Okaeri Japanese Cafe — Restaurant in Centreville

This place is incredible. I've had a hard time finding decent onigiri closer to where I'm located, so finally gave in and drove to Okaeri because of a tiktok (of all things!) that enticed me. It was worth every minute in the car. The shop itself is adorable, and I was happy to see it was plenty busy inside, a sign they're worth it. The staff greeted us and were super nice, too. I loved that we can order via kiosk, so we could take our time and figure out what we wanted. We got 3 different onigiris, 2 mochi donuts, 2 spam musubi, and a couple different matcha drinks. The donuts (mango and cinnamon sugar) were soft and chewy, very sweet but not to the point my teeth hurt. The onigiri (tuna mayo, spicy tuna, and salmon,) were INCREDIBLE, specifically the spicy tuna. The matcha drinks were delicious, high quality matcha, and I liked that you could control the sugar levels in the frappe. My favourite, however, was the spam musubi. Sticky sushi rice, sweet egg and perfectly salty spam, all in a little handheld bundle. Sooooo good. I'm excited to come back and try their sandwiches and pancakes, they looked amazing, too!

See all photos from Sam D. for Okaeri Japanese Cafe

Jane B.Elite 2022 Falls Church, VA 3223333 11/30/2022 2 photos Stumbled upon this dessert place after having dinner in the shopping center and man was it a lucky find. We had the Hojicha shaved ice which is definitely sharable. If you don't know what Hojicha is, no worries, I also had to look it up. It's one of my favorite flavors now. It's roasted green tea! I'm not a fan of matcha but Hojicha doesn't have the bitterness taste that matcha has. It's a smokey, nutty, naturally sweet flavor.

I've come a few times now and have tried to get new things each time. One of them being the souffle pancake. We got the plain Fruit Souffle which sounds basic but classic flavors! It was fluffy and not too sweet.

The space is small though so large groups are definitely not recommended. We've been lucky each time we've come with an open table but the place does get packed quick.

Hojicha shaved ice

Plain Fruit Souffle

Mariam A.Elite 2022 Linton Hall, Bristow, VA 167178 11/7/2022 6 photos I love this cute cafe place! The inside is super cute. Only downside is they don't have much seating. But the inside of the cafe is so adorable. They have kiosks you can order from so you don't have to wait in line at the cashier. Finding a nearby parking spot can be sometimes tough because that area gets so packed.

The service is here is awesome! The cashiers/servers are all so nice. I went on Halloween night and they gave us a free mochi donut just because! I have nothing bad to say about the cashiers/servers here

On to the food. I ordered the strawberry soufflé pancake with a matcha frappe. I loved the pancake! It was light, fluffy, a little eggy and tasted sweet on its own. It came with strawberry syrup you can pour on top as well. The syrup gave the pancake a nice touch. My frappe also tasted great! Their matcha is seriously amazing! I can tell their matcha is high grade. I loved my frappe and can't wait to go back and order another one....

The most important thing that you need to know about this Cafe is that Japanese people run it! If you're familiar with Japanese culture, you already know you need to try this place!

Nova isn't California or New York, and authentic Japanese places are hard to come by. This has some drawbacks as most onigiri are "sold out" most of the time. There's a lot of demand and as I'd expect from a Japanese-run business, they put a limit on how much quality onigiri they can make a day. This is the reason why you'll find most onigri in "sold out" state. Other restaurants will try to cut corners and meet the demand and ruin the taste. Even if the "sold out" thing is annoying, I respect the focus on quality.

The staff is super nice and respectful. There are two big-screen kiosks for you to place the order in the store. If you want to try curry dishes, drinks, and coffee, it shouldn't be a problem. If you want onigiri though, I recommend trying during non-rush hours or as soon as they open. If you go there any other time, good luck! The place is quite small as it could only fit may maybe 20 people at most without feeling super crowded.

Bottom line, if you want onigri, place a takeout order online and pick it up. If you're going for other stuff, you might get a seat during non-rush hours.

The spicy tuna I had was out of this world. It was made fresh and kept warm. I've had onigiri from Korean groceries. Okaeri's onigris take you straight to JAPAN! The beef curry I had was quite okay. The flavor profile is a bit one-dimensional toward curry taste and not very balanced but that's how curries are. Maybe that's just me.

I'd be going back for more onigri and drinks! I...

They open at 11:30am and not 11am!!! Somehow, google says 11am but 11:30am is correct so be careful!!!!

Authentic Japanese sweets/snack place in Centreville!!!!

I’m from Japan and have been waiting for this place to open for months!!!! It’s been less than a week since they opened and I already went twice!!!!

I haven’t tried every thing yet but so far, I’ve tried Mix Fruit Sandwich, Onigiri Rice balls(Tuna Mayo, Spicy Karaage, Spam Musubi and Shrimp Tempura) and Mochi Donuts.(Plain, Black Sesame, Matcha, Cinnamon Sugar, Yuzu and Chocolate.)

Everything is SO GOOD!!! But please please try mix fruit sandwich!!!!! lol Omg, this mix fruit sandwich is unbelievably GOOD!!! Bread is so fluffy(not soft but fluffy!!! lol) Whipped cream is a totally different from the whipped cream you’ve known and ever tried!!!! I can’t even explain this heavenly whipped cream. lol Fruits inside are large and so sweet!!!! It gets messy so keep wet towel with you when you eat!!! lol

My favorite mochi donuts so far are black sesame and Matcha! Their donuts are very flavorful and not greasy AT ALL.

They use made in Japan rice for onigiri and so flavorful and doesn’t get hard even if you eat a couple of hours later!!! I tried spicy karaage and it’s not crazy spicy so even if you are not good at spicy food, you would be fine!!

I haven’t tried soufflé cake, dorayaki and their drinks yet but heard so many good things about them!!!

It’s a little cute store and they are still soft opening so BE PATIENT!!!!! I’m telling you, It is WORTH the wait!!! I’m sure as they figure things out, everything will go much smoother!!!

I can’t recommend...