Think of the nori-temaki (nori roll) as a cousin of the humble onigiri rice "ball" — but served in a cylindrical shape, rather than the flattened pyramids of soft white grain found at every convenience store. Expect to hear much more about this elongated take on the genre if the folks at Global-Dining have their way.

They're the people behind Gonpachi (aka the "Kill Bill" restaurant) and its new spinoff, Nori-Temaki, in Harajuku. It looks much like a sushi counter, and the principle is the same. You order your choice of filling, and within seconds your temaki is stuffed, rolled and placed in front of you in its gleaming, dark green casing of nori seaweed.

Order the simplest set meal (three temaki, plus miso soup; ¥980) and you get crunchy nagaimo yam paired with mentaiko (spicy pollock roe) and shiso leaf —for extra tang — in your first maki; salmon and avocado in the second; and salty-savory nori paste in the third.

There are other, pricier options, such as ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin) and gyūshigure (sweet-savory beef). But in the final analysis, neither the setting nor these more sophisticated offerings are exciting enough to lure one away from those ubiquitous machine-formed, origami-wrapped rice balls at the konbini (convenience store).

Co-op Olympia 1F, Jingumae 6-35-3, Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0001; 03-5962-7995; gonpachi.global-dining.info/nori-temaki/harajuku; open daily 11 a.m.-9:15 p.m. (L.O.).; temaki set menu from ¥980; Nearest stations Harajuku, Meiji-Jingumae; nonsmoking; major cards accepted; English menu; little English spoken