Long time ago, when I first arrived in Japan, I awoke in my Leopalace apartment and wondered, "what do Japanese people eat for breakfast?" I walked to my local conbini and looked around before finally setting my eyes on the shelf that we all know and love, the rice ball shelf. I bought a tuna mayo rice ball and a seaweed rice ball. That was my first breakfast in Ibaraki and I absolutely loved it. Throughout the years, I have tried many different kinds of rice balls, but one of the best rice balls I have ever had was in Oarai city in early winter last year. A huge, delicious mentaiko rice ball at Mentai Park.
Mentai Park
Mentai Park is one of the big attractions in Oarai city. It is a mentaiko factory that is also a store and cafe. You can take a tour of the factory and check out the small museum part of it to see how the magic happens. Mentaiko in English is Pollock roe, at least that is what Google says. I had always been curious to give this place a try. I had heard great things about it and I was told time and time again to get the onigiri or rice ball from this place. One Sunday morning, my wife and I drove up to Mentai Park to finally try some great onigiri.
Don't Go on a Sunday
I repeat, do not go on a Sunday! I was pretty sure all of Kanto was checking this place out when we got there. First off, we waited quite a while to get a parking spot. By the way, this place is quite far from Oarai station, so if you want to check it out, come by car or bus.
When we finally parked and got inside, it was so crowded that it was difficult to move around. It felt like I was in a live concert or something. We decided not to do the tour and to just get our stuff to go. We headed for the cafe area to get our rice balls. There was a huge line so we would be waiting for a while.
The Menu
To the cafe's credit, the line did move pretty quickly. If you are wondering what the menu is, it is all mentaiko. There are four different mentaiko rice balls.
There is also mentaiko ice cream! If it was a warmer day, I definitely would have tried it.
Mentaiko Bun
Yup, you even got mentaiko buns. This would have to be another food item I would try next time.
We bought four Mentaiko rice balls and we also headed to the souvenir store to buy some frozen mentaiko to take home. After getting away from the crowd, we parked in a near by parking lot at the Oarai Marine Tower and opened our onigiri.
Mentaiko Rice Ball
I don't think this picture does the rice ball justice. It does not show you just how big it actually was. This onigiri is not your run of the mill convenience store onigiri. It is in a class all by itself.
So Much Mentaiko
My wife and I bit into our onigiris and everything about it was perfect. Fresh rice and seaweed that is always a most, but the star of the show was the mentaiko. It was so fresh, so spicy and there was so much in there. The cafe packed so much in that onigiri that I had mentaiko from the top of the onigiri to the bottom. I would be happy if I had this onigiri for breakfast every week.
Mentai Park was a great experience and it showed me how just something as simple as onigiri can be turned into a huge wonderful rice ball of wonder. We will definitely go back there, but not on a Sunday.
So if you are fan of mentaiko and are hungry for some onigiri, why not give Mentai Park a chance. Who knows, you might see me there, finally giving that mentaiko ice cream a shot.
Enjoy!
For more information on Mentai Park, check out their website:
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