When I am craving some good asian food, there are only a few restaurants that come to mind. This week after taking a three hr exam, I decided to treat myself with some Japanese food at Aroma. Aroma is an Asian restaurant that offers many Asian dishes, including sushi, but most importantly bento boxes!
Aroma is located outside of the Kenwood Mall in Cincinnati. I was a little concerned that it may be extremely busy, but we lucked out and the restaurant was only half full so we were able to get a table with no wait…I was so hungry. So a little backstory, for the last few months I had been studying for a certification for work and at 8am I had sat down to take a three hour exam where I could not take a break without it counting against my time. And most importantly I couldn’t have water :(. So I left that exam feeling like a dried up raisin and borderline hangry.
Alaina and I went to Aroma to celebrate that my exam was over. The restaurant was nice and cool, which we were extremely grateful for since Cincy was going through a hellish heat wave. We are talking high 90’s with no breeze. I guarantee you we probably could have fried an egg on the sidewalk. We were seated in a nice cushy booth, away from the sunlight. Alaina and I looked through the menu, but we already knew what we wanted, BENTO BOX! It was in the middle of the menu and was a lunch special. With the bento box you get white rice, 4 California roll pieces, asian salad, and your choice of appetizer and main entry. Alaina and I both chose the gyoza and the Korean chicken.
Within 15-20 mins our bento boxes came out. They were a thing of beauty. I was so happy with my celebratory meal. It was the perfect amount of food. I cracked open my chopsticks and started digging in. I tried the California roll first. I grabbed it with my chopsticks and dipped it in some light soy sauce. It was delicious, it was nice and cold. The salt from the soy sauce really added some nice flavor, but what I really liked was the creaminess of the avocado.
The next thing I tried was the gyoza. I dipped it in my sauce and I was blown away. The crispiness on the gyoza, the taste of the filling, plus the salt from the soy sauce was the best. Gyoza is probably my most favorite appetizer from asian culture. The next thing I tried was the asian salad. Asian salad is another favorite of mine because the dressing is different. The dressing had a good amount of ginger mixed with the dressing, and the iceberg lettuce was nice and crunchy.
Lastly, I tried the Korean chicken. The chicken was fried and coated in an orange sauce. The chicken had a nice bite to it. The glaze was nice with a little bit of sweetness. I ate the chicken with some white rice and it was a nice combo.
After tasting a little bit of everything, I kept rotating through the different foods until everything was eaten. I ate everything except all of the white rice and I have no regrets. I was a little surprised with how much I ate, but today, I hadn’t eaten any snacks. If you ever come to Cincy and are here throughout the week, I would highly recommend you try the Aroma bento boxes.
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