There’s something about animated food in Japanese manga that gives it this undeniable visual appeal. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see animated food on-screen, my stomach starts growling, even louder than if I was watching actual footage of real food. Replicating mouthwatering on-screen dishes in real life is a lot easier said than done, but Onigirazu has undertaken the challenge through a spinoff of the folded kimbap trend to achieve Singapore’s first Japanese rice wraps stuffed with your favourite ingredients.
Think of Onigirazu like a rice-filled iteration of your favourite bagels or sandwiches, no less hefty, decadent or filling. The Tamago Chashu (S$12) was, as the name oh-so-subtly suggests, filled with fragrant and sweet Japanese pork chashu along with an hanjuku egg with runny yolk the colour of the sun. This is probably a me problem, but I like to eat my egg in small bites throughout my meal, something easily achieved in donburi, but turns out to be a near-impossible feat requiring tedious manoeuvring when eating it rice wrap-style. And thus, my only gripe was that this got messy, and it got messy quick.
Onigirazu also offers a vegetarian-friendly option called the Tamago 2.0 (S$12)—a very clever pun, because this rice wrap is a plant-based upgrade from their Tamago Chashu, and also boasts of an egg egg-on-egg combination. If you’ve read my review on Eggslut, you’ll know that I can’t ever have too much egg, and this rice wrap 100% eggceeded my eggspectations.
It doesn’t carry the same weight as its predecessor, and I would’ve preferred something with a more robust flavour and variation, but this will be great if you have a smaller appetite.
The one I had the highest hopes for was the Oni-Gyu-Razu (S$14), Onigirazu’s unique rendition of steak and eggs with ramen… without the ramen, and with rice. The seared striploin, fried egg, and soy caramelised onions sounded like the dream team ready to beat any hunger pangs, but the sauce that could’ve tied everything together lacked the full-bodied flavour I was hoping for.
The fried egg definitely faired better in my books as compared to hanjuku, though I would’ve enjoyed this a lot more had the meat been more tender and well-marinated. I realised that the seaweed had lost its crispiness by the time the delivery arrived, though the issue of foods losing their freshness in the midst of delivery journeys is not foreign to us all.
Onigirazu also offers a side of Truffle Edamame (S$6), ideal for truffle lovers, or those who simply want more greens in their food. Customers can also opt to add Truffle Oil to their rice wraps for an additional S$2—I mean, why said you had to stop at just the edamame? To place your order, visit their Instagram profile here.
Expected damage: S$12+ per pax
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