Oms/b

WOW… didn’t know this one-​of-​a-​kind place closed. Their Japanese rice balls were hands down the best in all of NYC. But fear not, I have another place to recommend to you rice ball lovers that, while not as good as Oms/​b, comes in as a close second.
Just walk a short distance away, to Menchanko-​Tei, at 131 E. 45^th. Not only do they have a very nice, traditional menu with a more than serviceable bowl of shoyu ramen, but two very good rice balls as well, one filled with salmon, the other with traditional pickled plum. I always go home with two of each for a quick and filling lunch, along with an order of Korean kimchee to go with them. Yum!!!

Well this is heartbreaking…
I just found out my favorite ongiri place is now closed and replaced by Café Zaiya… I really hope they re-​open at a new location because no one makes onigiris like they do. I miss those delicious balls of rice warped in seaweed already :(

So sad, shortly after Hurricane Sandy they closed their doors. They had a sign on the door that said they were closing early at 2 PM on 11÷2÷12. I thought they were just closing early due to lack of customers from the Hurricane. I inquired and they told me they were closing for good. They said they’re hopeful to open a new location in the city but no details or plans as of now.
I purchased my last 2 rice balls and salad, handed over my frequent buyer card and said goodbye

OMG! I can’t believe I paid so much for a rice ball! (or should I say… A SMALL BALL OF RICE!). I went with an open mind, empty stomach, and all the good reviews in my head. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! I can’t think of a reason to come back… so sad…

Oms/​b, how can you be so pretty and taste so nasty?
You have such cute storefront and your rice balls has so many different colours; yellow, green and even pink. I just could not resist get that pretty pink one:
Yukari-​Plum
— Shiso leaf mixed with white sesame wrapped in soy paper topped by imported Kishu plum
— tasted like it have been there for hours. everything is just a soggy mess…
— I couldn’t even finish that.
Now I want to go to Japan for the oh so tasty Omusbi!

A Japanese place run by actual Japanese people — yay! I usually go to Café Zaiya for my simple spicy tuna rice balls, but I stopped here one day and I’m definitely coming back.
I got the special of the day ($ 7.25) — 3 rice balls, miso soup, and an appetizer. It doesn’t look like a lot of food, but it fills a little Asian like me right up! :) I got the spicy tuna, beef curry, and hijiki balls and a tiny serving of spinach and sesame seeds. It was an awesome combination of tastes. The spicy fish taste from the spicy tuna roll, the curry taste from the curry beef ball, and the sweet taste from the hijiki — my mouth was in heaven. The rice is fresh and the perfect texture. Definitely not your normal wrapped-​in-​seaweed boring rice balls.
The employees are super nice.
I shall definitely be back to try more.

Pros:
Great Price…
The employee are very kind & helpful…
The food are excellent…
Nice seating arrangements (simple but nice)
Cons:
No credit card option (you must bring cash with you)…
Just one udon noodles selection

I come here when i find myself missing Japanese food and Japanese service, which is quite frequently.
I mostly come here for the Ochazuke (It’s a delicious soup consisted of: green tea, japanese flavorings, and delicious, savory toppings, along with cooked rice.) I’m obsessed with plum, so I always get the plum one.
My favorite rice ball is definitely Ume (plum) Onigiri, but I’m a bit bias towards the plum so the other flavors don’t really stand a chance. I’ve definitely tried more than 75% of their riceballs and they’re all «totemo oishidesu» (aka. very delicious!)
The women behind the counter are incredibly pleasant and nice! I heart onigiri so Oms is 5 stars to me! It may be pricey, but I think it’s worth it!
Side Note: Do not bring a big party of people here if you plan to dine-​in. It’s incredibly tiny and you won’t have space for everyone.

The rice balls here are really something. They serve the kind of food portions that would only fill up a tiny Japanese woman who fits easily into size 2 dresses.
That said whenever I go here I buy like 18 bucks worth of rice balls and am still hungry. Still, their rice balls are so good, especially the salmon roe and the green tea sea salt shrimp ones.
They’re a bit pricey for what you are given. Not over the top pricey like 11 Madison. More like the kind of pricey that would make a dirty hipster cringe. Like when said dirty hipster pays $ 111 for a pair of jeans before finding out that said pair of jeans are «vintage» in which case dirty hipster thinks said jeans are a bargain.
Still I suppose a meal from here is not enough to sustain a dirty hipster long enough to complain very long at an OWS event.
Being gainfully employed, for me its a nice little treat to hit up once in a while for lunch just to have something different. It’s ok though since I’m not stupid enough to spend a $ 100 on a used pair of Levi’s.

Oh, I wish we had one of these in DC. The few (usually Korean-​owned) Japanese restaurants here have usually never heard of onigiri, let alone added it to their menu.
I ordered a shiozake onigiri and fell in love. The rice was perfect, steaming hot and fluffy, with just the right amount of salted salmon in the middle. We also tried the bonito and spicy shrimp ones, which were just as great.
Definitely going back the next time I’m in NYC.

Dear Rice balls at Oms/​b,
I wanted to love you. or even just like you, but I’m left a little disappointed with how the last 1 hour of my life just went down. I just ate you approximately 30 minutes ago after traveling .7 miles from work.
I was incredibly excited to make the journey as I had omusubi before at Sunny Blue in Santa Monica. (
)
I wanted you to be my new Sunny Blue in the eastern time zone but you were not…
You lacked the freshness I so want when things like seafood are involved in my meal. I was a little creeped out that some of your rice ball friends were just chillen out of the cooler as part of the «Special set» deal.
I wish we could be friends but I don’t see that happening unless you make a few improvements.
–ss
Anyway, The ratio of rice to filling needs improvement. I see why oms/​b would pre-​make this little gems for the lunch rush but it really just makes the nori a little soggy. It is pricey and you will need to bring cash. I had the spicy tuna, lobster salad and wasabi shrimp. Surprisingly, the lobster salad was the only one with a spicy kick. hmmm…

I knew this one would be a little tricky, and I was right. The very tiny shop provides no room for a line to form, which forces you to stand by the entrance where both people coming in and going out would inevitably bump into you. The rice balls are tasty, but at the cost of 2.5 each, the miso soup is a bit watered down but comes with cabbage in addition to the traditional seaweed and tofu.
Tip: Cash only.

I stopped by on Wednesday around the peak of lunchtime and was thinking of getting the Special Set which includes 3 riceballs, appetizer, and soup. Oms/​b is actually a nice small café, extremely clean which is always a good thing. There wasn’t anyone in the store which was a bit odd but the girl behind the counter took my order right away. Their Special Set varies each day and no, you don’t get to choose which 3 rice balls you want. But you do get to choose is the soup, I had a choice between miso soup or chowder.
My lunch meal consist of Spicy Tuna, Wasabi Shrimp, and Miso Sesame Rice Croquette along with some sesame covered asparagus and miso soup. I have to say, I really enjoyed the meal. The rice balls were the size of my palm and 3 of them definitely filled me up. As you eat, the rice balls starts to get a tad bit dry, that’s where the soup kicks in and works just perfectly with the blobs of rice. The best would be the Miso Sesame Rice Croquette, fried rice ball with a simple miso sesame paste on top. The fried rice ball was extremely crunchy and fresh and I liked how the rice was held compactly together when fried.
I’m determined to try all their flavors of rice balls. It definitely wouldn’t fill you up if you’re a big eater but it’s a great midday snack.
NOTE: CASH ONLY

This place specializes in Japanese rice balls. They have many different varieties. with all different kinds of meats and/​or veggies in them. It is an interesting novelty, but overall, the food and value is just so-​so.
I had their $ 7.25 special, where you can choose 3 rice balls (or croquette) with miso soup. I tried the pickled radish rice ball, fried chicken rice ball, and a spicy ground beef croquette. The items tasted relatively fresh — much better than rice balls in Japanese supermarkets which are often very dry. However, it seems that they are very stingy with the fillings. The fried chicken rice ball had a thin, tiny piece of chicken that was about 1 inch by 0.5 inch and about 95% rice. The croquette was the best of the three, with a rich spicy flavor to it.
The meal overall is not very filling either. This place is only worth trying as an interesting light snack.

Sore wa sugoi desu né!
Omusubi Rice is my kind of snack or light meal. One Salmon at $ 2.00 and one Pickled Plum at $ 2.00 foots both the bill and my stomach which were made fresh on the spot as I waited. Being exposed to Japanese culture and food from a former chapter in my adult life, I am no stranger to Omusubi. Take me to TOKYO, please!
Oms/​b is a quaint café of traditional Japanese Omusubi in various genre of vegetarian and non-​vegetarian. Green Tea is served along with dessert of Mochi ice cream, Daifuku, Udon noodle soup, and my all-​time favorite Bento Box. Asian food and culture always fits my realm best as oppose to Western food. Modern décor with a touch of Japanese house warming feel to add to one’s dinning in or takeout experience. Copies of «Shukan NY Seikatsu,» Japan’s NY Weekly Newspaper is available for purchase. A loyal reward card is available where it is my ticket to authentic Japanese cuisine.
While waiting for my order a vulgar boy scream with no etiquette proper educated manners to the associate «Hey lady!!!» to demand of his request. The father reprimanded to his crass child «that’s not how to do it» who subsequently also in a callous and nastily demanded a takeout carton and bag «Give me a bag and a container so I can eat the rest to go!» Furthermore, this same vulgar boy block the single door during my exit as I repeated «excuse me» numerous times only to go into deaf ears. Aija, such vulgar and tactless, uneducated and no etiquette which I hope they should never travel to Japan as this behavior is extremely crass and incriminating vulgar.
WA SUGOI!

Yum… stumbled on this spot during my lunch break.
Tasty & inexpensive rice balls and sushi. The service was pleasant & quick. I had the Chili Shrimp Rice ball (err…2 cause they were so scrummy) and then had my typical California Roll (also satisfying).
Will defo stop by again as the Shrimp Tempura Rice Ball seemed to be calling my name…

This hole in the wall serves very good and delish riceballs, that are actually rings with the meat on top. 3 rice balls are about 10 bucks and you will stay hungry.
They do taste deli-​sh and you pick from a glass window the flavor/​meat you want. Also they bring only 6 at a time so the freshness factor is there.
seating for about 6 people and standing about 3 but its a cute place to run for a quick byte.

I’ve been wanting to try this place forever, and I finally had a chance during New Year’s Eve when I was touring with friend. We just missed the lunch special but got a Set A.
1. Shrimp Popcorn Onigiri — very delicious, kinda hard to eat because of the lettuce wrap. It sorta fell apart after a few bites.
2. Football Rice — Your inarizushi with flavored rice. I love inarizushi!
3. Hijiki — Seaweed and edamame beans mixed with rice, wrapped in yellow soy sheet. Surprising flavorful and good.
4. Miso soup — freshly made.
The rice overall is perfectly cooked: sticky but not mushy. Rice is not boring at all when you know how to cook it. It doesn’t get 5 stars from me because of the hours though (I can’t never get to it before it closes since I live and work so far away!).

I LOOOOOOOOVE me some rice balls and this place has GREAT rice balls at a great price! They have so many to choose from it’s hard to decide and it’s served in a cute little bamboo boat/​plate which makes the experience even more fun!
It is a tiny little café so there is not much seating but a great place to get a quick bite with a friend. But as many foods go, fresh is always best. Some of the rice balls that are sitting in the glass case, although still has great flavors!, tends to be a bit dry from sitting out.
CASH ONLY!

For a shop that is trying to attract patronage based on a niche, Oms/​b barely does its job. While it boasts a nice variety of udon and roll options to complement their featured rice balls, the quality of the rice balls is where the problem lies.
$ 9 for Set A gets you three rice balls and a small (really small) soup with a choice of either clam chowder or miso.
Pass on the clam chowder, which felt like putting globs of (clotted) cream in your mouth.
The wasabi shrimp barely had 2 or 3 cashew-​sized pieces of shrimp, and the wasabi mayo simply could not be tasted.
The eel rice ball is tasty two-​biter, but the rice was definitely overwhelmed with soy sauce flavor.
The fried chicken rice ball did come with a bit more chicken than I expected after having the first two. The chicken though, was dry and not crispy.
Lastly, all three of the rice balls were served with temperature somewhere between lukewarm and cold.
I hold out little hope for the other rice balls that I have not yet tried. But so far, these pose no competition to the ones at Café Zaiya and Chiyoda Sushi.