Marwa S.
Yelp
OH.MY.GOD.
PUT THIS ON YOUR LIST NOW!!!!
Now, I had pretty low expectations coming in here. I knew it would probably be good but all I heard and saw about when it came to Mills Market was Kai Kai.
And that is an absolute sham. Not only is this restaurant amazing, the pricing here is FANTASTIC. while ongiri is not a popular restaurant concept, orlando does have omsubee which has a cult like following from everyone I know who has went.
Pricing everything minus the Hokkaido Uni (which is a steep $25) is around 5ish dollars or less.
After my wallet cried at the price of Uni, I went with the fried chicken, beef sukiyaki and shrimp tempura options which totaled to about 15 dollars.
From the first bite I had, I knew they were not only committed to making sure they delivered in good flavor but also freshness. The line was a bit long when we went in but it moved relatively fast like two minutes fast. While we waited, I saw them continuously making more ongiri, and restocking.
I saw it but wow, that first bite was warm and I could tell this was freshly made. This was definitely something made with passion for the craft. I have not had an onigiri this good in years.
That was just the fried chicken one! I was IN AWE and was ready to go back for more!!
The beef sukiyaki was no different. I was absolutely floored and left speechless at how good it was. It was DELICIOUS.
I do recommend that you eat these right way or relatively soon after purchasing. The shrimp tempura one was my least favorite of the three. It was just okay but I had this one much later after it had cooled down. And if it was okay then, I can't even imagine how much better it was when it was warm.
The food here is amazing. Sure, seating is atrocious here and it's packed still even though the initial buzz has died down in the market but with onigiri, it's an easy snack to eat while standing off to the side somewhere hoping you don't get hit by someone as they weave through the place.
I don't live near here. In fact, this is about a 45 minute to hour drive for me but I already want to go back. Like this restaurant was absolutely worth the drive alone. If I lived or worked around here, I would be here ALL the time!!
Seriously even if you have never had onigiri, you NEED TO COME here.
I cannot recommend this place enough.
10/10