If I had reviewed this place earlier, when I was completely obsessed with the spam rice ball, I think that I would give this place 5 stars... but after visiting several times and trying the spam multiple (or maybe too many) times, I've decided to bump down my review. First, this place is cash only as everyone has said. Prices do not include tax. Sometimes you will see workers making the rice balls fresh, but they are not served to you that way. Make sure you come early because the shelves are usually empty and not restocked if you come later in the day. I've only tried the spam rice ball, which is about $3.80 or so for one.. which I find to be quite expensive contrary to popular opinion.. I mean, if I order 4 that's already $15 compared to the full course ramen meal I could be ordering across the food court. Granted, I would feel satisfied after eating 2 spam rice balls but .. really, is it not a little overpriced for a stack of rice, a piece of spam and egg? IDK. The price is not a problem for me as much as the recent discovery of the overwhelming smell of saran wrap everytime I enjoy my rice ball (which is ultimately the push for giving up my cravings for this place). The rice, as I've come to realize, is also unseasoned which leaves me unimpressed. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - spam musubi & grilled eel - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Good, HUGE onigiri. Yummy fresh noms. Friendly staff. Very cheap!! This stand is located in Mitsuwa Marketplace right between the food court area and supermarket. Perfect for a snack or get multiple for a meal! Easy to save for a meal later too. I got the Bomb and Eel because they were popular, and they were delicious. I think simple ones would be just as tasty!! All are HUGE and look cute. Get this instead of the premade ones you find in the supermarket stands!!! -- The Bomb: : Contains salmon, spicy tuna, and kombu. Not the prettiest LOL but good. -- Eel: : Very good too!! lol Overall REALLY worth and yummy. Will definitely come back to try all the flavors!! read more

This place always has a line so you need to go early as possible havent tried everything but the salmon was so good i have to go back again. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - The Salmon Is Great defintely going back and exploring other next time . - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Rice balls always taste delicious, but these seem to be larger, and a lot cheaper than your usual. I ordered 8 rice balls to share, and they were more than enough amongst the 8 of us! We cut them into pieces and got a sampling of each one. The Bomb was our favorite one, next to the Shiso one. Must grab one for the road! Enjoy! read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Rice Balls - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Salmon is too fishy, overloaded with bland rice and massive salt bomb on salmon. Took one bite threw away. They said this was a most popular one. Spicy tuna was no better. I'm glad I didn't get anything pricey. read more

When I got there it was already evening. My favorite topping, Mentaiko, was not available. So I purchased salmon omusubi. I typically like omusubi to be fresh and warm. I still like Omusubi Gombei's premade omusubi. The rice is high quality and the way they shape omusubi make the good fluffiness and taste. I wish I bought more than one kind. Nest time I will try other toppings as well. read more

It was my turn on line and the employee who was a Tall skinny Asian guy working the cashier told me to order first towards the middle. Then he proceeds to skip over me and goes to people behind me. I believe he did not realize I was in the front of the line assuming i skipped the line. I never been here before so I didn't realize we had to order at the middle and not at the cashier area. read more

Inexpensive Fast Delicious And Healthy First Store From This Chain In The U.S. At the site of the former Italian Tomato Omusubi Gonbei specializes in onigiri, a rice ball dating back to the 11th-century. Offered in over a dozen variety's the rice was tender cooked to perfection and fillings delicious. We split six different onigiri all very good and a bargain (under $2.00). Some have a half sheet of toasted nori around the outside, others just a strip, while a third uses nori and a shiso leaf which has a slight minty flavor, the plain has no wrapper. Also called omusubi or musubi, onigiri is what the sandwich is to western culture, a quick convenient way to eat on the go. Genmai is brown rice the others are white rice, I believe if you ask you can have genmai with any of the fillings offered (the rice is organic) Below is a partial listing, pardon my Japanese. Konbu Genmai (cooked and flavored kelp) Takana Genmai (pickled vegetable) Sake Genmai (cooked salmon) Shrimp Tempura Musubi (shrimp tempura) Shio-musubi (salted omusubi) Okaka (bonito with soy sauce) Hidaka-Konbu (cooked kelp) Wafu-Tuna (cooked Japanese style tuna, spicy or just mayo) Tori-mayo (chicken with mayo) Ume-zukushi (pickled plum) Yatta! I love this stuff so much, I even make it at home. read more

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The onigiris lacked a lot of flavor. The rice just didn't have the right seasoning and the fillings were abysmal at best. I felt like all I had was rice. On the spicy tuna, I might gotten one tiny tiny bite of meat and then the rest was just plain rice. For the price and quality, the trade offs aren't there. read more

Ahhhh Mitsuwa food court is looking a bit fresh after being away from Jersey! Omusubi wasn't there when I used to come but it is a great addition. I had the salmon onigiri and eel onirigi and karaage fried chicken. All delicious. The onigiri had well seasoned rice and a good portion of filling. The rice balls were quite big. The fried chicken was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. And the prices on these for like $2-3 can't be beat. Came right back after eating those and ordered a shiso onigiri just cause the rice was so good. Didn't even eat the shiso leaf... I'll be back if I'm in the mood. Great food at a great price but it's simple. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Karaage fried chicken - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

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I had two rice balls for about $6. The first was the shrimp tempura ball, which is wrapped in toasted nori and really tasty, and I'm not a huge seaweed fan! The sticky style rice was perfect and flavourful and the soy sauce inside the ball was a nice touch. I would recommend ordering the shrimp tempura ball. The second ball I had was also wrapped in nori and called the bomb ( spicy tuna and salmon). I did not like this roll because I thought the salmon tasted fishy. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Tempura ball on top and bomb ball in the bottem - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Omusubi Gonbei is a pretty solid option in the Mitsuwa food court if you're not looking for a full meal. Onigiris are fresh, portions are substantial, and prices are great (CASH ONLY). There is a good assortment of flavors. I tried the spicy chicken (fried chicken, Sriracha, honey, mayo, peanuts) and the shiso (rice mixed with blend of sesame, seaweed, dried fish, and a shiso leaf) -I enjoyed the shiso onigiri. The simplicity of it brought out the flavors and the texture of the rice plus shiso leaf. It might not suit everyone's palate but I would highly recommend it to any shiso lovers out there. -The spicy chicken onigiri was okay. I enjoyed the crunch from the peanuts but the chicken was underwhelming and mushy from sitting with the sauce. It seems like the fried chicken would be better off on its own than in a rice ball. Both rice balls had too much rice for the amount of filling BUT the rice was well seasoned and very delicious. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Spicy chicken onigiri and shiso onigiri - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Best onigiri in NJ! Omusubi Gonbei sells delicious Japanese rice balls with various types of filling. I went on a Saturday night, and they had already run out of the the Bomb and the Spicy Bomb, along with a few other items I wanted to try. I ended up ordering the Bento Box combo ($8.55), which varies in price depending on what onigiri you choose. I went for the salmon and the spicy tuna rice balls. The set also comes with edamame, onigiri, pickled radishes, and karaage. These rice balls are HUGE and very filling. They do, however, come with a lot of rice when compared to the filling - albeit rice that is seasoned to perfection. The filling is also good and not too salty, unlike a lot of onigiri I've tried. The karaage, which are crispy, lightly battered pieces of juicy and boneless dark meat chicken, is simply amazing. One thing to note is that these rice balls are not made in front of you unless you go earlier in the day. By the time I ordered, which was around 6:30, they had already premade all the rice balls with whatever ingredients they had left, and placed them in the display shelf. Although they're still warm, I recommend going earlier in the day to experience a wider selection of rice balls that are freshly made. read more

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OH-NEE-KKI-dEE is probably the closest way I can spell the pronunciation of onigiri, which is Japanese for rice balls. Literally though it means something close to "Oh! Grasp!" which is confusing at first. The Korean version of rice balls are called "Joo-mok-bap" which literally means "fist rice" because you make the rice balls by taking the rice and crushing them into balls as you fist your hands. Somewhere between these two random language lessons you get the gist. There is rice and you must grasp it! In our case to eat them. What a yummy task. Okay, now when it comes to onigiri there are levels (Kinda like how you have microwave pizza, chain food pizzas, mom & pop shop pizzas, gourmet pizzas ect). First level you have convenience store level onigiris. These are wrapped in a manufactured plastic wrap that are designed to help you open it while maintaining it's shape. This is not only to package the rice ball but to separate the seaweed wrap because if it touches the rice, it will get soggy. So to keep it crisp, it's wrapped in these plastic pieces that separate the two layers. These are in a triangle shape and are flat on two sides and about an inch thick. They are usually found in convenience stores around the refrigerated section. To me this is the entry level onigiri. Microwave dinner level. Then you have the next level which is prepared that day by someone in the expectation that it will be consumed that day. Think of your favorite local pizza spot. Now just like how everyone makes their pizza different, but it's the same food over and over, lots of places make onigiri different but it's essentially the same thing. Rice. Balls. Hit or miss, but definitely better than microwave pizza level. And now you have gourmet onigiri. Top shelf yo. This is what Omusubi Gonbei is to me. It's prepared in batches that same day and even though it's just rice they make theirs in a way that has me coming back for more and is satisfying to eat. I haven't had an onigiri that I like more so far in the few years I've been eating here. Theirs is different in shape and size as well, since it is not a flat triangle. It's more like a 2D triangle angrily exploded into a bigger sized 4D figure. The first time I ate it, I was like "Okay, cool." The next time I was still slightly dismissive, "Okay, it's a lot bigger than convenience store onigiri but it's just all extra rice. Who needs all that extra rice?" But here is where it got me. I found that I wanted to eat it again and other onigiri whether cheaper or more expensive, just didn't cut it for me. Also yes there is excessive rice, but I find that I always eat all of it. If you don't like Onigiri, then four stars or not, you're not going to like this place. Onigiri has it's own flaws and difficulties as a food. It's a ball of rice and so food that is in the middle can get dry or soggy ect. This place doesn't solve those problems, but it works with it the best it can. Don't expect crispy, but instead softer flavored pieces. For example I love the shrimp tempura, but it's not crispy. The tempura softens in the onigiri, but it still tastes really good. Regretfully, the one real con of this place is that some of the onigiri can be DRY. And I think this is something that could be solved with a bit of tweaking in the recipe. Or even if they were to add a sauce on the side that you can dip your onigiri would help AND elevate the food. My favorites are the shrimp tempura and the eel. Sometimes I get the salmon because it's cheap and it does taste good but it can be dry. The spicy tuna is nice, but is also dry even though it's a mayo type of mixture which is surprising. My sister loves the spam one. She says it is actually better than you would expect it to be, considering spam makes all things taste great as it is. The spicy chicken is also dry to me haha. Just a heads up. I can't say it's the BEST onigiri ever because a venue that would create it fresh right then and there, could/would have better ones. It would resolve the crispy/dry issues. But I don't know any place that does that AND is better in taste, so Omusubi Gonbei, the crown goes to you! I'll be on the lookout for something that is better but till then, you reign in the rice ball kingdom!! read more

Rice balls made by expert hands, tried and true. Everything is delicious here from the eel (omg) to the shrimp tempura (OMG). But I highly suggest you step up your game and order the BOMB--a monstrosity of flavor and a force to be reckoned with. This place is my first stop AND my last stop every time we stop at Mitsuwa because no matter how many times we make this at home, how good our ingredients are, or how many YouTube tutorials we watch, we CANNOT make rice balls as good as Omusubi Gonbei!! read more

My go to spot whenever I am here at Mitsuwa. Freshly made since its so busy. My favorite is the Spam w/sweet egg omelette and the spicy fried chicken onigiri read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Spam w/sweet egg omelette musubi - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

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They don't make their onigiri to order so by the time you eat it, it becomes cold. We got the salmon because it is supposedly the most popular one and I didn't like it. The salmon was overcooked and dry and they don't even give you that much of it. I could get a way better tasting onigiri at Yaya Tea Garden for the same price! Would recommend skipping this stand. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Onigiri - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Employees here can make inconsistently sized onigiris. Ordered the Bomb today and it was 70% rice vs. 30% filling. The "Bomb" onigiri consists of salmon, spicy tuna, and spicy seaweed and costs double the price of their normal onigiri. The filling ratio is usually 50% rice to 50% filling due to the difference in price and size. Luckily, the miso soup they served was delicious and I was able to finish my rice ball. Hope this filling ratio will not be the norm from now on. 4 stars for the soup and service. They also now accept credit cards with their new point of sale system. read more

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding how onigiri works, but I was tremendously disappointed in my salmon onigiri (about $2) and I actually wished that I had gotten one from the Mitsuwa grocery store instead. I guess the upside from getting it here is that it's fresh(er?), but the amount of fish inside was really meager. It was a whole lot of rice and very little fish -- just a sliver, really -- so despite the portion I was let down. I probably won't be trying this place again. read more

For fast, friendly service and a tasty snack, try some of the rice balls here (Although I usually get ridiculously full off of two of them.) They are very reasonably priced as well. There's such a large variety of flavors that will suit everyone's tastes. They even make them in front of you (behind a glass pane, of course). The salmon is probably my favorite, it's just enough salt to salmon to rice ratio. Probably the best salmon rice ball I've had that wasn't home made. Add to that the fact that (good) rice balls are hard to come by in NY/NJ, this has become my new favorite at the food court. read more

It's hard for me to say no to onigiri. I mean, rice balls with tasty filling wrapped in seaweed, what's not to like? The salmon & fried chicken onigiri are good. The salmon was a little too salty, as salmon onigiri usually is prepared that way. Each rice ball is rather large, but mine were oddly misshapen. That's ok, they still taste good. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Salmon Onigiri - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

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Located in Mitsuwa is this incredible freshly made Japanese rice balls! Hey have so many types of fillings & flavors! I loved the spicy tuna, spam musubi, eel, & salmon one. Def a great snack to eat there for to bring home! read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Spicy tuna, salmon, eel rice rice balls - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Ordered the eel rice ball. Rice ball was slightly larger than three fingers. Eel was the size of a fingernail.

I never tried this place until this year but I've been going to Mitsuwa for almost a decade. I'm not sure why I decided to stop by here instead of Santouka but it just peaked my curiosity. The rice balls here are good but keep in mind that this is very heavy. If you're looking to get something fast, the line here is usually short. I'd stick with the salmon or spicy tuna choices, anything fried is going to be very soggy. The rice to filling ratio is way off though. I tried their fried chicken which is probably my favorite thing here. I know some people have said it was greasy but the last times I've had it, it wasn't. It's all dark meat too which makes it pretty tender. If you do happen to go to Santouka also, here's an idea. Dunk it in the soup and eat it like that. I thought it was pretty good. read more

Yesterday's special deal was 2 rice balls (choose 2 from 7 varieties), 2 pieces of fried chicken, and miso soup for $7.60. My mother and I opted to try the octopus and spicy tuna rice balls. I didn't care for the octopus but liked the spicy tuna rice ball. I also thought the fried chicken was pretty good, and the miso soup was delicious. Service here was fast and friendly and good. This is also one of the few food court options that are open before 11 am with a full menu. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - $7.60 combo (2 rolls, 2 pieces of fried chicken, and miso soup) - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

Once again, another let down. Is this place even legit japanese? I had their grilled eel onigiri, first of all the rice was not japanese rice (just like last time.) Ratio of filling to rice was not balanced at all. It was mostly rice, which is a rip off. The sauce was not unagi sauce at all, it tasted like soy sauce. Seriously folks, save your money elsewhere. This place should be skipped. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Grilled eel musubi - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

If a friend didnt specifically tell me to look for this gem in the corner, I would've walked right past these giant rice balls! Perfectly seasoned rice with good choices of fillings, these are not to be missed when visiting Mitsuwa. We got the eel rice balls, though the piece of fish was fresh, my husband almost choked on a large piece of bone. I thought they deboned these suckers, no?! Then somehow we got convinced to also get the fried chicken, which they claimed sells better than any rice balls. You know the feeling when you've brought a crap ton of makeup because the salesperson said your eye just needed a touch of anything? That's how i feel about this fried chicken, ripped off! Though it wasnt, on any scale, bad or soggy, the sales girl made it sound like it would change your life good. Hmmm... Either way, i'll be back to try the other flavors. read more

Omusubi Gonbei - Almost gone - Japanese Near Me - Edgewater, New Jersey

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These rice balls are awesome. I've had a few rice balls here since they opened a few years ago, mostly because they're much larger and only a little bit more expensive than the ones in the supermarket. They also have a much larger variety of onigiri available. I usually get the octopus or spicy tuna. My visit today, I had the luck of being able to get a pickled vegetable onigiri made fresh. I watched as the worker weighed out the brown rice (which I didn't realize was an option), formed a perfect round, triangular ball stuffed with pickled veggies, rolled the ball in sesame seeds, and then wrapped it in seaweed. Price for that and my spicy salmon was just over $4, so not a bad deal. Right now, this is my preferred spot for onigiri. read more

Food is good and cheap. For the price you are essentially getting filled up on all rice. You may get some salmon sprinkled in. Now for the lone star...I enjoy the food with eel sauce on top. For some reason they make a huge deal and will not give us the sauce since what we order does not have it. They even had to ask the manager if this was ok. Who cares...if I like it and want to enjoy it with your food...add it. I am not asking you to add salmon or chicken to the dish, just sauce. And if I am...give the customer what they want. What you see is what you get. You like it or you don't. Food is good but experience is bad. read more

My boyfriend and I ordered two eel onigiri's from here when we stopped at Mitsuwa. Although the onigiri was delicious, there was so much eel sauce gushing out if the bottom of the onigiri that it even got on the outside of the closed container and made a huge mess inside of the bag. I noticed that other reviewers complained about the ingredient to rice ratio: but I personally didn't have an issue with mines. That being said, I would definitely come back and try some of their other types of onigiri. They also now accept credit cards which is a huge plus! read more

Last spring, I went here to buy some onigiri. This place is located inside the Mitsuwa Marketplace. There was a queue and I had to wait about 10 minutes. They were many types of onigiri. I finally chose the fried chicken and eel onigiri. I thought there was too much rice and not much filling inside. read more

Perfectly seasoned sticky rice balls. Pick your filling. Simple, cheap lunch or snack...what more is there to say? The staff was very friendly, to boot. read more

Don't really know if you can consider this a review but I did get the 3pcs fried chicken for $3.50 and it was excellent! Would come back for it! Staff was nice too. read more

Eh, these were just alright. The only thing they got going for them is that they are served fresh and warm. The rice isn't that great, not the best quality or prepared that well, and the fillings they offer are generally heavy. A legit onigiri has to have the rice salted when wrapped- and these were just plain, lacking flavor. They try to make up for this in their fillings, but onigiri is all about the rice and the spicy chicken just ended up being an oily mess upon eating. The spicy chicken filling was too overpowering in flavor as well, there was too much ginger and garlic. It's supposed to be about the rice! They're huge though, but quantity and quality aren't the same and there's just no craftsmanship in these. read more

Some of the best Japanese rice balls in the area including NYC. My kids love the spicy tuna and the karage is super crunchy on the outside and just in the inside. We always get more than we can eat since their so portable to go. read more

They are too huge. I have never seen anyone make them with double the amount of rice. A high end place would never make them do humongous. We were disappointed!!! My kids usually are crazy for them but they didn't like any of them at all. read more

Decent spam musubi and cha shu pork rice balls with pretty brusque service. read more

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Tried this rice ball spot a few times and the rice balls are always filled with rice and very little filling... the seaweed wrap is also soggy. read more

Just got the popular spam rice ball and it has a hair wrapped inside the plastic wrap. Took it back to the store. The person working there (and older lady) gave me a new one, at the same time pulled out the hair and put that one back to the stock for resale. Right in front of me. I told her to throw it away. Very disgusting. read more

I ordered a few items and 1 had hair wrapped inside. Very unpleasant and had to throw the rest away