Onimaru Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi — Restaurant in Kyoto

Onigiri with interesting and standard fillings. Chanced upon this late at night when everything was closed at 930 and this was just about to turn down for 10. Those first two onigiri was very tasty. One with smoked cheese, the other with some salted cod like thing with a perilla leaves. It hit the spot.

Came to it again for supper. I prefer the fish based ones to the ham although the ham is decent too. Fish based ones are saltier. Upstairs seating is a plus. You can warm it up yourself (microwave). Cold or hot green / roasted tea upstairs (dispenser). Clean and ample seating. It smells of smoky ham upstairs likely from what they are doing below. Aptly facing opposite macdonald's on the main street. If you are going for macdonald's you got to try this...

We picked up several freshly made onigiri and desserts from Onimaru, perfect for our dinner and early morning start the next day. The onigiri are large, flavorful, and far more unique than typical convenience store versions. Each one had its own character and tasted great.

Highlights included the Mackerel with Miso, Grilled Salmon with Roe, and the Kyoto Special with Japanese Pepper and Young Sardine. The eel and seasoned egg were also excellent. Their ohagi was slightly sweet but enjoyable.

If you're in Kyoto, Onimaru is a must-visit for creative, freshly made onigiri.

For more photos and details, check out @aya.yeaney...

The onigiri were average and overhyped by social media — I wouldn’t recommend them. The most popular grilled pork one was decent, but the Kyoto-exclusive yuzu sansho onigiri was way too salty… I literally barfed while trying to finish it.

There’s a seating area upstairs, but the stairs are extremely narrow, and the kitchen vent (?) is connected to it, causing smoke to constantly fill the air and get trapped since no windows are open, stinking up your clothes.

That said, the staff were super nice and friendly, and the free tea was...