I Finally Found a Grown-Up Version of My Favorite Childhood Lunch Box — Only Better
Growing up in Mumbai, India, school lunches were a communal affair. Around noon, we would gather under the dappled shade of a banyan tree and share our lunches potluck-style. The assorted-shaped lunch boxes were always filled with a rich variety of Indian staples, but when it came to the lunch box itself, each was made from one single material: stainless steel.
Stainless steel canisters, cookware, and lunch boxes have been an essential in Indian kitchens for centuries. Plastic only become popular in the ’90s, and even now many families own a range of stainless steel kitchen items with their family name inscribed on them.
So when I started my current job almost a month ago, the first thing I did was look for a stainless steel lunch box option. I find that plastic containers tend to retain the smell of certain foods (hey, Indian spices!), while ceramic and glass are heavy and prone to cracks. I browsed hundreds of options, and Lunchbots (one of Amazon’s best-sellers) caught my eye, but I wasn’t ready to drop almost $40 on one. There were more affordable options, but most had multiple organizational sections that seemed unnecessary. I was about to give up and stick to Pyrex, and then I found the one!
Bklyn Bento, a Brooklyn-based company, creates sustainable, portable bento boxes and food jars inspired by India. I chose their stainless steel container and food condiment set, which has a stainless steel base with a custom silicone-mold top. The main lunch box is sleek and lightweight, and the tiny condiment container is perfect for salad dressings, although I use it to pack nuts and seeds for a midday pick-me-up. The silicone lids take a little adjusting to, but once they snap on, they stay firmly locked and sealed.
It’s been around three weeks since I have been using the lunch box set, and I have to say it’s the perfect stylish and sleek upgrade from my childhood lunch box. What I really like is that it has zero compartments, so I can efficiently pack in a full salad, pasta, pizza slice, or rice dish. Plus, the 24-ounce size is built to hold the recommended lunch portion size that helps me stay on top of my health goals.
Cleaning the lunch box is as easy as chucking it in the dishwasher, and I’m happy to note that so far there are zero scratches on the exterior or tears in the silicone lids.
Overall, I couldn’t be more thrilled with my new lunch box, and I’m even considering adding a second lunch accessory to my collection. Here’s looking at you beautiful, food jar!