Review | How’s Your Oni?

This week saw the opening of How’s Your Oni?, a new hole-in-the-wall eatery in Gardens serving up Japanese cuisine. It’s a project which began just over a year ago, when couple MinChan Kim and Rebecca Aziz set out to bring a beloved street-food staple discovered during a trip to Japan to the Mother City. Onigiri, or oni, for short is a Japanese rice ball snack available with a host of fillings and wrapped with nori into a triangle. It was something Rebecca has loved during her travels and was desperate for a taste of it back home.

Luckily for her, MinChan, who is Korean by birth grew up cooking in his mother’s kitchen, where he’d learnt to make the Korean version, jumeok-bap. An aspirational cook, he took up the challenge and has taught himself all the ins and outs of onigiri as well as the rest of the Japanese dishes they now serve up at How’s Your Oni?.

Starting small, the duo began with an Instagram account where they’d advertise their Onigiri which they’d then deliver for home enjoyment, before taking up a stand at the OZC Farmer’s market on Wednesday evenings. Now embarking on the next step of the “How’s Your Oni?” journey with their first permanent restaurant (though don’t worry, you’ll still find them at the market midweek.

The space is understated cool, seating 10 people inside and another 10 on their patio. The inside is kept simple with a large-scale menu illustrated on one wall while the other is plastered with an array of Japanese videogame and movie posters. The open kitchen overlooking the dining space.

The menu is simple: headlining is obviously their onigiri, which are available in 11 iterations, including the simple likes of bonito flakes and miso mayo, the expected panko prawn, spicy shrimp and salmon wasabi mayo and the more unusual offerings of jackfruit and honey butter chicken.

Also on offer are an “ippinryori” selection of Japanese style starters. Here go for the Takoyaki, another Japanese snack, which takes the form of wheat-flour battered bites of squid, prawn or shiitake mushroom, topped with bonito flakes and okonomiyaki sauce. Also on offer are the likes of miso soup, edamame, gyoza and a selection of tempura.

Those looking for a heartier meal can round off their order with a ramen or udon, noodle dishes in a deep, flavourful broth.

How’s Your Oni? Is sure to be an absolute hit for lovers of Japanese street fare and will no doubt become a popular hangout for Cape Town’s trendy foodie scene. Visit them at their new Garden’s store or pop into the Oranjezicht Market on Wednesday evenings for a taste of what they have to offer. It’ll most certainly be worth your while.

• 7 Scott Street, Gardens, Cape Town
• www.howsyouroni.com
• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 11.30am-4pm | Friday-Saturday 12pm-9pm.