A note on the words: onigiri are Japanese rice balls formed by hand and wrapped in nori seaweed. Ume refers to salted pickled sour plum, and sujiko is salmon roe cured inside its natural egg sac membrane. Tarako is salted pollock roe, while mentaiko is spiced with chili pepper. Shiso kombu is kelp simmered in soy sauce with fragrant perilla leaves, and takana is pickled mustard greens. Shiokara is a salted and fermented seafood relish, jako are tiny dried whitebait, and nameko are small, silky mushrooms with a natural gelatinous coating used in miso soup.
Onigiri Konga Akasaka Biz tawā ten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Ever since my previous visit, I had quietly been dropping by in the mornings! It started out of curiosity — there are some unfamiliar fillings here, but are they actually good? Eventually, once I had eaten this many, I figured I might as well eat every single one. So I set out on that quest, and having finally finished eating every variety the other day, let me share which ones were truly delicious! In the end, the quirky novelty fillings were not that great, ha. Well, if they were that good, onigiri with those flavors would be popular all over the country and stocked in convenience stores everywhere!
Now, reviewing the menu, there are onigiri at 310 yen, 360 yen, and 400 yen.
For miso soup, there is tofu miso soup for 180 yen and nameko mushroom miso soup for 280 yen, but in the morning they are 100 yen off!
Honestly, my impression is that tofu miso soup is plenty good. You can also get refills! (Though I’ve never done it, ha).
Each one is quite large, so at first I ate three, but that pushed me right to my limit.
From then on, I switched to two at a time. So keep that in mind when ordering!
So after eating them all, here are the ones that were truly delicious!
* Roughly ranked in order of deliciousness.
- Ume
- Natto
- Shiso kombu
- Takana
- Raw tarako
- Salmon
- Spicy mentaiko
Well, I wouldn’t seek them out, but once in a while might be fine?
- Mentai cream cheese
- Sujiko
- Dried whitebait with fresh seven-spice
- Grilled tarako
- Pork kimchi
- Fried chicken mayo
- Minced meat
Hmm, I think I’m good without having these again?
- Carbonara
- Soy-marinated egg yolk
- Stamina yakiniku, seasoned grilled meat
- Mentaiko mayo
- Negitoro
- Tuna mayo
- Shiokara
The set I ate on my very first visit (details in my earlier visit).
Three was definitely too much, but the deliciousness of the ume stood out! With the sujiko, I thought at first it was a little salty, but the way it gradually settles into just right is great! It’s nice that Konga tops the onigiri with filling so you can taste the flavor on the very first bite!
With the grilled tarako, I felt the saltiness was a bit strong, but the popping texture was good.
The tuna mayo is said to be homemade, so unlike ordinary tuna mayo it has firm tuna meat. Because of that, a slight lingering feel in the mouth nagged at me!
A jackpot combination! The natto is crazy good! For the takana, on the contrary, having this much filling is so rewarding!
A classic pairing that goes hand in hand with rice.
Salmon is a great side that matches rice perfectly. Indisputably delicious.
On the other hand, the shiokara had a strangely sweet seasoning, and the fishy odor bothered me a bit. I might prefer shiokara that is crisply, sharply salty.
The shiso kombu is exceptionally good, but the mentaiko mayonnaise was a bit greasy. I suspect it’s because the mayo they use is high in salt and oil without much acidity.
The spicy mentaiko is quite crisply spicy and delicious.
The minced meat had a strangely sweet seasoning. I get the feeling a lot of the fillings swing all the way to sweet. Not really my thing.
The jako with fresh shichimi is delicious. The carbonara had a rich egg-yolk section that tasted like tamago kake gohan (raw egg over rice). Hmm, well, it might fall into the ‘tasty?’ category, but considering it’s 400 yen, I wouldn’t actively order it again.
Soy-marinated egg yolk… I thought it would be a whole egg yolk, but it was just like the carbonara, ha. Looking at the photo, I assumed a whole yolk would be sitting on top.
Well, it’s not bad. The stamina yakiniku had that conspicuously sweet style typical of their meat fillings. Not really for me.
Negitoro! The negitoro, minced fatty tuna, had no soy sauce poured on and yet was oddly salty. Because there is no wasabi, anyone can eat it, but the oiliness stood out a bit. You come to realize the greatness of wasabi. The fried chicken mayonnaise is also tasty, but just overwhelmingly greasy. I’m sure that’s the mayo at work again!
Finally, coming this far, I assumed the mentai cream cheese would be greasy and the pork kimchi would be sweet, right? But these two pleasantly betrayed my expectations. The pork kimchi was genuinely tasty. With large solid chunks it crumbles apart easily, so chopsticks are essential, but the mentai cream cheese was also quite delicious. As I ate, I thought that if you eat it quickly before it melts from the heat of the rice, it stays relatively light! Toward the end it had melted a bit and turned greasy.
It is a fairly compact shop without dedicated air conditioning, so on hot mornings it felt pretty stuffy and humid, but the back door is open!
The seat right next to it has a breeze and is comfortable! Highly recommended! The spot is “A1”!
If it is open, I definitely recommend this seat.
Onigiri Konga Akasaka Biz Tower Shop Menu
Onigiri 310 yen
Comparing all 21 varieties, I marked the seven that were “truly delicious” with Pick. Listed from top in order of deliciousness.
Number one among all 21 kinds. The flavor of the ume stands out.
A rewarding one with a generous amount of filling.
Crisply spicy.
A popping texture. Saltiness is somewhat strong.
Homemade with firm tuna meat.
Onigiri 360 yen
Eat it quickly before it melts and it stays refreshing.
Crumbles easily, so chopsticks help.
Onigiri 400 yen
The first bite is salty, but as you eat it settles into just right.
Miso soup
In the morning, miso soup is 100 yen off. Refills are also available.
About the shop
Last order 19:30.
Last entry 13:30. Evenings 16:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30).
The “A1” seat, where the back door is open and a breeze blows through, is recommended.
Transit IC, Rakuten Edy, iD, QUICPay, PayPay, d-Barai, Rakuten Pay, and au PAY accepted.
Each one is rather large, so two make just the right amount.
Hours, seating, and payment methods from Tabelog listing. Please check for the latest information before visiting.
* Prices as of eating through all 21 varieties in 2023. Prices and lineup may have changed. Please verify the latest at the shop.
So there you have it: 10 days in all. I ate so much that I feel I’m set on onigiri for a while, ha.
Looking at the lineup, the classic fillings definitely come out on top!
The mayo-based ones generally felt a bit greasy and heavy. Also, there were occasionally fillings with strangely sweet seasoning, which weren’t great either. Non-standard fillings that I thought were actually good would be something like mentai cream cheese. Precisely because the rice is good, the classics shine. This is purely personal opinion, but I hope it helps!
Onigiri Konga Akasaka Biz tawā ten (Onigiri (Rice ball) / Akasaka Station, Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Tameike-sanno Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
