LA’s Hardest Restaurant Reservation, n/naka, Now Available Via Bento Box

LA’s hardest restaurant seat to score, the Japanese kaiseki stalwart n/naka, is now wide open for reservations — for bento boxes.

The two-Michelin-starred Palms restaurant announced plans for a sub-$40 bento box, available starting today via their usual Tock reservation system. They’re only making as many as they can reasonably handle, though, so there’s a good chance that a slot could still be hard to come by. That said, it’s nothing like the previously near-impossible reservation system, which offered only a few seats nightly. Diners eager to experience the place would all converge on the website at a predetermined window, when all reservations for upcoming months would become available at once.

As for the bentos themselves, expect the usual array of delicacies that would otherwise be found on the restaurant’s usual 13-course menu, including A5 wagyu nikogori, three pieces of sushi, and a matcha white chocolate cake.

More and more, restaurants like n/naka are faced with their own mounting challenges as they try to completely reformat their service and food model for this new time of novel coronavirus pandemic. Vespertine is now doing family-style dinners for takeaway and delivery, and over in Santa Monica Dave Beran has completely rethought the menus at both Pasjoli and Dialogue.

The $38 n/naka bento is available starting today. Take a look at what’s offered below. Reservations for an available bento can be made on Tock.

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