Asahi Imports
The onigiri come out fresh each morning and land in labeled baskets, salmon kombu and shishito miso among them.1
Why go
The Austin Chronicle's guide to Japanese food in the city gives this shop two of its categories, and the first is the rice balls: the most diverse range of these stuffed, triangular rice balls wrapped in seaweed is available at Asahi Imports
, made fresh each morning across about twelve flavors, sorted into labeled baskets.1 Named on that list are salmon bonito, tuna mayo, karaage mayo, umeboshi tuna, salmon kombu and shishito miso.1 The other category is soft serve, from a machine pouring matcha green tea and black sesame.1 That write-up is from 2019, so treat the basket list as the shape of the program rather than this morning's lineup.
Order this / avoid
- Order: two or three onigiri while they are still warm, and put the shishito miso in the basket if it is out.1
- Then: black sesame soft cream.1
What locals & experts say
- The Austin Chronicle, Jessika Roth, 13 June 2019:
The most diverse range of these stuffed, triangular rice balls wrapped in seaweed is available at Asahi Imports, Austin's Japanese grocery and gift market.
1 - The same guide, on the machine:
A soft-serve machine distributes matcha green tea and black sesame flavored “soft cream.”
1
Good to know
- Timing: arrive early or pre-order. The Chronicle's own line is that the onigiri
fly off the counter still warm
.1 - Which branch: this is the Burnet Road shop. There is a second Asahi Imports on South Lamar with its own health permit and its own record.
- Hygiene: Austin Public Health scores the kitchen 93, inspected 4 February 2026. The previous reading was 91 in October 2024. Austin runs a 100-point demerit scale where higher is better and 70 is the failing line, so this is not a finding.2
Verdict
could-visit — Austin's Japanese grocery, and the reason to go is a counter rather than an aisle: onigiri made fresh each morning across about a dozen fillings, which the Austin Chronicle called the most diverse range in the city, plus a soft-serve machine pouring matcha and black sesame. The judgment is seven years old and nobody with a byline has revisited it, so this is a reliable stop rather than a discovery.