Lunch Links

This is meant to be a comprehensive, organized list of packed lunch blogs and online communities. If you notice something I’ve missed or have an active packed lunch blog you feel should be included, please add a comment here. Particularly helpful or active sites are underlined. See also my Lunch Blog Events page for a listing of current blog events and contests for packed lunches.

COMMUNITIES

Lunch in a Box Forum: My new, active bento forum with organized topic threads and community features. Home of the Bento of the Month Contest, where readers vote on themed entries to win a bento-related prize. Come join the discussion!

Bento: Moderately active bento community on Vox
Bento Box Brigade: Small community on MySpace
Bento Boxes: Large and very active Flickr group for bento lunches
Bento Buddies: Bento group on SparkPeople, for diet support
Bentolunch: Large and very active LiveJournal community for bento lunches, with online and geographic shopping guides
Bento Challenge: LiveJournal community for bento art created around a weekly theme, such as “My Favorite Song”, Harry Potter, or “Self Portrait” (often cross-posted to the Bentolunch community). See also the associated Bento Challenge Flickr group.
Bento Critique: Flickr group for kind, constructive criticism of your bento lunch
Bento Porn: Flickr group for best-in-class bento lunches
Bento Swap: Flickr group for free swapping of bento boxes and gear
Diet Bento: Flickr group with low-calorie bento lunches
Eat My Bento: Large and very active new LiveJournal group for bento recipes and tutorials
Happy Good Bento: Delphi Forum with conveniently threaded bento discussions
I (Heart) bento: Bento a Go Go fan listing
Iron Bento: Flickr group with bentos by weekly ingredient theme, a la Iron Chef
Just Bento Forum: Just Bento’s reader forum
Kid Eats: Flickr group of children’s packed lunches
Lunchbox Recipes: Flickr group for recipes of dishes particularly well suited to packed lunches (all cuisines)
Laptop Lunches: Flickr group for lunches packed in the Laptop Lunchbox
Mr. Bento Porn: Flickr group for lunches packed in thermal lunch jars only
Mr. Bento Vegetarian/Vegan Porn: Flickr group for vegetarian and vegan lunches packed in thermal lunch jars only
My Bento Collection: Flickr group showcasing bento boxes themselves and equipment
Vegan Bento: Flickr group for vegan bentos
Vegetarian Bento: New Flickr group for vegetarian bento lunches (not necessarily vegan)

BLOGS

Ameko Bento: Bento blog with simple ingredients, colors, textures and flavors for both children and adults. (not updated recently)
Apples and Twigs: Vegan bento blog with the occasional child’s lunch (link is to bento-related entries only)
Adventures in Bentomaking: Pikko’s fun food blog with an occasional Weight Watchers focus and a new forum
All My Bento Are Belong to Me: Feisty Foodie’s bento lunches
Anna the Red’s Bento Factory: Comprehensive instructions on how to create elaborate kyaraben food art bentos (think Studio Ghibli characters such as Totoro, or Disney’s Wall-E). It’s a new blog, but very promising.
Bento Anarchy: Adult bento blog
Bento Bento: English-language bento blog based in the Netherlands, with a focus on fast and cheap.
Bento Business: British site for bento resources in the U.K., also has bentos with recipes.
Bentocentric: Bento blog by a college student (not updated recently)
Bento Corner: An American mom born and raised in Japan makes adorable kyara-ben or food art character bentos for her children. Back in Tokyo and blogging again after a one-year hiatus, she sheds light on how to create cute food art and comments on bento-making in Japan.
Bento Food Bear: Easy-to-make foods and bento with health, time and money focus for the college-age reader. Many posts incorporate vegetarian meal ideas and environmental food concerns.
Bento-licious: Bento blog of childish lunches for adults. (not updated recently)
Bentoholics Anonymous: Bento blog with recipes and restaurant reviews.
Bentoism: Group bento blog
Bentolicious: Adult bento blog (not updated recently)
Bento Life: Adult bento blog with “balanced, tasty lunches that are visually pleasing, but still simple enough to fit into my everyday lifestyle”
Bentonoibii: Bento blog with ‘kyaraben’ food art for adults.
Bentos by kastinkerbell: Adult lunches on healthy eating plan (through http://www.sparkpeople.com), with basic nutritional information for each lunch.
Bentos for Vegans: Vegan bento blog with methods for organizing a vegan pantry, planning meals, etc. (defunct)
BentoTV: Video blog with little bento packing tips and an associated eBay store
Berlin’s Whimsy: A mom’s crafty blog with posts about bentos and Laptop Lunches (link is to lunch-related entries only)
BLD Bento: Healthy, weight-loss bento lunches for adults
Chocolat Vanille: Japanese Flickr user who packs beautiful bentos in Tupperware
Cloud 9 Food: Food blog with emphasis on adult bentos, with other recipes for dinner, breakfast, etc.
Cooking Cute: Comprehensive resource site for elaborate bentos (on hiatus, but good archives)
Cooking 4 All Seasons: Vegetarian Indian tiffin lunches for adults (link is to tiffin-related entries only)
Cooking for Monkeys: Toddler bento blog with cute lunches and an online bento store.
Disposable Aardvarks Inc.: Blog with kids’ vegan bento lunches & snacks, family meals, and local healthy food finds.
Face Food Bento: Food art “kyara-ben” bento blog from the author of book Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes.
Fiquo Bento: French-language bento blog with Google translation link for English
Frank Tastes: Quirky bento blog with fun illustrations, anthropological commentary, and beautiful photos
Freakin’ Tasty Bento: Be sure to check out the post Bento for Cheap Bastards for thrifty tips on equipment and food
French Bento: French-language bento blog by Flickr user Moniki. English version here, translated by Google (translation link in the right column).
Gwendobento: Kids’ bento blog by Gwendomama (not updated recently, but ya never know!)
Jacki’s Bento Blog: Healthy, cute bento lunches for adults.
JB Bentos: Bento blog with adult lunches
Just Bento is from the creator of Japanese food blog Just Hungry, and focuses on speedy diet bentos for adults, mostly vegetarian, with recipes and tips. Cool graphic timelines bring an easy-to-grasp glanceability to the lunch prep and packing process.
Just Jen: Diet bento blog (link is to bento-related entries only)
Kawaii Kiki: Vegetarian bento blog with beautifully composed lunches and photos (link is to bento-related entries only)
Kilrothi’s Bentos: Mostly vegetarian bento blog
Kitchen Cow: Informative Filipino bento blog with beautiful photos
La Petite Biscotte: Bilingual English/French bento blog with mostly vegetarian food
LatinConFusion: Weight loss bentos, each under 500 calories.
Lunchbox Gourmet: Website with lunchbox recipes, focusing on Laptop Lunchbox and thermos meals
Lunch in a Box: This blog. A lunch-packing resource of time-saving tips, tricks, and recipes to get you out the door quickly with a delicious meal. Updated regularly with photos of bento lunches made with world food. Don’t miss the Top Speed Tips page and Recipe page for organized links.
Madwoman with Shallot: Vegetarian and carnivore bento lunches for adults
Maisie Eats Bento: Fun lunches for a very picky toddler
Milk Plasma on Toast: Bento lunches by a Canadian in Sweden (link is to bento-related entries only)
My Bento Diet: weight loss bento blog is part of a larger website
My Bento Lunch: Cute bentos for children by mom Myria who lives in Japan
My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch!: Come on, you’ve got to visit for the name at least! By the co-moderator of the LiveJournal bentolunch community.
My Mustard Sandwich: Food blog with bento lunches for children (occasionally for adults)
Main-Main Masak-Masak: Singaporean food blog with bentos using food without colourings, flavourings, preservatives or other artificial additives, as little sugar as possible and using whole grains
Names of the Dead: Cooking and bento blog (link is to bento- and cooking-related entries only)
Not Exactly Bento: Bento and cooking blog with recipes
Novice Bento: Bento blog
Obento Baby!: Bento lunches for adults and children, with some egg-free/milk free recipes for a child with food allergies
Obiwan Bento: Flickr user (formerly known as One More Bento Fan) with innovative food, makeshift containers and molding of alternate grains. Not a blog, but interesting nonetheless.
Oh! Bento: Bento blog that includes meals for diabetic as well as non-diabetics (currently down)
Oh, Bento: Bento blog
One Bite at a Time: Cooking and bento blog
Otoro: Bento and food blog with occasional how-to and recipes
Petit Tableau: Children’s bento blog with an online store
Pieces of Earth: Food blog with adult bento lunches (link is to bento-related entries only)
Playing with my Food: Milk-free food blog with bento lunches as well
Silverkeys.writes: Varied blog with bento entries (link is to bento-related entries only)
Tanuki no Bento: Filipino bento and food blog with restaurant and street photos
The Allergy-Safe Gourmet: Packed lunch & snack blog (variety of containers including the Laptop Lunchbox) by a woman with multiple allergies (green beans, tree nuts, certain tree fruits, and corn)
The Bento Girl: A kindergarten/preschool teacher blogs about her bentos and school
This Little Bento: Bento blog where the author makes ovo-lacto vegetarian lunches for herself, and omnivore lunches for her husband.
Vegan Lunch Box: Award-winning vegan lunch blog for a child, often using the Laptop Lunchbox
Warm Olives: Healthy food blog by Kate (KJF916 on Flickr) with many fat-free and sugar-free items (link is to bento entries only)
Wendolonia: Varied blog with preschooler and occasional adult bento lunches (link is to bento-related entries only)
Were Rabbits: Jokergirl’s vegetarian bento blog with beautiful photos
What’s for Lunch at Our House?
Willow’s Bento Box: Healthy bento blog
Zoe: Bento blog from LJ user Skirtin a Smile, soon to be focused on weight loss

NON-ENGLISH BLOGS

Bento Babe: New Dutch-language bento blog by Amthezia in the Netherlands
Bento-Blog: German-language bento blog
Bento, lunchbox, pique nique etc…: French-language bento blog with occasional children’s lunches
Bento pa Svenska: Swedish-language bento site
BentoSüchtig: German-language bento resource site, with a blog, forum, store listings, etc.
C’est dans la boite!: French-language bento blog
Fiquo Bento: French-language bento blog with Google translation link for English
Food Freak: German-language food blog with many bento entries (link is to bento posts only)
French Bento: French-language bento blog by Flickr user Moniki. English version here, translated by Google (translation link in the right column).
La dinette de Nam: French-language vegetarian bento blog
La Petite Biscotte: bilingual English/French bento blog with mostly vegetarian food
Melas Biotop: German-language site with some bento entries (link is to bento posts only)
Mes p’tits bento: French-language bento blog by Audrey, with slightly diet food for adults
Nekobento.com: German-language bento resource site
O-Bento.net: Italian-language food art bento blog and store
Qu’est ce que tu cuisines?: French-language vegetarian bento blog

JAPANESE BENTO BLOGS (just a sampling, there are thousands!)

Ajinomoto Kyaraben
Bento Obento
Chakkari Bento
Crazy Bento
E-obento.com (click on the month for bento photos)
Hirasol’s Kyaraben
Kyaraben Club
Kyou no Obento
Lunch Box
My Obento
Obento o Tsukuro!
Obento Blog Portal
Onigiri
Nokoron no Okiraku Seikatsu
Rico & Coco
Riri no Obento
Smile Mama no Obento
Tanoshii Obento
Uetoto
Yasuko-san Daidokoro
Yoko no Blog
Waku Waku Character Bento

BENTO SELLERS

Find stores with bento gear near you using the international Bento Store Locator (BSL) with Google Maps and user-generated store feedback. Nothing nearby? Check the list of online stores for bento gear or come back later as people add more stores to the BSL.
Lunch in a Box’s Amazon store showcases a variety lunch-packing products, including bento boxes, thermal jars, accessories, stylish insulated lunch bags and utensils. Purchases made through this store or my Amazon search box support the Lunch in a Box blog without any additional markup over regular Amazon prices.
Lunch in a Box’s San Francisco Bay Area shopping guide. I have no affiliation with any of these stores, I’m just an avid local shopper and know what I like.

FOR PARENTS

Spatulatta: James Beard Award-winning website that features kids teaching kids how to cook healthy meals

COOKING RESOURCES

eGullet.com: Active food message board with influential food writing
Cooking for Engineers: Analytical cooking
America’s Test Kitchen: Cooks’ Illustrated’s free site with well tested recipes and equipment reviews

FRIENDS OF MINE

Cafe Fernando: Award-winning beautiful food blog about baking and Turkish food.
Fit2Cook: Lean Chef presents healthy cooking and a fit lifestyle
Art Lamascus: My sister’s surreal art site on CafePress
Aurora Park Cottages: Friend’s lovely cottages in Calistoga, CA, for spa & wine country vacations. Mention “Biggie” or “Lunch in a Box” when reserving for free bubbly and something sweet in your room upon check-in.