Lunch With Beth at Onigilly Express

It was a nice day, and Beth needed to get back to work quickly after lunch, so we took a walk over to 4 Embarcadero Center,  picked up a quick lunch at Onigilly Express and ate at a table outside.

Tea Time Adventures has had a long love affair with Onigilly, from Street Food Festival Booth to their pop-ups and then on to their brick and mortar store on Kearney street. They always come through with delicious onigiri and yummy side dishes. Try them out and you'll love them too.

J.K. chose the Edamame Set with
salmon, hijiki and unagi rice balls

Beth's choice was the Miso Soup Set
with an Unagi rice ball

Give me sushi or Give me death

I think there is a saying that "You can't miss what you don't know." Anyhow, I was thinking along these lines today as I stopped in at the Nijiya Market to get myself a Japanese themed picnic lunch. I was born and raised in Kansas, where we ate catfish, bluegill, crappie, whatever came from the pond. It wasn't until college that I ate some fish that came from the ocean. Now I've been living on the West Coast for around 8ish years and I would totally miss Sushi, even good quality salmon, if I lived anywhere but along a coastline!

Okay, this photo is a bit dated, but I get something to go about once a month!

For lunch today I got Seaweed salad, Takoyaki, an Unagi "bowl" and a chocolate cream puff. This only cost me $11! Price is another reason I love this Japanese Market because when you cut out the overhead of the restaurant business, you get great quality foods at a much lower price. Not to mention that you get to watch butterflies and bees in the grass while you eat your picnic in the park. 

Seaweed Salad, a heaping portion.

Cream Puffs are a very popular dessert at Nijiya.

Some things have changed in the to go section of the market since my last visit. One thing I am happy about is my favorite Takoyaki, which is new and improved. They used to be little triangley dome shaped things, but now they are hearty round balls with 2-3 pieces of octopus in them, not just one. A definite improvement without raising the cost!

Takoyaki comes with mayo on the side for "dipping" and bonito flakes sprinkled all around.

I chose the Unagi tray instead of the Unagi sushi because they cost the same price, but I get 3 more pieces of Unagi in the tray! YUM. That's a deal I can't refuse. It's a little strange that I hate the idea of eel when it's alive, but love the taste when it's cooked and served Japanese style. (I have never butchered an animal personally, but I have gutted a fish. I was not so good at it. I have also defeathered chickens-they do fly without their heads!) The sauce used on the eel is so very umami, and when you add a little bit of pickled ginger and/or wasabi it just hits the spot.

Unagi with rice and egg. Pickled Ginger and wasabi on the side.

Nijiya is actually a chain Supermarket, so maybe there is one nearer to you than you think. I visited a branch in L.A. and it had tasty seafood/sushi to go, the main difference was you could see the cooks making it in the back room! The market in SF has a special offer on the 29th of every month when they give customers 20% off most meats (excluding ham and bacon, I think). I got a nice piece of duck breast to cook for dinner (splurge!) and it was quite tasty. Are there any foods you miss? Something that just isn't quite right, or you can't find? I recently went to a Thai place that served Crab Rangoon. I guess I was always looking in the wrong spot, checking out the Chinese menus, because back in Kansas, Crab Rangoon was a Chinese food thing. I don't care what cuisine made them up though, cause I'm just happy I don't have to miss them anymore.*

I leave you with this last picture. The story of this picture comes about because San Francisco passed a bag law. This law costs consumers 10 cents for each bag 'purchased' from the business. The 10 cents goes to the business to offset the cost of making sure their bags follow the new guidelines of being reusable, recyclable or compostable. If/when you bring your own bags you can avoid this cost entirely. This 10 cent reminder is sometimes a shock to people, but since I have been trying to reduce my bag usage (although if I have to start buying cat litter bags, I'll be sad) I often had my own bag before the law went into effect (and I'm happy to see it remind others to be more aware of what they use).

At the Nijiya Market in Japantown, they don't give you a bag if you don't want one, but the day I shopped they used produce bags to secure your food. I was happy to have a bag for my duck breast (just in case, since it was raw), but it seemed they wanted to stick all my picnic items into separate bags. I appreciate the thoughtfulness and creativity in getting around the law, however, I'll just continue to use less plastic whenever possible. Do you carry your own bags to reuse when shopping? Or just go along with the consumerist society we've become and take a bag for your one item? Just curious....

*The Crab Ragoon doesn't taste the same though. Too much crab and not enough cream cheese! hahaha

Mel's Tea of the Day

Thursdays tea is a traditional Green tea served in a warmed porcelain mug from Temari a Japanese restaurant in Berkely. 

 

Brick and Mortar Onigilly

We've been enjoying Onigilly onigiri for several years, visiting their food cart and booths at various events from Off the Grid to the SF Street Food Festival. We really admire the way they've made their business become reality! The idea is straightforward and simple, yet we can see how it has evolved since we ate our first rice ball standing in line a couple years ago at the Street Food Festival waiting to try the dish next door, and now it's turned into a lovely cozy restaurant on Kearny street helping FiDi workers get something tasty and healthy for lunch. (open 11am-3pm)

The space is bright and inviting with a few small tables for eating in, and a bench for people waiting on to- go orders. Angela was a bit paranoid about the line when she rode up on her bike, but it turns out that once you are in the doorway, you're next to order. It makes total sense to put the register next to the door, which allows customers inside room to move around instead of fighting for elbow room with those waiting to order. Props on this floor plan! However, it also makes the line look long, even though our wait to order was short. Food delivery time was quick. You can definitely make lunch here happen in under an hour and not feel rushed.

They have a couple different order options now. Our group all got the "Onigillly" which is three rice balls with salad and some edamame on the side. A full meal. They have onigiri flights to choose from or you can create your own. Other patrons had the bowls which looked delicious; they arrive with salad or rice featuring the onigiri toppings of your choice.

Angela ordered her own set of 3 with a side of seaweed salad. Unagi, Chicken Teriyaki and Salmon graced her plate. The Unagi was savory and tender, the sauce is her favorite. Flavorful organic chicken is put to good use with Teriyaki and rice surrounded by the savory seaweed wrapper. Gently cooked Salmon and rice paired with homemade pickled ginger (ooo, Swap idea!) was a delightful taste sensation.The seaweed salad was the perfect complement to western leafy greens. The portions were generous (perhaps slightly more so than the food cart?).

JK got the Seafood Duper trio which featured the Unagi (broiled freshwater eel with sweet soy), Tempra [sic] Shrimp (honey soy dipped tempura fried shrimp) and Kani (Canadian Snow Crab meat mixed with lemon agave aioli) Onigiri. Unfortunately she didn't realize that this had aioli, which seriously detracted from the taste of the crab for her, as JK does not like mayonnaise. Next time she will order  two shrimp or two unagi or maybe something entirely different for her third onigiri. This plate also had salad with Miso Dressing, edamame and house pickled ginger.

Beth enjoyed these three Onigiri; Bacon (cooked bacon with garlic butter, sake and chili sauce), Hijiki Seaweed (soy braised seaweed strings with shredded carrots) and Miso Tuna Salad (cooked wild albacore mixed with miso aioli; the miso didn't help this one, even though Beth likes mayonnaise), along side her salad, ginger and edamame.

Right now Onigilly is still in it's "soft opening" phase and the three of us each received surveys as first time customers. When we return and bring the survey they will give $2 off our order. A good deal! Onigilly is choosing to show their roots with pride by displaying their story as art on the walls. The actual art is pretty interesting, too.

Do you enjoy rice? What's your favorite topping?  Would you take rice balls for lunch? Onigiri are quite easy to make at home, but it's nice to eat out and enjoy some professional cooking so try out Onigilly today or tomorrow. Considering their business smarts they should be around a long time.

UPDATE: Onigilly has posted the changes they chose to make after reading their customer surveys and taking the  comments into consideration. You can check out their new and improved menu online, or just stop by the store! I'm hungry just thinking about it. Yum!

UPDATE:  April 2013
Happy Hour Visit

Sake Sangria FTW!

Edamame with a delish garlic sauce!

Dead Soldiers

Octopus Takoyaki! Hot crispy outside with fishy bonito flakes sprinkled on top.

Who can resist clams in a bowl?

Golden Beet Salad. The pink stuff tasted amazing.

Unagi handroll, well, they call it a 'taco'. We call it real tasty.

The happy hour menu at Onigilly is seasonal, but if you're up to date by following twitter/facebook, they let you know what's new in the resto. The Sake Sangria is a treat and something you can make at home for sushi parties. Great inspiration to the home entertainer. Our favorite twist was the garlic edamame. If you want a happy hour snack, get them. The service was great too! Onigilly is here to stay. Yay!