【Foodholic Niko @ Taipei】
This is the best healthy bento I've encountered in the past few years!!!
P.S. Another healthy bento I think is also great is "Ye Fan Tian Zheng Kao Bento" near Taipei Main Station, I recommend everyone to give it a try~
"Jin Mu Zi Healthy Bento" is located near Shuanglian Station, about a 2-minute walk from Exit 2, hidden in a small alley next to Mackay Memorial Hospital. The location is very discreet, and unless you're following a map, you probably wouldn't pass by here normally.
The overall decor is in wood tones and white; it looks brighter and cleaner than typical bento shops or buffet places. There's a designated area for dining in, making it very convenient if you want to eat in.
This healthy bento somewhat combines the style of a buffet and Hawaiian poke bowls. The ordering process starts with choosing a base (purple rice, lettuce, or udon, which can be chosen half and half), followed by selecting toppings, proteins, and sauces. If you choose the lettuce base, you can also select a sauce on the side.
In addition to the cold foods commonly found in poke, there are many hot dishes (like roasted vegetables), and the selection is incredibly vast—enough to not get tired of it even if you eat here every week. The protein main dishes are more like what you would find in regular bento or buffet places, including chicken thigh, chicken breast, mackerel, salmon, beef shank, and more.
Today, I chose the teriyaki boneless chicken thigh for my protein main, which was priced at $150. It was a whole piece of chicken thigh, uncut, and the teriyaki flavor was perfectly infused with the chicken skin, tasty and chewy! The chicken meat was also juicy and elastic, not dry at all—so delicious!
For toppings, I chose edamame, broccoli, kelp strips, and zucchini, and each one was delicious. The seasoning was refreshing, and the cooking method wasn’t greasy, yet it didn’t taste like I was just eating grass—very impressive! I highly recommend the zucchini, which was cut rather thickly, retaining moisture perfectly without any bitterness (some places leave bitterness when not treated well, but this one doesn’t).
There are many toppings I regrettably didn’t try, such as tamagoyaki, tofu, and water lily, which all looked great—I need to try those next time!
For my base, I simply chose purple rice. To be honest, the portion was a bit small, but I personally felt it was just enough for the entire bento because the quantity of the main dish and toppings was substantial, making the meal low in carbs and very healthy!
For the garnish, I chose shredded seaweed, but it was more like seaweed crisp, which added a nice finishing touch when eaten with the rice. There were also options like crunchy onion, purple onion, and a very Taiwanese spicy radish to choose from.
My takeaway after eating is that delicious and healthy bentos are truly hard to find; this place is definitely worth keeping in mind for repeat visits!
To get straight to the conclusion: I think this store is a highly recommended healthy lunch box shop, with both the meat and vegetables being very delicious 💯.
I've eaten at this "Tamsui Box" several times and I'm not tired of it yet, so I can confidently say that this place will not disappoint!
The only small downside is that there are only a few seats inside, basically suitable for dining alone. However, most customers tend to take out, so this isn't really a problem.
🐔 Ginger Mushroom Chicken Box $135 (Single $70)
🌶️ Thai Basil Chicken Box $130 (Single $65)
🍚 You can choose "purple rice" or "white rice"; you can have "less rice and more vegetables" or "no rice at all."
✨ You can enjoy a $5 discount on one of the main courses when ordering a two-course combo.
I really enjoy their Ginger Mushroom Chicken box for $135, which is mainly flavored with shiitake mushrooms and sesame oil, and seasoned with a small amount of ginger. The large diced chicken breast is very appetizing. Moreover, it doesn't have any spicy kick but instead offers a rich and juicy experience, highly recommended!
The Thai Basil Chicken box for $130 features ground chicken stir-fried with long beans and chili, which has a stronger taste profile and a bit of spiciness, making it very enjoyable with rice. Personally, I like this main dish a lot. If you're considering a combo, the Thai Basil Chicken would be a great pairing choice.
🍵 Refreshing Light Green Tea
They have 4-5 options for cold brew tea, typically blended with common black and green teas. Among them, "Refreshing Light Green" surprised me the most.
It tastes refreshing, sugar-free, and has a cooling mint flavor, reminiscent of drinking iced tea right after enjoying minty gum—very intense. Personally, I quite like it; it clears the palate well.
If you dine in, you can take your time to enjoy your meal. Although there are very few seats, if you're lucky, you might get a nice moment of solitude! Overall, I highly recommend this healthy lunch box place; all the main dishes are delicious, and the vegetables are well-seasoned. I plan to visit again often! 👍
"Poké" seems to be a Hawaiian dish made by cutting sashimi from fish like tuna into small pieces and seasoning it with a soy sauce-based sauce! (I just learned this for the first time 😂)
【Atmosphere in the Restaurant】
The restaurant is spacious, allowing for a calm dining experience! Although the surrounding area is quite bustling during lunch hours in the office district, you can enjoy your meal here in a relaxed manner!
【Food Evaluation】
You can order food using the QR code on the table and settle the payment at the register first. There are about five fixed menu options, but you can also choose your own ingredients. I tend to be indecisive, so I selected one that included salmon, which I really wanted to eat that day! ✨
The wasabi sauce paired excellently with the salmon, and there were plenty of vegetables included! Since I could choose the base, I opted for a mix of brown rice (?) and vegetables, but there was still plenty of rice, and I ended up quite full!
【Overall Evaluation】
There are many options depending on your mood and the nutrients you want on that day, so I definitely want to visit again! 🙌 It's highly recommended as the prices aren't too high, yet you get good nutrition and feel sufficiently satisfied!
This place just happens to be located next to the San Chong National Sports Center, with a large Decathlon across the street. You could say it’s the largest sports venue and shopping district in the San Chong area. I can only say that the location for this health meal box shop is really great.
They mainly sell various healthy meal boxes, offering many main dish options, including Thai-style basil chicken, boiled chicken breast, grilled chicken breast, garlic pork, Thai-style basil pork, salt-grilled mackerel, braised beef shank, and grilled chicken thighs. There are 3 side dishes, a boiled egg, and two pieces of sweet potato included. Whole grain rice needs to be ordered separately.
All the meal boxes provide complete nutritional information, making them suitable for those who control their diet. The fitness meal options are also great for those with a high protein requirement.
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I ordered their boiled chicken breast this time (without rice).
The seasoning on the boiled chicken breast is excellent; the chicken is tender and juicy, absolutely not dry, and the appropriate amount of black pepper is a nice touch.
The vegetables are also well prepared, not at all like plain boiled ones; instead, they help enhance the overall texture of the dish.
I also ordered cold brew tea, which looks like it’s about 500-600cc. It’s really refreshing and cool to drink, plus it has very few calories.
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The dining area of the shop isn’t very large, mainly consisting of bar seating, with more customers opting for takeout. I really like the shop’s logo! It has a healthy and vibrant friendly feel, without being overly imposing. The overall atmosphere, along with the meals, is quite nice!
They also offer delivery through UberEats and FoodPanda, but I personally recommend taking out on-site as it’s cheaper!
🔅Actual ordering date: 2024/11/22
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This is a relatively new healthy meal box nearby. It was actually ordered by the company, so I'm a bit unsure about the name, and I noticed that it doesn't seem to be on the original menu either.
▪️Lunch special - Chicken breast $100
The meal includes 2 types of leafy greens, along with 3-4 small side dishes. The vegetables are quite fresh, and the seasoning is simple but not bland. The purple rice is cooked just right, and the chicken breast is tender and not dry. However, the downside is that it had almost no flavor and even had a hint of tap water taste?? When I had it that day, I paired it with some pickles given by a colleague, which helped to mask the flavor a bit.
Overall, the chicken breast flavor was a bit strange, but the vegetables performed well. I might still want to try other items next time.
This shop has an area for dining in, so you can place your order and eat inside. This time I ordered the garlic pork loin, and I felt that the garlic sauce was a bit too salty; however, the meat tasted fine. The vegetables were seasoned rather lightly, like most healthy meal boxes, with only the dried tofu having a stronger flavor. The rice served was purple rice, which was a nice bonus. Overall, it's a decent healthy meal box. If you want to eat some greens, you can come here, and it also offers a dining area, which many healthy meal box shops lack — it's a good choice for lunch during the midday break.
Sakata’s main focus is on healthy lunch boxes, and they also offer low-carb options, with the overall style being Japanese-inspired. In terms of nutritional balance, I think Sakata does quite well; they manage to cover protein, starch, vitamins, and other aspects in their dishes. However, I feel that the taste and portion sizes could be improved.
Firstly, the whole lunch box is very light in flavor. Lightness is not necessarily bad, but the ingredients must be fresh enough, or there should be skills to bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients to make it delicious. But the hamburg steak bento I had, aside from the seasoning of the meat itself, I could hardly taste the flavors of the other dishes; it was just prepared in a very healthy way.
Furthermore, the portions look very full on the menu photos, but upon opening the lunch box, it seems smaller in quantity, which for someone like me with a slightly larger appetite, feels a bit lacking. However, looking at the price of the bento itself, in Taipei, it seems there's not much more to expect, especially given the current prices compared to before the pandemic.
🔅Actual dining date: 2024/09/26
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▪️Lemon chicken thigh steak $135
▪️Green pepper chicken thigh steak $135
Side dishes of the day: bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potato, tofu
This is one of the healthier meal boxes I've had recently and it tastes quite good. The lemon chicken was ordered by a friend and it doesn’t have any strange chemical lemon taste. The green pepper chicken is slightly spicy and very fragrant, and the chicken is tender. There’s a wide variety of side dishes, and they don’t all just taste like boiled vegetables; the seasoning is light but not boring.
It looks like a small bowl, but there’s quite a bit of rice at the bottom. I wonder if I can swap half the rice for more vegetables. Looking at Google reviews, opinions seem quite polarized, but I personally think it’s pretty good! It’s a bit far from my house, otherwise, I would buy it occasionally.
You can choose and combine healthy ingredients like vegetables, protein, and fruits in any way you like!
In Taiwan, it's common for any vegetable to be stir-fried, and since I have been living alone and my nutrition has been unbalanced, I was really happy to eat raw vegetables and protein in a balanced way after a long time!
You can choose from bases like pasta and purple rice, as well as vegetables, additional ingredients, toppings, and dressings as you wish! This time, I went with a base of purple rice and lettuce, but personally, I found that the rice didn't really go well with the dressing and the sweetness of the fruit, so next time, I want to choose pasta as my base instead 😂 By the way, the dressing was a mustard-based one with a bit of tanginess. My acquaintance's sesame dressing looked tastier, so I want to try that next time!
I was worried that a salad-based meal wouldn't fill me up, but surprisingly, there was quite a bit of it, and I ended up full! The satisfaction was also plenty✨
I think the charm of this place is how you can arrange various combinations yourself! I keep getting tempted to go back because I can’t decide what I want next 😂 If I feel like I'm lacking in vegetables again, I will definitely rush back!
I've always been afraid that shops claiming to sell healthy food would end up being bland and tasteless, so I rarely try out so-called healthy food places. However, I've passed by this particular shop many times and noticed that there are always a lot of people buying from it. One time, they even sold out very early, so out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try.
This time, I ordered the black pepper grilled chicken breast meal box. The black pepper grilled chicken breast was surprisingly flavorful, with a strong black pepper taste that was actually quite good. As for the other side dishes, they were really not seasoned at all, making them taste very bland. The rice was purple rice, and the portion was just right for me, but for someone who eats more, it might not be enough.
Overall, I think the main dish from this place is quite good, while the rest is just okay.