{"id":6933,"date":"2026-09-15T04:29:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T04:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/6933\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T04:29:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T04:29:39","slug":"kales-hale-is-offering-10-bentos-for-the-next-three-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/6933\/","title":{"rendered":"Kale\u2019s Hale is offering $10 bentos for the next three months"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been about a week since Kale’s Hale started selling $10 bentos. Last Friday \u2014 the fifth day of selling bentos \u2014 the eatery had sold more than 200 before noon. <\/p>\n

Chef\/owner Kale Afong says a friend had suggested this $10 bento idea last year. After running some numbers, he figured he would “try and make it work.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sold 40 bentos on the first day, 60 on the second, 60 on the third, 250-plus on day four, and it\u2019s more than 200 now on day five,” Afong says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere you go, a lunch is $20 or more,\u201d he adds. \u201cEven plate lunches, poke bowls \u2014 it\u2019s a $20 bill. We\u2019re trying to bring back a taste of old-school Hawai\u2018i and make an affordable $10 bento.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afong says Kale\u2019s Hale, located in Kalihi, is in the perfect neighborhood for the bento deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a whole community full of k\u016bpuna out here,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody likes a good $10 bento.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"$10The $10 bento selection changes daily. Photo by Kelli Shiroma Braiotta (Aloha State Daily Staff)<\/p>\n

The $10 bento deal is available daily, according to Afong. While the restaurant officially starts selling the bentos at 10 a.m., the eatery could open as early as 7 a.m. The restaurant will post updates regarding the bentos on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, if I have the energy, we\u2019ll start at 7 a.m.,\u201d Afong says. \u201cWe\u2019re going to try keep it rolling for at least three months; we\u2019re going to try and go until December, but it\u2019s going to depend on the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the community is for it, we\u2019re going to stick with it,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe don\u2019t really make money because it\u2019s $10. But, we can make it worthwhile if we can sell 500 to 700 bentos per day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"assortedThis bento includes miso Swai, garlic chicken and citrus salmon belly. Photo by Kelli Shiroma Braiotta (Aloha State Daily Staff)<\/p>\n

Like the restaurant\u2019s banchan \u2014 the side dishes that come with the AYCE yakiniku experience \u2014 the bento choices change daily. Recent selections featured citrus salmon belly, miso Swai (fish), garlic chicken and char siu chicken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most popular are probably the shoyu pork and miso Swai,\u201d Afong says. \u201cThe Korean fried chicken is also really popular. We have miso chicken, teri chicken and spicy pork. We get choke; those are the top sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bento sides also rotate, according to Afong, who says they have included options like gyoza, seaweed rolls, spring rolls, lumpia, dried radish kimchi and ocean salad.<\/p>\n

He says that bentos are also available for catering, and customers can call ahead for larger orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s first come, first served in the morning, but if somebody calls and pre-orders, we can accommodate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

On days when the restaurant opens early to sell bentos, Afong says they will have \u201ca few hundred out\u201d for customers to choose from. The bentos are just the beginning of a bigger project, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to get this elevated,\u201d Afong says. \u201cWe played around with some plating options, but I just got so busy. The bentos look good now, but we\u2019re going to get it way better.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains part of the restaurant will be redesigned to create a mini m\u0101keke, and will include a fridge and freezer filled with local products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have all locally made products \u2014 ice cream, chili pepper water, and more,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m starting with the bentos, but I\u2019m going to build this all out.<\/p>\n

Customer parking is available in the restaurant\u2019s lot.<\/p>\n

CONTACT
Kale\u2019s Hale
1339 N School St., Honolulu
kaleshale.com
Instagram: @kaleshale_hawaii<\/p>\n

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.<\/p>\n

For the latest news of Hawai\u2018i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been about a week since Kale’s Hale started selling $10 bentos. Last Friday \u2014 the fifth day of selling bentos \u2014 the eatery had sold more than 200 before noon. Chef\/owner Kale Afong says a friend had suggested this $10 bento idea last year. After running some numbers, he figured he would “try and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,4164,30],"class_list":["post-6933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-chef","tag-hawaii","tag-local-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117273176540264592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}