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Times Square has a new takeout window! Ootoya Times Square, the upscale Japanese restaurant on 41st Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, just brought back its onigiri menu as a summer special—and you can grab one from a window!
Starting today, a pop-up will run through Labor Day, offering 10 types of onigiri, matcha and more from a takeout menu. The concept is perfect for a grab-and-go lunch for workers and passersby in the area to enjoy as a picnic in Bryant Park or one of the many seating areas near 42nd Street.
Onigiri is $4 to $6 and the menu is inspired by popular Ootoya teishoku menu items, including the Tori Kuro Onigiri (fried chicken in black vinegar sauce), Unagi (eel) and Sukiyaki (beef, shirataki noodle, onion, enoki mushroom and scallion). Vegetarians can enjoy the gomoku, filled with shiitake mushroom, kanpyo, takuan pickles, hijiki seaweed, mitsuba leaf and nori, or shiso hijiki, simply made with seaweed, ooba leaf and rice. Side dishes are also offered, including miso soup, edamame, soy garlic chicken karaage and beef potato croquettes. Sushi rolls (such as a giant futomaki and more basic selections like salmon avocado) and some tea options, including an iced matcha latte, are also on the menu.
Of course, this rice-centric pop-up uses specialty rice to make the takeout even more tasty. Ootoya’s rice is Koshi-Ibuki rice from Niigata, freshly milled at The Rice Factory in Scarsdale. It’s delivered to the restaurant weekly and is slightly firmer than other Japanese rice grains, making it ideal for onigiri.
This isn't the first time Ootoya has opened an onigiri window. In February 2021, a short-lived onigiri pop-up drew lines and crowds to 41st Street. Now, the window has been updated, and the menu extended for an even better and longer experience.
Ootoya’s Onigiri window is only open on weekdays from 11:30am to 2:30pm at 141 West 41st St.