Chefs are thinking inside the bento box

People love the Japanese bento because the box’s compartments offer so many interesting tidbits -- meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and pickles, selected according to the season and presented with great artistry. Leave it to chefs in Los Angeles to bend the bento to their own inspiration, creating appealing packages of Asian-inspired fusion food. Here are three of the best. All can be packed to go.

Variety and value

The highlight of Andre Guerrero’s box at Max in Sherman Oaks is his signature Filipino lumpia. It comes with a terrific array of Asian fusion dishes such as black cod in a coconut-lemongrass sauce, barbecued shrimp in mandarin sauce and filet mignon with Chinese steak sauce.

The box is an outstanding value for $15.50, at Max, 13355 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 784-2915.

Fine takeout dining

Luxury ingredients and intricate preparation characterize the bento at Mako restaurant in Beverly Hills.

One day’s box included thinly sliced New Zealand kanpachi sashimi and yellowtail sushi, soft-shell crab and a juicy morsel of lamb shank in five-spice Port wine sauce on top of finely cut grilled vegetables. The sushi rice roamed far from tradition with ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes, ginger and shiitake braised in sweetened soy sauce. There also were multicolored pickles made from beets.

Chef Makato Tanaka changes the box daily. The price is $29.50 at Mako restaurant, 225 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 288-8338.

Pick any main

You choose the main dish at Michelia, a Euro-Asian bistro in Beverly Hills. We selected chef Kimmy Tang’s Vietnamese curry containing shrimp and bright orange yam in a coconut-milk sauce. The side dishes included a deep-fried imitation crab claw and rice topped with black sesame seeds.

The box, a lunch special, is $8.95 at Michelia, 8738 W. 3rd St., Beverly Hills. (310) 276-8288.