The Plaza Building
151 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL
By Mark Baratelli
Not a Restaurant Reviewer
I went to Bentos and Pei Wei by chance in the same week. I know Bentos is known for sushi, which I abhor. If I want a mouthful of rice, I'll gag down a 90-second Uncle Bens bag at home. I like noodles dripping in brown sauce with some sort of corn-fed, factory-raised meat. Both spots have this dish and I dunno what its called.
Pei Wei gave a bigger portion (a to-go- box was required). Bentos gave better presentation (bento box tray). Both tasted the same. Bentos came with cake, which I ate with one chopstick to the giggle delight of the two women I was with. Anything to make the food interesting. During my meal at Pei Wei, I ate while working on my laptop using their free wifi streaming through the wall from the next door Starbucks.
The interior of Pei Wei is somehow classier than Bentos, even though I get the feeling Bentos is going for classier. Pei Wei has great video screen menus. Wish they were touch screen and had robot faces voiced by actors hiding in the kitchen answering questions. The open-kitchen lets you see the cooks using huge flames to prepare your meal, or more likely, the person three orders before you.
I'd go back to both.