Go Bento reopens with mix-and-match Japanese ‘value meal’ bentos

MANILA, Philippines — Japan-inspired fast casual restaurant chain Go Bento recently reopened its Bonifacio Global City branch with new branding, interiors and offerings in addition to tried-and-tested bestsellers.

Scott Tan, Managing Director of Go Bento’s parent company Scottland Food Group Inc., shared that they decided to give the restaurant a facelift after getting feedback that customers prefer to dine more together, as opposed to eating quickly or just grabbing food, as such was the grab-and-go concept behind Go Bento back in 2016.

“It used to be a grab-and-go concept – everything is warmed, heated, then packed,” Tan shared to the press in a group interview at the re-launch. 

“The grab-and-go concept is like not yet a big thing here in the Philippines because we love eating together as families and friends, ‘di ba? It’s not really instilled in our culture. So I have to listen to the customer and tweak it to make it more Filipino-friendly. When we eat, we eat together as friends and family, ‘di ba? So that’s the final concept of Go Bento.” 

Thus, from grab-and-go, the restaurant now boasts of more nooks for group seating. From a “Zen” green, wood and white, the diner’s interiors have also been transformed by an architect-designer to look more upbeat Japanese pop or J-pop.

“When we were planning on how to redesign… I explored Japan to study Japanese restaurants and discovered that they either imbibe a traditional restaurant concept or focus on the J-Pop, Manga genre,” stated Tan, who manages the same company that successfully launched Korean fast casual chain Bonchon in the Philippines.

“One day, I was in a Tokyo train station and I realized that our Go Bento concept would work well with a metro train station vibe,” he explained. 

This prompted him to adopt the feel of Tokyo’s train station – red tiles, signage, railings and other design aspects as the main features in the restaurant’s new look – with the group seating and tables resembling train passenger cabins.

“The train stations are full of bento stations there. They grab, they eat on the train, to-go or go back home. So I covered it (as) an idea (for the) design na parang since the Philippines is