biandang

From Taiwanese Mandarin 便當 / 便当 (biàndāng). Doublet of bento.

biandang (plural biandang or biandangs)

1. A Taiwanese lunchbox.
   • 2009 May, Amy C. Liu, “Biandang: Traditional Taiwanese lunchboxes”, in Taiwan A to Z: The Essential Cultural Guide, Taipei: Community Services Center, published November 2009, →ISBN, page 26:

     Biandang culture is a unique aspect of Taiwanese culture. Rather than going out to eat during office lunch hours or chucking down a sandwich at your office desk, next time join your Taiwanese colleagues for a biandang at the office eating area.

   • 2010 December 10, David Chen, “RESTAURANTS: Heyuan 和園川味經濟小吃”, in Taipei Times‎^[1], Taipei, archived from the original on 29 June 2018, page 14:

     Heyuan is more enjoyable with a companion or two, but if dining alone, plate meals or a biandang (便當) can be had for NT$80, and there is a long list of fried rice and stewed dishes with rice from NT$65 to NT$90.

   • 2013 February, Chang Chiung-fang, translated by Geof Aberhart, “Selling Nostalgia: Taiwan’s ‘Railway Biandang’”, in Taiwan Panorama‎^[2], Taipei, archived from the original on 21 May 2025:

     How much do Taiwanese love railway biandang? Enough that for many years, the number-one complaint to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) was that “the biandang keep selling out before I can get one!”

   • 2014, Megan Elias, “Classic Lunch Fare and Cultural Importance in the United States and Around the World”, in Lunch: A History (The Meals Series), Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 49:

     In Taiwan, the biandang, a term adapted from the Japanese bento to describe a premade lunch box, has been very popular since before the Second World War. Biandangs are closely associated with rail travel because they are sold in train stations as a whole meal that can be purchased quickly and eaten neatly on board.

   • 2016 September 10, “Retro Taiwan lunchboxes cash in on train nostalgia”, in Arab Times, Al Shuwaikh, Al Asimah, →OCLC, page 22:

     “Like our ticket prices, our biandang prices haven’t increased for many years,” [Michael] Lee said. […] “The more inaccessible a place is, the more there is a need for biandang,” she [Wang Jue-yao] said.