4 /5
Bewertung
★
★
★
★
Nov 2021 This review is mainly for the onigiri (rice ball) at Japomen. For Pike Kitchen in general, it looks like they have closed the individual counters and are just taking collective orders. The pickup section is in the far right corner, by the restrooms. You can identify it by the sheer number of paper takeout bags. I believe you can order in store, as there's a large order tablet by the pickup counter. Note masks are required and you are able to dine indoors. Does not look like there's table service though. All the staff members were behind the counters making or packing up food. You also have to prod a staff member to figure out which takeout bag is yours. They are not very proactive towards customers right now, but still friendly. The onigiri was very delicious! I ordered a lot of them and liked most of them. Note the fancy packaging, which more and more restaurants are using these days. It keeps the seaweed separate from the rice, so the seaweed stays nice and crisp. However, it can be a little confusing and difficult to remove. There are directions on the bottom. First tear off the red strip that divides the packaging into 2 pieces, one on each side. Remove each side one at a time. Note you have to unfold the corners before you can pull it off. Be aware that the rice may end up sticking to the packaging! It's common for the onigiri to break in half as you pull off each side (luckily the seaweed wrap keeps it all together). To reduce breakage, I recommend a micro-pull technique. I don't know how to describe it, but basically instead of continuous pulling, you do rapid tiny pulls. Start at the corners so the wrapper is free of the top of the onigiri, then do the bottom. The onigiri may still end up breaking, but the likelihood is drastically reduced. Also note the packaging is not air-tight; the corners of the onigiri are open to the air. Very good onigiri. A little expensive, but with a generous amount of filling. I think most of the price is because of the fancy packaging. The rice was good, lightly flavored like sushi rice and neither too dry nor too wet. Most of the filling ingredients were also good. The shrimp tempura was crunchy and does not include the tail. The pork katsu, chicken teriyaki, and crispy eel include their particular sauces. I felt like the teriyaki sauce didn't taste right, but I'm not sure if it was actually wrong or if was mixed up with the rice flavor. The smoked salmon was so-so. The vegan soy-based meat's taste and texture was like pork sung flavored with soy sauce; interesting. The definite negative was the ume (pickled plum). Instead of an actual japanese pickled plum, it was sliced sour pickles with some plum sauce. Disappointing. Overall, would definitely come back for (most of) the onigiri.