As a part of Snack Shop series, Annie Arriaga investigates the latest and greatest viral snack shops in New York City to see if the hype is real, if the snacks are yummy, and if the spot is underrated, overrated, or perfectly rated.
There are very few things that will get me to travel all the way to Chelsea Market from Brooklyn, but when Muji, the beloved Japanese home and stationery store, announced a new food market inside of their Chelsea Market location, I knew I’d have to try it. Like everyone else, I’m a big fan of Muji’s journals, pens, and overall vibe, and I had high hopes for the snacks they were selling after I saw it all over my TikTok feed. It’s the chain's first food market in the U.S. complete with robot baristas and a menu of classic Japanese snacks like onigiri and curry.
Bonus: Gucci Pineapple (whose real name is Alden) wanted to join my food adventures this week because of his love for Muji—and for me. (He’s a comedian, musician, and more importantly, my boyfriend.) One of our favorite things to do together is explore the city through food. In other words, we like to eat a lot. He’s gluten-free, so Japanese food is always a welcome favorite in lunch and snack options.
The Snacks
Predictably, the vibes inside of the Muji store were amazing. Organized, quiet, and with the ambiance of their little steam aromatherapy machines in the background, it was a big contrast to the usual chaos of Chelsea Market. We walked further into the store and could not ignore the barista robot in a clear, laminate cubicle making an iced latte. Fitted with googly eyes and a weirdly soothing voice, this robot known as “Jarvis” was the center of some controversy and is one of the attractions that brings people to the Muji food market. We started there and then ordered food at the counter in the back of the store.
Oatmilk Rose Latte (made by a robot barista). Alden liked this drink a lot, but for me, the rose syrup was a bit too pronounced. We watched the coffee-making robot—excuse me, Jarvis— pour the steamed milk into the cup in amazement. Surprisingly, the milk pour made a little heart. Unsurprisingly, it took Jarvis almost eight minutes to serve us our latte. I’ll admit I went into the experience feeling biased about robot baristas, but it probably would have been faster with a real person making it.
Right next to Jarvis’s cubicle is a counter where you order food and see all the options in a cute little case. They have a chic tiled bar with stool seats for you to enjoy your Muji branded lunch and gaze at their pre-packaged, shelf stable food offerings while you eat. We decided to order basically everything we could that was gluten-free.
Japanese beef curry. Who doesn’t love a warm beef curry on a winter day? Well, us. I usually expect a Japanese curry to have some veggies and a pillowy rice texture. The bowl was doing the bare minimum, just saucy meat on barely warm rice. Alden and I didn’t love it, nor did we appreciate the price: $15.
Spicy tuna onigiri. This for some reason had gluten in it, so I sampled it solo. I am a big fan of onigiri as an on-the-go lunch, and this one needed more filling—plus, I didn’t detect any spiciness. Meh.
Ume onigiri. Alden loves ume (pickled plum) onigiri, so this was exciting. Alden used to work on a farm in Oregon, and the lovely woman who co-owned the farm would make us these incredible ume onigiri with plums she grew on her land. Anyways, the Muji version was pretty solid. Perfectly salty, no notes!
Kombu onigiri. Kombu is a type of dried seaweed known for its umami and sometimes sweet flavor. I loved this onigiri off of the first bite because the seaweed was sweet and soft. Alden prefers salty over sweet and wanted to have more of the ume instead of the kombu. Well, more for me!
Final Rating
While both Alden and I love Muji as a store, we mutually decided their little Chelsea food market was massively overrated. Like Alden said, the food was a bit stale and meh. Not every spot can be perfect! Either way, Alden and I left with full bellies.
If you’re reading this and you have a suggestion for a Snack Shop in the city that I must visit and (honestly) rate, leave a comment here or on our Snack Shop TikTok video. I love suggestions!
English (US) · 