Ya in the Grand Central Market on-and-off for years and eaten only one dish, their pork cutlet, and I haven't had a bad bite. Fried to perfect crunchiness, its no-fuss approach to food by this Asian fast food stand keeps me going back for more... Of course, just for that pork cutlet. Service is hit-and-miss, but they are quick and efficient most of the times. Nearest Metro Station: Red and Purple Lines at Pershing Square Station read more

Grilled Chicken Teriyaki Bento.... big mistake. A sprinkling of chicken on a bed of rice with 5 super small pieces of lettuce leaf. Grilled chicken tasted old and tough. Waited a long time for our order, we were the "only" ones in line..... Lack of business was evident, one of the workers kept walking back and forth, super bored. read more

I ate here for lunch today on my break. The menu has quite a number of options ranging from bento type boxes (protein, rice, small salad), a few sushi rolls, and side items including dumplings and spring rolls. The portion size of the bento box (I got the chicken teriyaki one) was decent for a price of around 6.25. The sauce amount provided was a little conservative, but if you asked for more I don't think it would be a problem. Overall I would definitely return for a quick, easy, and tasty lunch option when working or just exploring downtown. read more

I want to start this review with small things,the pros. There is only one pro,friendly staff and that's it.And now the Cons, I highly don't recommend this place to anyone, the food doesn't even cost the half of its price,i'm not gonna complain about the taste because it's optional for everybody. So the the food doesn't even look close to the pictured ones. I got an combo of number 1,6 and 22 so i could get an free salad and rice. what i did got was 3 small boxes with an bite of salad couple peaces of meat and dry rice. It's my first time leaving bad review because usually i want to help the businesses, but this place doesn't deserve anything good.The environment was not clean at all.Thanks! read more

Got a "salad" sub for rice in a bento box. It was all terrible and cheaply assembled/made. The sauces are all in packs in a Styrofoam box. The iceberg lettuce for the "salad" looked like it had been sitting out for hours. The chicken teriyaki itself wasn't bad, but nothing amazing about it either. Cheap and fast, but not worth it. read more

Worst food I've had in last 10 years and I always finish my food. It's nothing close to Japanese bento. Worst customer service. I ordered 1 beef bowl and 1 shrimp bento plate + egg roll but they only gave me beef + rice and three shrimp and nothing else! That's like 1 order missing! Aside from the wrong order, the food as absolutely disgusting. Beef was way over cooked, hard, greasy and under seasoned. Fried tempura shrimp was not made with punko, also too greasy, under seasoned and overcooked. This is actually my first ever review on Yelp. I never cared to review but this is so bad I felt like I had to. read more

Definitely not one of my favorites in LA. With all of the options and stalls in Grand Central Market, I would definitely pick somewhere else next time. I ordered ramen with pork. The ramen noodles were of a good consistency, but the broth was plain (miso like), and the toppings were basic. It was cheap, so I guess you just get what you pay for! read more

Chasu pork ramen bowl. The pork was delicious, the rest was not up what I have come to expect. The noodles were pretty standard, little bland and very firm. The broth was bland and kinda tasted like seaweed, not the velvety rich melt in your mouth wow factor. The egg was cooked perfectly with the softer center, my favorite. However the price was very decent, but with so many other options in the market, I probably would go elsewhere. read more

I have been to this two days in a row. I am not an expert on Japanese food, but this place is good. The quality is good, no food is prepared until you order, with the exception to rice and salad. The portions are not the biggest, but you will get a complete meal. I had a Number 11 the first day, Salmon, shrip tempura, beef, vegetable tempura, rice salad for $8 or so. I would recomend this place to anyone. Good food, polite people, nice eatery....... read more

Inexpensive but the food was not good .the pictures are just examples but are not what you will actually receive .

Walking just a couple blocks from the nearby law library to the Grand Central Market gives one many options for cheap eating, and of these Bento Ya is the best I've found yet. So far I've had the BBQ beef one day and the BBQ pork another day, and both times they were excellent. Generous portions of very tasty meat, rice, salad, and a side item. Springroll the first time and gyoza the second. Both times the side wasn't fried until I ordered it, and came out very light and crispy, not super saturated with grease. At less than $5 each, both meals were utterly satisfying and quite tasty. The young man behind the counter even threw in some wasabi on request. read more

I don't know my Japanese cuisine at all, but I was extremely satisfied with their inexpensive-good food!

I ordered grilled beef ramen and was shocked to see hot ramen being served in a styrofoam bowl. Whether you eat it here or to go, they will give you the same bowl made of styrofoam. Didn't mcdonald stop using styrofoam for hot coffee? never again. In addition, they charge .25 for credit cards. The notice about this charge was not in a visible area. Never again here read more

Bento Ya - Thank you for serving hot ramen in styroform. I feel super unhealthy. - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Boyfriend got the beef bento and I got the beef ramen. Was basically miso soup with noodles and chewy ass beef. I asked the guy what kind of seafood was in the seafood ramen and he said he had no idea. Should have known then. Poor presentation and tastes just as bad as it looks. I ended up throwing it away and ordering a pizza next store. read more

I ate a late lunch at Bento Ya in Los Angeles, CA on 5/29/2016. It is located inside the Grand Central Market. While I've been to the Grand Central Market many times, this was the 1st time I tried Bento Ya. I had their #1Grilled beef Bento ($6.50), #23 Gyoza ($3.25), and #29 Miso soup ($3.25). All three items were good and I would order them again. The only problem here is finding a place to sit. read more

Service was okay and the food was underwhelming. Expected better chicken teriyaki. Would try something else around grand central market with other restaurants being available near by. read more

There's so much good food in grand central market, so I feel the standards are a bit elevated. This place is okay for a quick lunch. The food is on the less-expensive side (you can get a meal for $5-$7). But it's not great quality food. I ordered the tempura bento box- it comes with tempura shrimp and vegetables, rice, and salad. You can also add protein (chicken, beef, salmon) for a few more dollars. Again, it's not bad, it's just that there are so many better options in the area (even little Tokyo just a few blocks away). I haven't tried the other dishes (ramen, curry), so maybe those are better. read more

Bento Ya! I dig this place because I've had some pretty tasty food. Despite the fact that people are judging this place because the owners might not be Japanese or because they serve their food in Styrofoam or because they do not have the best sushi, I have to defend it. Because... The owners will generally recommend about 3 plates on their extensive menu: beef box, chicken box, salmon box. I believe these are the plates they make to the best of their ability within the limitations of only charging about $6.00 for a box. Do not buy some cheap ass sushi or soup when the freshly prepared bento meal is being recommended to you by the owners of a place called BENTO Ya. Having tried these plates, I can say that they are tasty and good enough for me to recommend to all. The Chicken Bento is my favorite; even though you get a bit of fat, the ruggedness and cheap price calls me back. read more

Fresh????? absolutely not! I got spicy seafood ramen yesterday and threw up twice. I didn't even eat the whole thing! I ate few pieces of that chewy octopus bits from the soup and felt something is off. But I still had the broth (since they cook it separately I thought it'll be ok). Big mistake. read more

There's so much good stuff at GCM, but whenever I'm there, I always end up at Bento Ya. Try the gyoza or the chicken curry rice. And there's something deeply pleasing about watching your food being cooked. read more

tried their grilled salmon and avocado sushi and it was terrible. Dry and not fresh...do not recommend with all the other choices available in GCM! read more

First off they were very nice up front. I came at the end of the day about 20 minutes before closing. I ordered the curry chicken which was very cheap at $5.75 with tax. You get what you pay for. There was very little chicken in it, a few carrots and potatoes, but mostly just the curry gravy. The biggest problem I had was that they went back where the customer can't see, microwaved the curry in styrofoam (I could hear the beeps), and then knowing people probably wouldn't like that (but ironically back in plain sight), poured the curry out of the now flimsy and compromised styrofoam container into a new one, presenting it as if they hadn't just microwaved it. The rice was good, salad fine only too much dressing. I wish they would just charge 2 bucks more and cut the crap. read more

Got the pork choshu ramen and the broth was not good, kind of flavorless and the seaweed was not good. The pork was also kind of flavorless. I got the fried chicken and that was pretty good. I should have gone to ramen hood instead. read more

I had the grilled beef bento last time and grilled beef ramen this time. Both were quite good. The broth in the ramen was flavorful. Price were very low but the portion were also small. For a big eater better order two items to be filled up since the price is cheap. There were several people working so I did not wait too long for the food. Food were too good to be rushed and I meant both in turns of cooking or eating. read more

There was a book at my hotel room that recommended the food here and since it reminded me of Chelsea Market in New York, I thought we'd give it a shot. Despite arriving around 2 hours before they closed, it looked like a lot of vendors had already closed or were getting ready to close. I initially wanted to try Ramen Hood, but I didn't see it, so I went for Bento-Ya, which seems the most suitable to our palate. My family and I ordered the curry udon, kaarage chicken, grilled teriyaki chicken bento, and the chashu pork ramen. Since it was getting late and I heard the neighborhood wasn't really safe, we took the food back to our hotel. And I was surprised the udon hadn't turned soggy. The udon and the curry tasted different from the curry I've had in New York. I expected box curry or watered down curry, but this tasted light and almost refreshing while still retaining lots of flavor. The chicken and vegetables were still tender and juicy. I even wished I had a bowl of rice so I could pour the leftover curry over it lol read more

Great food! I might take a bit longer depending on what you order, but it's because they make it as you order it. I've always been fully satisfied with what get. My favored include the fried chicken, the tempura that mainly cuz I love sides. Located in the heart of Grand Central Market! read more

I want to support this small mom & pop that's still around in GCM... but it just isn't that great. The prices are really good, but you really get what you're paying for :,( read more

I really enjoyed the food here!!! Besides, the food is cheap and tasty! Not only I enjoyed but all my girl friends too!!! When I am hungry and craving for fast Japanese food, I will always come here :) read more

Oishii!! loved the chicken karage. Wished they still made the korokke (deep fried potato) as advertised, but i really appreciated getting that in my stomach! read more

Stumbled upon this spot while searching for a healthy vegetarian alternative at the Grand Central Market. I asked the proprietor what he could offer me and he prepared something off menu. Delicious and ample portions of vegetable tempura, egg roll, steamed Japanese rice with salad and two dipping sauces for $5.50. Staff were pleasant and very sweet. read more

Bento Ya - Yum yummy - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Great for fast food. Made when you order with care. Looks older but clean and the ingredients seen fresh. The main guy cooked each piece of the beef and flipped them individually. Egg roll was crisp and tasted fresh. Cheap and fresh. read more

Foods cheap and delish! But some how guy on the phone sounds disturbed when I ask for NO wasabi nor ginger root??? ... Im like what not everybody likes it lol but i always come here when I'm craving California roll which is most times :D read more

We just went there today. Two of us had the #2 Chicken Teriyaki and it was good. Flavor quite palatable and it came with rice and salad. The chicken was on the bed of rice. It also came with those little pouches of hot sauce. Every body else gave me theirs so all the better. One of us had the salmon. She didn't complain and ate all of it--good sign! We also had unsweetened green tea in a can, a rare find, and totally worth it. This was just about the only place in Grand Central Market that didn't have a big line, so all we had to do was wait for our orders to be cooked. We ate outside on Broadway, which was an interesting experience. It wasn't perfect, but it's not supposed to be. read more

This Japanese food stall is in the hustle and bustle of Grand Central Market. I used to come eat at this place all the time when my mom was working a block away. We would have lunch in the summer together, she would get the grilled salmon bento, I would have the grilled beef ramen. Both of them were ok and were filling. We would get both items, a side, a salad, white rice for $10. Recommended for college students and backpackers on a budget. read more

This is probably one of my favorite food spots inside the historic Grand Central Market in downtown LA. The food is amazing AND affordable! Try it, you won't be disappointed. read more

Would give 0 stars if I could. AVOID!! The food takes 30 minutes to prepare and they will absolutely forget your order. It is clear they dont wash their hands. Also, you would think the food is worth the wait. It is horrible. read more

The spicy seafood ramen smelled so horribly, I had to throw the whole thing away after trying a bite. Definitely a waste of money.

This is my new go-to spot. They are now open until 10pm! I always get the Grilled Beef Bento and a California Roll. Delicious and pretty cheap. $12 for both items, that's good for DTLA. It is a pretty short wait time, compared to other places in Grand Central Market. read more

Ok food, had the grill pork cutlery box, #3. Decent luck for price, but missing something. Taste like Chinese food instead of Japanese.