I mentioned recently that I was contacted by Kelly Lester, the creator of Easy Lunchboxes. The contact was to guage my interest in accepting and reviewing a set of Easy Lunchboxes here on Not Exactly Bento. Always on the lookout for something new and unique, I agreed to accept a set for review.  I’ve tried them out, though with a busy work schedule, I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked. I do feel I’ve used them enough to give my opinion on the set.

Likes:

• Durability – When I first saw this set, I will admit I was slightly skeptical.  I knew that Ziploc had come out with a very similar, disposable lunch container.  When I the box arrived and I opened it, my doubts about the durability of Easy Lunchboxes vanished.  This isn’t soft, flexiable disposable lunch box plasitc.  This is hard, durable plastic.  This stuff has washed well and held up well so far.  While I true test of time will show its true colors, I have graet faith that this set will survive the test of time.
• Better Plastic – These boxes are rated as BPA, PVC, lead, and vinyl free.  This seems to be a hot topic in the plastic lunch box world.  So if this is something you are paying attention to, then these boxes deserve a look. 
• Compartmentalized – I like that this container has 3 separate compartments, or wells, for food.  This is what drew me to Lock ‘n Lock containers when I first started bento making.  For me, it helps me pack better.  Plus, I can ensure certain foods don’t touch without fussing with bento dividers and other accessories that tend to slow me down on the lunch packing front.  I’m very much a “I prefer my foods don’t touch” type.  I’ve done better with that since I started bento, but I still have my moments.  I find having separate sections is helpful to a beginning bento packer (or at least it was for me). 
• Four to a pack – The lunch boxes are sold at $13.95 for a pack of 4.  This equals approximately $3.50 per container.  When figuring this are hard plastic containers that are part of the touted better plastic, I don’t feel this is unreasonable, but not necessarily a bargain either.  What I’m trying to say is that the price seems comparative if I were to go out and purchase a hard plastic, better quality plastic food storage container.
• Larger size – The larger size holds bulky items quite well, especially salads and sandwiches.  However, the larger size can be a detriment as well, as you’ll read below.
• Compact size on my bento shelf – While the box itself is largish, the containers nest within themselves when stored in my cabinets.  This I find a GREAT thing.  One of my biggest complaints about the bento boxes I use is that they don’t stack on top of each other neatly.  They tend to slip and slide around my cabinet and fall over.  Ah well, the sacrifices one makes for one’s bento obsession.  However, the containers nest inside one another with the tops sitting above in a neat stack.  Very nice for the cabinet shelf.

Dislikes:

• Too large – This is my biggest dissappointment about this set.  The box is really too large for my general, day-to-day bento purposes.  The Easy Lunchbox website shows the dimensions of the box (9.48″ x 6.1″ x 2″); however, I could not find where the site shows how much food it holds either in cups or ml.  If you’re used to bento packing, you know that a tightly packed bento box equals roughly in calories the ml of the box (if you’re not packing highly fatty or fried foods).  My bento boxes run between 500ml to 600ml.  With this I feel full, but don’t feel like I’ve packed too much for lunch.  I can guarantee these are much high ml than my regular bento box.  I’d wager these are more like 900ml to 1000ml, great for the average bento box for a guy.  Not necessarily the greatest size for a less active woman every day.  I definitely see using this set in the future, especially when I want to pack a sandwich.  This box can fix my sandwich woes.  However, I don’t see using it all the time, everyday.
• Not listed as freezer safe – If these are freezer safe, I didn’t see where on the website it mentioned this.  If they are, I sure would like to know.  The way these are made, I kept thinking it would be awesome to come up with a freezer friendly bento meal.  One that I could freeze, then just graba nd bring to work with me.  How cool (hah! pun not intentional) would that be?!  Honestly, this isn’t a big problem, but the way these boxes are compartmentalized made me think of this idea.
• Four to a pack – For me, the four to a pack was a good thing and a bad thing.  Really, this might just be me being picky, but I was there was 1 more in the set for a total of 5 boxes (one for each day of a  standard work week).
• Lunch bag – The lunch cooler that was sent with the set baffles me.  It’s not included as a set with the 4 lunch boxes, which I wish it were.  I’d pay a flat fee for the lunch containers with bag, no problem.  But my cheapskate (at times) little heart wouldn’t order it on its own, espeically now that I know what it is like.  Also, I don’t quite get the size of the bag.  You can easily fit 3 of the containers, lids on, in the bag.  But not the fourth.  So it’s really too big (to my mind), to place just one container in there; there is alot of wasted space.  But if I want to pack a picnic lunch for 4 (I can see a mom doing this), I can’t get the fourth container in there.  The bag just doesn’t seem to quite mesh with the containers for me.  Now, one container in there leaves plenty of room to pack whole fruits, a beverage container, etc.  However, you’d have to pack quite a bit of that to use up the total space of that bag.  I found the bag a bit bulky and was the part of the set I liked the least.

Verdict:  Recommended

I do recommend the product for its sturdiness and compartmentalized features with one caveat: beware if you’re a woman packing bento for weight loss or similar health reasons.  This might not be the set for you, unless your plan is to eat a salad everyday for lunch.  In other words, its going to be hard to stick to your calorie count using this set.  Guys, kids with sandwiches for a school lunch, hearty eaters, or those that need to pack for a long day….this might be a great set for you.  Just be sure you have room to carry it with you since it isn’t overly small.  Another plus to the set is the creator’s website.  The Easy Lunchbox site has a nice gallery featuring pictures of these boxes in use.  It makes for great lunch ideas, especially for busy moms looking for quick and easy things to pack for a child’s lunch. 

I found the set similar to Laptop Lunches in the way that they are both great for bulky foods.  One day, I packed a salad in the large center well with a few turkey meatballs and other things on the side (darn I wish I would have taken the time to take a picture of that one).  This set worked quite well with that combination of foods.  I also liked the fact you received more than one box in the set.  Honestly, my lazy soul likes this.  Plus, I can pack several bento meals at once and refrigerate them for the coming days.  If I could change anything about the set, it would include 5 boxes, one for each day of the work week.  I can handle the larger than I’m used to size if there was just 1 more in the set.

Be the bento everyone!  If you decide to try out the Easy Lunchbox set let me know how you liked it.

Not Exactly Bento is not affiliated with Easy Lunchboxes other than receiving a set to review for this website.  No other compensation has been received and the above review reflects my honest feelings and thoughts on the product.  If you are interested in having your product tested and reviewed by Jenn of Not Exactly Bento, contact Jenn using the link in the menu bar under the About menu.