I love the bento box concept and wish more places would offer it. It's a great way to get a sense of what a restaurant is capable of. So, trying a bento lunch at a highly regarded neighborhood restaurant is a no brainer for me. With a price tag of sixteen bucks, my expectations were pretty high, and Tamari hit only some of them.
The first thing that I notice about the place is the decor. Definitely of an era -- unfortunately one that's already becoming dated -- but the bar still looks fresh. The seat backs are starting to fade and there were some watermarks on the cushions. The floors looked pretty shopworn too, but I will say that the place looks pretty clean overall, so these issues are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Mixed reviews on the food. My seaweed salad was great, and the miso-tuna taco was very good. My robata skewers (steak and mushrooms) were pretty meh, tough and dominated by teriyaki sauce. Maki was maki.
Overall, not a bad meal at Tamari, but for the price, I expected more.