Zojirushi Classic Bento Vacuum Lunch Jar - Black

I wasn't expecting such a quality product: it works and keeps stuff warm, just as adertised. However you need to understand that it is advertised to hold a soup in the bottom container, and that is the key as to how it keeps the food warm. If you do not put an hot liquid there then yes the food stay that much warm. I made some tests, like, in the evening I cooked stuff and while it was still hot and stashed them in this bento. Then in the morning (9 hours later) it was still warm, but not hot anymore. Of course to keep as much warm as possible, I closed the bento, put it inside it's thermal bag and stuffed it into my backpack. I would still recommend to have a microwave at work to just reheat your food ya know. Still simpler. But, that bento works very well. Now about the size of that thing, it fits in my backpack with no issue. And I always carry it in it's own thermal bag. It's not too big, and not too small. For me it's okay. For ladies and their crappy handbags, nope it ain't gonna work. The top box is supposed to hold... a desert? I don't really care, I stuff food there as well. When I'm short on stuff, yeah I'll use it for a desert. Usually I chop a banana, put the pieces in the box, and dump/sprinkle some chocolate powder (for the breakfast) on top of them. I add a spoon of honey for good measure, and close that box. What's gonna happen during my transit to work, and until noon, is that the heat from the below boxes will heat that top box; melting the chocolate and honey and creating a nice blend with the banana pieces. I tried with halva instead of chocolate but... I wasn't as successfull :) The middle container is the main dish one. Kinda big enough, you still need to remember that the uhh "cap" stuff is kinda large. Like it has an one 1inch height that will go inside the box. So don't fill that box to the top, leave that inch clear. Not sure what to say about that box. The cap is secured by turning it so it won't open easely. The problem is, if you microwave that stuff the cap will be super hot as well: you will have trouble screwing the cap on the box so hot it'll be. That bottom box is bowl like. It's pretty small, but yeah the cap has a rubber band to prevent liquids to spill. I don't put soup in there, I just uhh put whatever else I got on hand. I try to put as much "wet" stuff there since it's made for that. A saw reviews mentionning spills. The bowl container, it's true, doesn't prevent the liquid to spill. The rubber will stop it from spilling a lot, but some drops could be found in the bento box' bottom when I tested with clear water. So be wary. Remember that I put that whole bento in my backpack, updside, and secured: stuff won't move much in there. And I take the transit, sit down, take down my backpack, lift it up, throw it around on my back. I had a few drops a liquid but not the whole content was outta that box. It's good enough for me. After using that bento for a couple of weeks at work, one of my coworkers bought one. It's a quality product, maybe a bit small as quantites you can store there but it does the job. Not sure what else to say. Uhhh yeah... it's easy to clean too? I don't know enjoy. :D

I bought this on September 3, 2011, and from all the items that I have got from Amazon, this is the one that I use the most, so I really think that I can provide a fair and useful advise, for the people that is thinking about to buy it or not. I will rate each component by separate, and then a will review the product as a whole, so you will get a very good idea about what to expect. Bag: Let's start with the bag, which it is made with some kind of synthetic cloth, very sturdy a resilient, mine it is still look as new as the first day, with no signs of tearing or stains, and not any nasty odors at all, you open and close the bag using a combination of velcro fasteners (one at each side) and two metallic buttons, all of them working as designed, so considering that I use this bag 5 days a week during the last two years, I will rate the bag with well deserved it 5 stars. Metallic Jar: The jar, it is the main component of this set, that will keep the temperature (together with the bag, I think) of your food, and allows you to carry the plastic containers. It is painted black outside, and it covered by a grey plastic inside, in the top it is a plastic cap that seals the jar, and it is attached by a set of plastic latches. For today the jar looks as new, no paint tearing or scratches ( I always use the bag), the plastic cap has just some very tiny scratches, and the plastic latches are brand new, so again 5 stars for the jar, that was built for last. Plastic containers: The set have three plastic containers,that are stored in the following order: the smallest goes in the bottom, and it is leaking proof, then you placed the tallest one that has more capacity, that even it looks like it is leaking proof, is not, and finally the medium size one that goes in the top, not leaking proof either. So when you package your food you should try to keep anything that potentially can leak (soup, stew, etc) in the small one, and forget about it, so even if the jar fell to one side (when you are driving), everything will be contained. Even if you failed to do this the leaking will be minimum ( so you can clean it with a napkin), and will remain for all means inside the jar, but I truly think that is better to avoid any spill at all, so use the container as is indicated. Normally I package my food at night in the containers, and put them in the refrigerator, next morning I will store the containers in the jar, drive to work, and let the jar at my desk. At noon I will take everything to the pantry area, and will reheat the food in the microwave (without the lids), the food will remain cold until noon guaranteed and I never have had anything spoiled it. After I eat, I will wash the containers, dry them and put them back in the jar, and the cycle start again that night. As all plastic containers in a long run , they can get smelly, the easy solution is to wash them once in a while in the dishwasher, and no smell will remain. The containers are working as designed, but I would really like that all of them were 100% leaking proof so I will rate them with 4 stars only. Utensils: It brings a set of chopsticks (useless for me), and an spork. The chopsticks came attached directly to the jar with a clever mechanism, the spork is storaged in a pocket inside the bag. The spork is made of stainless steel, and for today, it looks brand new, if you are missing the knive and a real spoon, you can add any utensil set that you want (I did, I bought one in Amazon too). Even that I already knew that this is a japanese product (made in thailand BTW), I would expect it that included a full set of utensils, a not only a spork (even that the one provided has excellent quality), just for that I will rate the utensils 4.5 stars. Overall: I believe that I got a great deal buying this Vacuum Lunch Jar, you can notice that was engineered and built with quality in mind, it is so close to be the perfect lunch box, that is a shame that you can still find some ways to improve it, anyway I will highly recommend to anybody, it will keep your food heat or cold, and allow you to pack reasonable portions, and as I said before it get the perfect combination of a good design, a quality craftsmanship and materials. My rate overall is between 4.5 and 5 stars. P.S: I found the following product in Amazon: Zojirushi SL-XCE20HG Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tiffin Box, it has 4 containers, 3 of them are leaking proof, it is a little more expensive than this one, but it is the right answer to the leaking issue.

- I bought the black version with the 3 bowls as I felt that the black color shall hide stains easily and it shall not show its age easily in a few years. I wish they could have a black version for the one with the 4 bowls. - This one includes a main bowl (20 oz.), side bowl (13.5 oz.) and a soup bowl (9.5 oz.) with their respective covers. - It also comes with an insulated cover, has a strap for easy carrying, instructions in English, a spork (spoon & folk combo) and chopsticks. The chopsticks are enclosed in a case that slides on the outside of the outer big container. - The lower smallest bowl is for 'soup' but I usually use it for beef stew. The middle bowl is for rice and maybe pasta. The upper bowl is for fruits and vegetables, anything you want in room temperature. - I boiled water and poured the hot water in the soup bowl and the rice bowl to 'preheat' the bowls and covered them. I keep the hot water in the bowls for 10 minutes. - I then pour soup/beef stew into the smallest bowl and close it. When properly closed, the white rubber topper comes up straight. The soup bowl goes to the bottom. The middle bowl is where I place the rice or pasta, basically carbs, the main part of the meal. There are arrows showing how the bowl should be closed and the paper instructions illustrate how the bowl should be closed. - the top bowl is not an insulated kind, so I keep fruits and vegetables in there. I was worried that the top bowl would 'heat' up my fruits but they were okay at room temperature. Not ice cold but not hot either. - The 3 bowls settle perfectly into the outer container and are easy to put in and pull out. Once the 3 bowls are in the container, in order, the outer container has a cover that snaps easily and the container goes easily in the insulated bag, which, with its strap, is easy to carry from place to place. I carry the container whilst using public transportation and it's almost inconspicuous. - I have been putting the hot foods in at 6.30 am. At 3.30 pm, 9 hours later, the foods are warm enough to eat. Not piping hot but not cold-ish either. The type of hot that needs a half- minute to a minute in the microwave. I ate the food at 12.30 pm (put into containers at 6.30 am) and the food was quite warm, not needing to be reheated. The longer the wait, the less hot the food gets. You can still eat it without reheating it but it won't be piping hot if that's your thing. - I purchased glass Pyrex bowls to store food at night so that I would reheat the food in the morning and put it into the bowls. The bowls are also microwaveable. (But without their covers) - It sounds pricey but basically, it pays itself in a week or two of meal preparation. - the portions look small but I got satisfied after eating food from the 3 bowls, beef stew, rice and seedless melon. I am a middle sized man. It's a good way to commence portion control. - Clean the bowls are fast as you can. I haven't had a problem with smells but some commenters have. I bought black to avoid seeing food stains. - I am using this jar in conjunction with the Zojirushi flask which I use to carry hot coffee or tea (see the review I have written) and I carry both in one of those $1.99 reusable grocery bags and they fit perfectly. - I have posted pictures of what it looks like, foods included. There are a lot of pictures of prepared foods for the Zojirushi in the images for the larger stainless steel version, if you want to have an idea of the kinds of meals that can be carried in these Zojirushi jars. - there are also a lot of pictures in Flickr under MrBento that can assist you with the preparation of meals. I believe there is also a bento book here in Amazon.

I have been using Nissan/Thermos brand cups, re-hydration bottles and the large capacity thermos bottles for several months and was looking for something from that brand that would carry food vs just liquids and soups. The vacuum insulation is for real. With boiling hot liquids the containers remain cool on the outside and with ice cold beverages there is no condensation on the outside of the containers. We also own a Zojirushi 2.5L water boiler/dispenser and it is an excellent performer and this was brand I trust, so when I couldn't find a Nissan/Thermos food/lunch container that had separate food containers I started to research and check out the Bento line from Zojirushi. I checked Amazon and searched for these Asian style bento lunch containers several times and kept coming back to the Zojirushi line of Mr. Bento, Ms. Bento, the old classic style Bento, but there were several problems with each one just from the stats. The Ms. Bento was the most inexpensive, but both the wife and I have good appetites, so the smaller size of the containers as well as being a male and carrying a product designed for ladies just didn't feel right. Some of the Zojirushi line of products did not contain an insulated bag, did not offer a spork and had only chopsticks, were light colored and could stain easily, had only 2 container or had other issues I knew would bother me. I almost bought a model without the spork and was just going to buy a spork and toss it into my package when I came across this updated classic bento. This one is pretty much exactly what I wanted. Has both chopsticks and spork included with carry containers. It contains a thermal bag for the bento box and this is where you place the spork. It would have been nice if you could attach the spork to the container like the chopsticks. There are 3 different containers and all are a dark gray color. The sizes of the containers are good sized at 20oz, 13.5oz, and the sealed/soup container at 9.5oz. I would have liked the 20oz to have a gasket and the one sealed container to be larger, but these are minor complaints. What you get is a very well designed Asian style, vacuum sealed, 3 container bento box with both chopsticks and a spork in a thermal bag that will keep food both hot, room temp, and cool if used as instructed. The price of this product does seem high, however if you dine out every day for $10-20+ for lunch you will break even after 6-10 lunches or 1-2 weeks of bringing food from home. Preparing your own meals allows you to control salt, sugar, fat levels and is most likely far healthier than dining out, but you do have to consider the extra prep time of cooking and prepping the 3 separate sections each day. It is far more time consuming than making a sandwich and tossing an apple/orange, pack of chips, and a soda into a paper bag. A little imagination also gives this bento lunch container a very large amount of flexibility. You can pack the large container with strained pasta and pack the sealed container with your pasta sauce/meatballs and mix them when ready to eat to keep the noodles from getting soggy. You can pack the different containers with Korean Ban Chan to share with family and friends. Fold up some warm tortillas and store steak/veggies to roll up some fajitas. Pack a salad in the large container and store the dressing in the sealed section. The versatility is really only limited to your cooking ability and imagination. Another enormous benefit is you do not have to use the office fridge or microwave. Your food will keep proper temperatures without needing to reheat for 8+ hours. Combine this with a Nissan/Thermos beverage container and all you have to do is meet up with other coworkers who brought lunch or just take a break and eat directly in your office. I'm very happy with this container and recommend it to anyone who wishes to eat healthier, save money, and stand out a little. Very few people out there seem to use this style lunch container and you will get looks and have people asking about it all the time.

I bought this for my husband for about 2 years now and it's still in good shape. First of all, my husband hates waiting in line to microwave food which it takes about 5 minutes since his work place have only 2 low watt microwave. Lunch break for him is 30 minutes, it takes him 3-4 minutes to walk to the lunch room, 5 minutes in line, 4-5 minutes to microwave his food leaving him about 10 minutes to eat quickly and walk back to his work station. He feels so rushed so during one summer, he ate only sandwich and salad. Pretty much doesn't fill him up since we're asian and needs rice. He got tired from eating those so I decided to do some research and came upon the zojirushi lunch jar. The reason upon choosing this brand is because I bought a rice cooker a year or two before buying this lunch jar and the quality of the brand is beyond expectation so I didn't hesitate to buy the lunch jar even though it's pricey. Although it's been about 2 years or so, the lunch jar still works as if you just bought it. I usually pack my husband lunch around noon and he doesn't eat until 8 which is 8 hours later and the foods are still hottish warm. However, I have not tried cold food so can't really review on it. The container are okay. For a big guy, the foods that I packed for him was able to fill him up until when he comes home. It's really easy to clean and the spork is high quality spork, not some cheap looking ones. The chopstick is plastic which my husband barely use anyways. The only thing that I would complain is that there's no slot for the spork which you'll have to put inside the bag and also the bottom container (the spill proof one), spills a bit which doesn't bothered me much but sometime it's just hard to twist it closed if you packed liquids in there otherwise it's hard to twist open at times when you need to clean it. Overall, I still love the lunch jar knowing that my husband can take his time to eat and doesn't need to heat up the foods. I was also able to fit 2 can of soda in the bag for him which saved more $$ since one can is 75cents each at work.

I always prefer warm meals, and since the lunch options are quite limited in my new work place, I start thinking about having a lunch box bringing my own. Debating between Tiger and Zojirushi, I found that all Zojirushi lunch jars are made in Thailand, while most of Tiger products are made in China, only LWR-A092 is made in Japan. But this model is too tiny, maybe just good for a 10-year-old boy. I'm a 5"3 woman, from Asia, I guess I still eat a lot, lol. I can find more reviews in Taobao (a very popular shopping website in China), they are quite positive about Zojirushi lunch jars, which made me decide to give this Thailand product a try. Comparing among Mr. Bento, Mrs. Bento and Classic, I have more confidence in Classic: The size is ideal (Mrs. Bento seems a little bit small) and the temperate is slightly better too. And as someone mentioned in another review, the classic is the best lunch jar he owns so far, after having Mr. and Mrs. Bento. We placed the order on last Wednesday evening, delivered on Friday,the second business day. Last Saturday, I put some warm water in three containers for testing. Started at 10 am, checked it at 5pm and 7pm, it was still warm. Since then I had been looking forward to using it. Today is the first time I used it to carry my lunch. I break the rules a bit: Use the soup bowl for rice, the middle big one for my dish, the upper and room-temperature one filled with warm water. Filled in food at 7 am, and it's still warm at 12:00. Perfect for lunch! And no leaking. I cooked half a cup of rice in my Tiger rice cooker, which is the amount I usually eat in one meal. The soup bowl size is perfect for that amount. And I do a quick stir fry of vegetable and meat in the morning (5 mins), so one dish is perfect too-- did I say "Perfect" too much?? Anyway, I am very happy about this purchase. Considering the lunch in our working place is $5~$8, I can easily make a solid delicious and nutritious lunch under $5 budget. BTW: Instead of using the plastic chopstick and spoon/fork came along, I have a regular fork in the office, wash it before meal. This saves some trouble too.

The Bento is a great way to pack a lunch every day. The separate compartments are roomy. The bottom two have insulated tops and keep food warm (or cold) as needed. Pack the whole thing the night before, store in fridge, and the food stays cold all through the day. If you're trying to get away from sandwiches and processed foods, this is a great way to go! Leftovers, veggies, oatmeal, etc. work great--it's actually fun to try and be creative with the possibilities. There's room in the top of the bag for larger items that won't fit in the containers, such as fruit or an additional snack. Cleans up easily. Comes with a spork! Edit as of 9/2011 I still have this item and still use it almost daily. The plastic bowls started to get worn and I was afraid of warming them in the micro given concerns about plastics etc since purchasing it. This is what I've discovered and wanted to share: Pyrex makes those little glass covered bowls--you may already own some. The 1 cup size with red lid, fits in the bottom of this bento. There is then space in the middle to put stuff that you pack separately, and then the 2 cup pyrex with the blue lid, fits perfectly at the top, the lid resting on the edges so it doesn't fall on the stuff in the middle. The Bento lid fits on top perfectly. I searched for glass bento appliances and didn't find any and then was delighted with this solution! I can micro in my glass containers yet they stay compact and insulated in the bento. Perfect. I still love it.

I alternate between using this Zojirushi classic Bento Lunch Jar and my Mr. Bento Zojirushi lunch jar. I'm not too pleased with either. Both are highly overrated. What I like about this model is it has an attachment strap fastened to the lunch jar itself, and it hangs vertically. There are two reasons why I subtracted two stars: 1. The main jar is NOT air-tight. Unlike the other dishes, the main jar is not air-tight which means sauces, curries, or juices from your dish can seep out if the Lunch Jar is tipped and shaken. 2. This Lunch Jar is limited in the number of dishes available, unlike the Mr. Bento. I wish it was more customizable to switch out with other container sizes which fit within the Lunch Jar.

Estoy impresionado, después de una extensa búsqueda de una solución para transportar y conservar mis alimentos para la escuela me encontré con esta opción. En si es un cilindro de acero aislado el que se encarga de conservar los alimentos, además de contar con tres recipientes, 2 frío/caliente y uno a temperatura ambiente. La calidad de construcción es muy buena, además de incluir una cuchara/tenedor de acero con un proyector, incluye un estuche para protegerlo de rayaduras y/o golpes. La temperatura de la comida se conserva muy bien y el tamaño de las porciones está excelente, está es una de las compras que más me han sorprendido por lo bien que se ve, lo bien que funciona y la relación calidad precio está ligeramente por arriba de lo que normalmente pagaría pero la calidad es tangible.

Yeah this is a great system for keeping your food warm for lunch, I used this daily for ages while I was on the road, kept my food warm for lunch it was good to have the fork and chopsticks attached so I didn’t have too look or forget to bring them

Satisfeita com o produto. Temperatura do alimento mantida por, pelo menos, seis horas

These are awesome. All the containers are great in terms of reducing costs spent on eating out, minimizing the garbage of packing lunches in disposable containers, and even helping with portion control for weight loss. They all fit into a compact bag which has a strap so it is easy to carry around. The quality of the containers is very good and so is the utensils. This is a lunch pack that are for people who like high quality things they will actually use in their life. The Jar which keeps the containers is great at insulating your food. so is the insulated bag with strap. You can also just use the jar though but I prefer the bag. It is a great way to pack a lunch every day. The separate compartments are roomy. The bottom two have insulated tops and keep food warm (or cold) as needed. Pack the whole thing the night before, store in fridge, and the food stays cold all through the day. If you're trying to get away from sandwiches and processed foods, this is a great way to go! Leftovers, veggies, oatmeal, etc. work great--it's actually fun to try and be creative with the possibilities. There's room in the top of the bag for larger items that won't fit in the containers, such as fruit or an additional snack. Cleans up easily. Comes with a spork!

Keeps lunch hot 5–6 hrs, bowls are microwave-safe, and it hasn’t leaked (even soup). Perfect single-meal size. Quick to clean. Excellent choice for bento box