A grocery store with a multitude of options for bento and ready-to-eat foods.

Seemingly a conventional grocery, Chuo Mart stands out from the rest for its variety of bento (boxed meals) and prepared/ready-to-eat foods. In the back corner of the store is a huge kitchen where the staff busily start preparing bento in the morning. The delicious aroma of simmered vegetables and stir fry will draw you to the bento section, and you will be sure to end up grabbing a box of bento, even if you’ve gone into the store only to buy laundry detergent! From Okinawan favorites, such as taco rice and stir-fried dishes, to curry, Korean bibimbap and the popular makunouchi bento, which contains small bites of various dishes, all bentos are surprisingly reasonable for the large portions, priced between ¥300 and ¥500. Every day at around noon, Chuo Mart is packed with people of all ages and nationalities looking for a delicious lunch, including local workers in their uniforms, moms with baby strollers and elderly men on their way back home from their daily stroll. If you are lucky, you may find a selection of local sweets, such as po-po (Okinawan-style rolled crepe) and muuchii (Okinawan-style sweet rice cake), which are not commonly seen in mainland Japan.

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