Häagen-Dazs Soybean Flour Brown Sugar Mochi Ice Cream (Hanamochi): The ice cream aisle in Japan consists largely of individual single-serving sized portions (kiddie-sized), whether for popsicles or regular ice cream. The most ubiquitous ice cream brand seems to be Häagen-Dazs, which has many exclusive Japanese flavors. Their Hanamochi series, originally introduced in 2015, features mochi-topped ice cream. The brown sugar soybean flour flavor I purchased has a peanut-colored powder that often coats traditional mochi treats. You ideally wait about 5 minut... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Häagen-Dazs Chesnut Mochi Ice Cream: This is another Japanese-exclusive Haagen-Dazs flavor featuring white bean paste (shiro an) flavored ice cream topped with mochi and a chestnut sauce, all topped with powdered sugar. I found the texture of the mochi to be not quite as good as the soybean flavor I had previously – a little too sticky and not quite as chewy. The flavor overall was also generally sweetener and less memorable. That being said, without the soybean powder, it was definitely much easier to eat. The same unique c... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Happy Ice Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream Bar: This is the famed, verging notorious, Taiwanese brown sugar boba iced tea bar, containing tapioca balls, that have been sold out everywhere. The person who was able to purchase it did not reveal its source but did say that there were multiple boxes available at this unnamed shop in the city of Los Angeles. The bar is a true work of science, with the tapioca balls retaining its iconic stretchy and chewy consistency despite being embedded in a frozen ice cream bar that tastes exactly like br... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Hio Ice Cream Green Tea Milk Ice Cream: Even before I arrived in Japan, I had bookmarked this modern ice cream shop in Jiyugaoka to try for Tasty Snacking. Unfortunately, it's a bit far away from central Tokyo and I never got a chance to make it out there before COVID hit. I didn't realize, though, that you can actually find their ice cream at certain grocery stores. I went for the classic green tea flavor, which has specks of dark green mixed in. While I was hoping for a strong bitter matcha flavor, it actually disappointingl... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Hobson's Tofu Ice Cream: Hobson's is an Americana-inspired ice cream shop in Roppongi, decorated with blue and white checkboard and featuring American pop music from David Bowie and the like. It's decor is verging on kitchy but also has a bit of charm. While it's clearly American-inspired, it offers Japanese flavors like green tea, tofu, and yuzu. I got the tofu ice cream, which I really wanted to like, but to be honest it was some of the worst ice cream wise, mostly because of the texture. As tofu is itself a wa... (read more) 1.0/5.0
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Honeymee Honeymee Milk Ice Cream and Raw Honey: Honeymee's namesake dessert is a milk ice cream drizzled with raw honey topped with a cube of honeycomb, all served in a branded plastic cup. The milk ice cream is an excellent neutral base – creamy, barely sweetened, and aerated - the closest in texture to soft serve of any ice cream I've had. It makes eating the honey more manageable, but together, it's still overly sweet, especially if you leave the honeycomb until the end. You could just purchase the milk ice cream on its own, but wit... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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