OniGuru — Restaurant in Garden Grove

My partner and I happened to find OniGuru on a Sunday afternoon when we were going to get us some coffee at a nearby coffee shop: ) We loved the naming of the shop and got curious about OniGuru! Coming from Japan, I was curious to know what "Contemporary Japanese" meant, and when we saw the menu, it made a lot of sense. Onigiri (riceballs) served at OniGuru are creative and adventurous🍙✨ I asked the owner to make us "Teriyaki Salmon" to go, and she was kind and generous enough to let me try "Garlic Parmesan Shrimp" as well. (Thank you so much!) As she said, they were not exactly the traditional kind of onigiri I grew up with, but they were big, satisfying, and were made with care and love, very enjoyable, gave me new insights that simple rice with nori(seeweed) does go well with a lot of different kind of food! I look forward to trying different onigiri...

Food - I tried the vegan onigiri with a side of their wasabi. The flavor profile is decent for a veg meal and they definitely get credit for having veggie options (unlike competitors like Tenori) however it tasted fairly bland with the most notable flavor being from the soybeans. The constitution of the onigiri was fragile and it fell apart while trying to eat which is a weakness of what's supposed to be a meal eaten by hand. I think it's overstuffed and would benefit from a better balance of flavor to mass profile. The wasabi tastes like bote wasabi though I wasn't expecting much better.

Service - good, no notes. It's a food hall style order and pickup when your buzzer rings. Very nice workers.

Ambiance - being in Steelcraft, this place was bound to have...

New spot in Garden grove with the brewery, Boba, and Mexican spot. Offers a good mix of choices for your mainstream Japanese cuisine but onigiris are always amazing (and it’s only been the second spot I’ve seen to sell it!). Check it out if you’re in the area. Cold hangout spot when the weather is nice- nothing fancy. Good for groups. They were really busy, so wait could be a little long. But grab a beer and wait, not so bad!

Got the teriyaki salmon and the kbbq beef onigiri. Kbbq beef was the winner. Their size proportions and flavor was better than the ones I’ve...