With rats on tracks and boozers on benches, buying food from a Kreuzberg subway platform might sound like a clear no-go. There’s nothing dodgy about the Rice Up booth, though. They’ve been filling hungry bellies with eight varieties of palm-sized organic rice triangles since last December.
The Rice Up company wraps their goodies air-tight with imported Korean packaging each morning in Treptow to keep the seaweed from turning soggy, then ships them out to their onigiri-only underground vendor, as well as their new Friedrichstraße shopfront (opened June) and cafés like Betahaus.
For €2.50 each (€2.80 in Mitte), pick from classic fillings like salmon and wasabi to more fanciful concoctions like chicken and sweet potato, vegan-friendly lime avocado or shiitake and Hokkaido pumpkin. Fusion lovers, embrace the Mediterranean flavour bomb of feta, rocket and sun-dried tomato or the teriyaki beef, best described as sushi bolognese.
Battle the origami-like instructions to first rip then tear corners off your packaging, wrapping seaweed around the onigiri shoulders.
While end-of-the-day rice can lean to the claggy side, and the salty fillings tend to be overly mushed, Rice Up makes a convenient, transport-friendly snack.
