UniGirl — Restaurant in Orlando

I came back after hearing about the Michelin nomination and you have to be kidding me. I feel the second visit was worse than the first one. $6 for dry and bland onigiri is not worth it let alone the Michelin recommendation. IMO if you think this is the best Orlando has to offer, please explore around some more.

Old review: When I first heard that a restaurant offering my favorite handheld snack, onigiri, was coming to Orlando, I knew I had to put my rice cooker and other ingredients away to give UniGirl a try. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, to say the least.

First off, this small restaurant is inside the Tien Hung Market, located right next to Bánh Mì Boy (fantastic bánh mì here, by the way, but that's for a different review). Entering the restaurant, I was greeted by a line that almost reached the door and snaked through a small market aisle. This line moved very slowly. Let me preface this by saying that this restaurant was in a soft opening period when I visited, so there are still kinks that need to be figured out. The wait (around 20 minutes) is not a major part of this review, but I do want to provide feedback here to maybe make things more efficient.

There was some seating, but while waiting in line, there was no menu to look at or anything, so when people would get to the front, they would take a minute or two just to look at the options and then order, which caused the wait to be longer than it should be. This can easily be mitigated by having a QR code that redirects to a menu or even just printing out a small paper where guests waiting in line can mark what they would like before getting to the front. This would help move the line faster by allowing people to be prepared and ready to order without having to leave the line to see the options at the front. It would also allow for more potential revenue since people can do more research on what they want while waiting in line instead of feeling pressured when ordering.

The highlight of my UniGirl experience, albeit not the food (more on this later), was definitely the staff. The staff was very welcoming, happy to answer any questions, and make suggestions as needed. A big shoutout to the staff in the back who were moving like crazy to make the onigiri and were keeping all the options well in stock while I was there.

Now for the food. I tried a little bit of everything, and the most disappointing thing is that outside of maybe 1 or 2 out of the 6 options that I tried, none of them really had any distinct flavors and, in all honesty, left much to be desired. For example, the two onigiri fillings that I liked the most were the fried chicken and spicy crab ones. The fried chicken one, at least at the core, had a delicious, savory filling that was unfortunately overshadowed by dry rice that really lacked seasoning and had edamame that didn’t help with the overall flavor profile.

I've had onigiri with other rice variations, such as red bean rice or takikomi gohan, that I feel would really amplify the flavors more than what was available when I visited. Fillings like the miso salmon or the tuna mayo or mentaiko were almost inedible due to how dry and lacking in seasoning they were. I really think the onigiri filling would benefit greatly from more seasoning and a little bit more sauce. There's potential here, but it definitely isn't meeting the pedestal that people are placing this restaurant on.

Don't fall for the influencers, they have no idea what they are talking about. If you're looking for fantastic onigiri I would check...

UPDATE 12/29/24: ok, so we’ve now eaten here at least 5 times since our original review, so I feel like I’ve given them ample time to get things going since they first opened. Each time we’ve been back it seems to have gotten a little better. Today, they offered something that immediately caught my attention, which was a sign that read “Hokkaido Uni & ikura” the kind girl at the front said “sir I just wanted to let you know it’s $24 for this one” and I immediately replied I don’t care about that, I want it. Additionally, that was the one onigiri that the chef only makes fresh, rather than all the others which are premade and set out. Now, I’ve only been to Hokkaido once, but I remember 4 things about Hokkaido, it’s cold, it’s windy, and the crab and Uni are MFing good AF. After tasting this, I decided to grant this place all 5 stars. The Uni was silky, buttery and sweet. The Ikura (one of my favorite things in life) burst in my mouth like sweet/salty explosions of delicious umami, coating my soul in flavor. (Jk I don’t have a soul) I can now recommend this place to everyone.

Original review: (3 stars) A solid disappointment for the first dedicated onigiri venue in Orlando. Please allow me to start by saying that this review reflects the 2nd day of opening for this restaurant, and we’ve got to assume (hopefully) that things improve. So I’m someone well travelled around the world, and definitely so in Japan and SE Asia. I’m from Oahu Hawaii where Japanese food dominates local food culture. When I heard this place was going to open, I was excited, but kept my expectations tempered. Upon attempt 1 at trying this place it was a fail as the line wrapped around every inch of the venue, and the place was extraordinarily poorly organized, plus the parking situation was abysmal. Today was attempt 2, and we succeeded with only a 30 minute wait despite coming only 15 minutes prior to opening. Parking was a little better today as well. Place has very cute decor, and is modeled after owner’s precious shiva inu. Staff are extremely polite, and seem to be working as quickly as they can, and I expect that only to improve as the business has more time under its belt. We purchased 8 onigiri at a cost average of ~$4 per piece, which is reasonable since there are no real alternatives in the area to this venue. Presentation is fine, as onigiri is not ever intended to be fine dining and is meant as a quick and easy bite to eat. We ordered onigiri that included unagi, crab, shrimp tempura, tuna mayo, miso salmon. The pieces are on the small side, which is also fine. I prefer this to some of the unwieldy jumbo onigiri I’ve had in places in Tokyo, Bangkok, and even Texas. When it comes to onigiri, small to moderate sized pieces are best. When it comes to flavor I regret to say that the rice itself has very minimal flavor compared to what I’m used to. The protein fillings were all fine, but I was quite let down by the quality and taste of the actual rice balls 🍙. My wife shared the same sentiments. Overall, I’d say that at this point in time, this restaurant isn’t on par with onigiri I’ve had at even 7-11 in Japan, not to say that they won’t improve as time goes on. In fact, I’m confident they will. Stay tuned for an update later on to see if it’s any...

This is the talk of the community lately. Been a mission to find the time to come here before they sell out. First come first serve. When it's gone it's GONE and they close shop for the day. Located in Tien Hung market along with BahnMi boi and KaiKai, Uni girl really holds its weight here. For shop hours you need to check their Instagram story the night before. I got here 5 minutes early and there was already a substantial line forming (great sign) by the time 12:00pm rolled around the line was almost out the door and by 12:13 while waiting in line a few items were already selling out, crazy! What you see is what you get. The onigiri rack sits up front with all the flavors for the day. Seeming to range around 3-6 dollars. I got 4 onigiri, the flavor of the day which was Beef Sukiyaki, One of the most popular, Spicy miso crab, a more traditional miso salmon and then fried chicken flavor. With tip it totalled out around 22 dollars. 22 dollars for onigiri? I've spent worse at Conventions before, and the quality here blows that out of the water. My flavor rankings are probably 1st place Fried chicken. 2nd beef sukiyaki 3rd spicy miso crab 4th miso salmon. I didn't expect to love the fried chicken one MORE than the spicy miso crab. I LOVE crab. But the flavor and sauce and texture just hit right. And the flavors and textures in the beef sukiyaki were phenomenal. Tender beef, onions, and sweet sauce and prominent shiso leaf. Very good. The miso crab fell short for me because I tasted more of a tangy citrus flavor than "miso" and at $6 a pop being one of their more expensive onigiri, the amount of crab was lacking. BUT! it was REAL crab. So that's nice. The miso salmon ranked last not on anything bad it's just a very simple basic onigiri. All 4 were very good. I highly recommend coming here a few minutes early and eating your onigiri as soon as you get them so your nori doesn't get too soggy. Glad to finally make it here. Great quality food. Fast service, friendly and knowledgeable service and clean and efficient set up....