Cafe Hanamizuki

They have the best miso soup I’ve ever had in my life! The broth is AMAZING. It tastes more like ramen broth than miso.

I like everything that is in it! Lovely cozy environment and healthy food, makes everything so unique. The green tea cake is my first choice! :D

It is good place to have brunch and simple meal here. I like the atmosphere. But, the rice ball is a bit small that I expected. I recommend to order more rice ball than other side dishes or soup.
I wasn’t full after eating rice ball combo, lol

I can live on their green tea roll cake. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, the whole day. It is just too good and I am worried about the possibility that I may spend all of my food money on their roll cakes.
Their selection of rice cakes is pretty good, and they are all very tasty. The first time I went there, I was SO tempted to just get one of everything, but that would have costed me about $ 30 just on rice cakes, and I knew I couldn’t eat 10 rice cakes for lunch! The miso soup I had was delicious too.
In summary, they have good food, a cute place, great food presentation, and super friendly staff. The only thing keeping this place from getting 5 stars is that it is a bit pricey to me, considering that I probably have to spend $ 20+ for a satisfying lunch (lunch combo + extra rice balls + dessert). Still, I love it!

I always come here for the Hawaiian since it’s one of my favs but it is kind of small. I got the Hawaiian, Sukiyaki and Cha Shu. The Cha Shu was not good at all in my opinion. It had a weird taste and I had to throw it out after one bite. At least I tried it.
The décor is so cute here and they have a lunch special which is a great price.

This is a very cute café. A friend and I went an hour before closing and luckily, they had 2 spam musubi left. Perfect for my friend and I because that was our main reason for visiting.
The food was actually pretty decent, presentation was on point and workers were nice. I’d definitely come back for the lunch combo because its only $ 10.50! You can’t miss that!

Super cute café, definitely try the roll cake and coffee jello if you’re here. It’s a good hangout spot and one of my favorite cafes in the city. The food portion might be smaller than usual, if you’re really hungry then head to ktown. This is a good place to get away from the crowd in the city.

Nothing particularly wow’d me about this place. Because I went there with a few people, I got to try a lot of different things. While the unagi and Hawaiian rice balls are good choices, the others were just OK. The egg & curry one was decent, I may recommend that one if you’re not into spam.
The gnocchi miso was pretty awful. I would steer clear of it. And the pickled vegetables were just OK. I had a hard time deciding if the okra side dish was any good either. It had this sticky mucus looking thing at the bottom which was pretty tasty, but the whole thing was just OK.
The lunch portion is a good amount for a mid-​day meal, but if were to come back again, I would get the Unagi or Hawaiian balls for a snack and bounce.

With 10 varieties of omusubi, priced from $ 2.50 to $ 4, and some enticing sweets, I finally made it to Café Hanamizuki on lunch but skipped their combo deal because I only wanted one rice ball (Hawaiian) and wasn’t feeling soup. Also added a solid black sesame and an OK green tea cookie to hit the $ 8 minimum for cards.
My e-​receipt never arrived, so go the print route if you really need one.

Bringing the cute back to tea parties: tea optional.
I’ve had a few friends recommend Hanamizumi for lunch but it’s not convenient for me to get to. When I found out that they did dinner as well, I quickly hopped on the next opportunity to go.
The menu is pretty similar to the lunch menu, although the sets are different. For $ 13, you can get two rice balls, a side salad, two additional sides, and a miso soup. Portion-​wise, it’s not the most filling meal, but the variety can’t be beat. I opted for the Hawaiian and Unagi rice balls, the potato salad and okura, and a Tofu & Tofu soup (they were out of the gnocchi :/​). We also split a carafe of house sake.
Aesthetically, the set was beautiful. Each dish had its own little section on the wooden tray (makes it easy to assemble each set to order), and they created the cutest food landscape. The rice balls were phenomenal. The Hawaiian is most reminiscent to a spam musubi, but the rice was seasoned with red peppers and blended very well with heaviness of the spam. The unagi was also so tasty. I couldn’t identify what it was, but the eel was glazed in some sort of citrus sauce, and combined with the seasoned rice, it was quite the delight.
The okura was amazing, inspiring me to give it a shot in my own kitchen. Fresh okra tossed with a yuzu ponzu sauce, that was my favorite small element to the platter. The potato salad was also solid, although the idea of potato and macaroni salad in Asian countries still mystifies me. The side salad was a small dish of pickled vegetable scraps, which were so tasty. My soup was probably the most typical dish on the platter, miso soup with both fried and fresh tofu. No complaints there either, as the soup wasn’t too salty and the tofu: soup ratio was pretty high.
The sake carafe was served with a glass set that you see at all the flea markets. I absolutely loved the details Hanamizumi put into the plating, and the environment is also the cutest. An overall white, wooden, kitchen feel, all the shelves are lined with cute homemade trinkets and decorative items, all for sale. All-​in-​all, Hanamizumi hit it out of the park. I wouldn’t go if I were starving, but a lighter dinner or quick afternoon snack, Hanamizumi is at the top of my list.

The lunch special ($ 10.50 for two balls plus a soup and side) is pretty small. The spam and beef rice balls were just ok. They also didn’t stay together very well. The soup and side dish we’re also just ok.
There’s a good amount of seating but it gets full during lunch.

You walk past this place, and maybe it’s the scaffolding outside, or the minimalist interior, but for a moment I thought I had the wrong address and was walking into some hipster gallery space rather than a restaurant. They do serve food here!
Onto the food, it is actually quite inventive. I am a huge fan of Japanese onigiri, but the ones that you get in other places around NYC sometimes feel like the Japanese equivalent of purchasing a hot dog in a 7-​Eleven, filling and way too heavy. I tried the Cha-​Shu pork and Kinoko mushroom rice balls with the ‘gnocchi’ miso soup, and the okra. The onigiri were flavor-​packed and the kinoko was my favorite, but I wouldn’t order the «mochi-​gnocchi» in my miso soup again. They had a strange squeegee texture which then brought out the slimy characteristic of the okra on the side. Luckily, their house sake did make the pain go away.
Lastly, I was a huge fan of the price. A good, relatively healthy $ 10,50 weekend lunch combo in this part of town is practically unheard of, as seen by the long line at Five Guys around the block. I also loved the products they were selling on the walls by the register. The teas and baked goods looked absolutely scrumptious, but I have to save that review for my next visit/​paycheck.

I ended up here since I was looking for something close to my hotel (Eventi).
This place was really different and I appreciated that… quite a bit. The store itself has a lovely nature-​y ambience to it. The ingredients are all healthy and seemed simple.
I got a onigiri combo that comes with a «special» miso soup (i got the mushroom one), some pickles, and your choice of onigiri. I liked the unagi though there wasn’t much unagi, and really enjoyed the curry one.
The green tea cake was really good but way too much cream. I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet and you could taste the bitterness of the tea.

this place is a really solid 5 stars. it is so full of ambiance and personality! the food is delicious, very well priced. the servers are kind and courteous. the hanamizuki café is this gentle, peaceful nook hidden among boisterously busy midtown sounds and side streets of concrete jungle.
the cuisine offerings are fresh and interesting. the menu doesn’t seem to change rapidly or drastically between months which means the staff has perfected their flavors and customers can try everything, working towards some go-​to comfort foods.
this place is such a calm relief on hectic days. i love the charming atmosphere and the clean (not sterile) character of the space.
great place! let’s keep them in business and help spread the word about this gem!

Disclaimer: This review is for the lunch combo.
The «lunch» is more fit when you’re in a weird limbo — it’s good if you’re pretty hungry, but you have planned an early dinner date with your friend and don’t want to eat too much. With 2 small onigiris, a miso soup, a little dish of vegetables and pickles for $ 11, it’s a bit pricey and not fulfilling for lunch.
I’ll give them the fact that the onigiri offered here is unlike anything offered in the city — all of them have slight twists to the classics and they even use brown rice for some of them. Ultimately, the results are spotty. Classics like the ume and wakame are too pickle-​y and sour, the kinoko a bit bland. If you’re getting something, stick with the spam musubi.
But what made me decide that the café is not worthy of a repeat is the LUKEWARM /​BORDERLINE COLD miso soup. Please invest in a giant Thermos pot before the winter comes. And maybe consider including a more filling item in your lunch combo.

Brunch!
This review is not based on the food at Café Hanamizuki as they are currently hosting Brunch for Table7NYC every 1^st and 3^rd Sunday of the month! Therefore this review is solely based upon Sunday Brunch hosted by Table7NYC.
I purchased a ticket via Eventbrite but you also have the option to pay at the door. For the set price I received a 3 course meal consisting of an appetizer/​starter, entrée, dessert and two cocktails.
Starter: Salad
Mango, green papaya, parmesan crust and green tea
Entrée: Steak & Chips
Coffee rubbed pepper steak, espresso balsamic reduction and bliss chips
Dessert: Cake
Five star rum cake & lucuma ice cream
Drinks: Strong! I was loving that lol. Nothing like booz @ brunch :-)
Everything was absolutely delicious. The steak was tender and juicy. I was also able to try my friends shrimp and grits which was so good. Service was outstanding and the café itself is very cute and warm.
I can not say enough great things about Table7. I cant wait to go back and try the eggs Benedict. They also cater as well. I highly recommend checking them out!

This little café is adorable! Well-​decorated with a trendy atmosphere, the café specializes in onigiri (Japanese rice balls). There are 9 different types of onigiri which range from $ 2.50 to $ 4. The café also offers different types of miso soup and a variety of desserts.
I came here during lunchtime and ordered a combination lunch for $ 10.50. The combination includes your choice of 2 rice balls, 1 miso soup, 1 appetizer, and a side of Japanese pickles. If you are a big eater I would not say this combo is very filling because the rice balls are tiny, VERY TINY.
Sukiyaki — This included beef, burdock root, konjac and scallions. It tasted okay to me. The beef was lacking in flavor (especially at the standalone cost of $ 3 per rice ball).
Hawaiian — Very tasty! This one made up for the flavorless Sukiyaki, with teriyaki-​spam, semi dried tomato, chili and nori-​seaweed. It had a nice, sharp kick to it.
Kinoko Miso Soup — A good addition to the lunch combination. It was fairly sizable and included delicious vegetables (mushrooms and kaiware-​daikon). It had the traditional taste of miso soup with a slight twist to it.
Overall I would recommend stopping by Café Hanamizuki if you are craving rice balls or a quaint, relaxed atmosphere.

This place is amazing! It’s kind of tucked away and may be missed because there is scaffolding blocking signage. But once you walk in you’ll be so amazed by the cute décor.
It’s a fast casual dining experience in that you’ll pay before eating but the atmosphere is actually that of a restaurant. I came here on a Saturday at 3 pm and it was really quite.
We got some onigiri — unagi, Hawaiian and sukiyaji. They were amaze balls. I loved the Hawaiian. It’s not just spam and rice. There’s some sauce they cooked the rice in that makes it so much better. Their unagi is wrapped in bamboo? Leaves and the taste is so fresh! Too bad they ran out of curry and egg wanted to try that.
I wish they were open on Sunday so I can eat this any day I want. UGH.

My favorite place for onigiri in NYC. Honestly, super cute place and really simple décor makes you feel like you’re at someones home. I think if I ever get my own house I’d decorate my kitchen dining area similar to theirs. First time I went I got their tofu & tofu soup and their unagi and Hawaiian onigiri.
Now, I’m not a huge fan of unagi so I got it for my mom. But their hawaiian onigiri is my absolute favorite! So now, every time I go I get their hawaiian and beef oinari-​san (if it’s available). Their tofu-​gnocchi soup is DELICIOUS and of course no meal is complete without dessert. Get their green tea chiffon roll cake, won’t be disappointed!

This place is so zen, even though it’s off of a pretty busy 7^th Ave, near Penn Station. It’s minimally, yet beautifully decorated, combining bright, modern, classy, and rustic details all into one space. It’s my new favorite chill-​out spot in NYC between long bus rides.
The lunch combo is perfect. For $ 10.50, you get 2 omusubis, a miso soup, an appetizer of the day, and a side of Japanese pickles. I had the Hawaiian and Sukiyaki rice balls. Though I enjoyed them, room-​temperature rice balls may not be for everyone. There are several varieties of miso soup. I actually came here about 6 months ago and had picked the miso soup with enoki mushrooms. It was good, but next time, I would like to try the one with tofu pieces, seaweed, and scallions.
I finished off with a slice of delicious matcha chiffon roll cake. It was so moist and delicious. Although $ 15 – 20 is a bit steep for the amount of food I got, I was comfortably full and completely immersed in a meditative state. This place rocks.