OmsB stands for Omusubi, the Japanese word for rice balls. For the Japanese, it’s a portable meal, for Americans it’s probably more like a snack. This place is also designed for its Japanese clientele, it’s a tight squeeze, but given its portability you can easily take it to go and enjoy it somewhere more spacious.
A cafe sans caffeine.
By the time I got there, it was past usual lunch hour, so the selection to choose from was rather limited. There are some “sets” you can choose from, all will cost you a bit less than $10. Like the website says, they have non-traditional ones like shrimp popcorn, and more typical rice balls that just have tempura or salmon in them. If there’s one you’re dying to try, you can ask them to make one for you fresh! (Other flavors include Kalbi, seaweed, ground beef, fried shrimp, plum, omelet…)
Demolished.
I’ve included pictures of Set A (3 rice balls and a miso soup) that included the wasabi shrimp, chicken rice, and eel. All of them are pretty non-traditional…can’t really imagine momotaro bringing these around with him on his journey.
Properly satisfying for an Asian starch craving.
Never hurts to have a close-up.
If you want to fill up your tummy a little more, you can get a taiyaki or ice cream mochi, but none of that seems to be homemade so it won’t be anything overly spectacular. The best taiyaki I’ve had is still at the Japanese shopping center Mitsuwa, and that’s mostly only because they’re fresh and not reheated.
Something I did find out from their website is that Oms/b is a franchise. It doesn’t say where the other ones are, but let us know if you run into any of them. For now, I’ll content myself with the midtown location. They also cater, if you feel like having some rice balls at your next party. While you can easily make some of these at home, your creations will probably not match the aesthetics of the ones you’ll find at Oms/b.
Keep an eye out for this little hole in the wall.
Jessie
OmsB
156 East 45th St.
NY,NY 10017
