Banh Mi Saigon Mochi bread dessert: First time trying non-sandwich options at Vietnamese bakery Banh Mi Saigon in Chinatown. This spongey bread has an aerated mochi-like texture that’s lighter than Korean mochi bread. It comes in a sizeable half roll, with a green interior (I think unrelated to its flavor, as the dessert just tasted faintly of brown sugar to me). Exterior is a bit like a baked muffin top. There wasn’t any labeling on the packaging, so if anyone is able to clarify the exact name of this dessert, it would be muc... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended nyc dessert sweets vietnamese banhmisaigon mochi bread 3.5
Mango Mango Mango Sampler: Purchased from the St. Mark's location of asian-dessert-chain Mango Mango, this platter contains a sampling of three different desserts. The first was starchy and slightly too firm glutinous rice balls paired with fresh mango fruit (the latter of which was ripe and sweet). The next was lychee jelly (very sweet and similar to the type you would expect to be at the bottom of a bubble tea) and a scoop of mango ice cream, which was a tad creamy and did not tasting distinctively of mango. The ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts nyc mochi icecream lychee jelly glutinous fruit asian mangomango mango sampler 3.5
Oiwake Dango Strawberry mochi: Before I moved, I tried looking up in advance all the best specialty snack shops in Tokyo, but since arriving, I've found a better strategy is just wandering around and seeing where the lines are. This small confectionary shop in Shinjuku specializes in various types of dango, or mochi. I purchased a pale pink one that unexpectedly contained a whole strawberry as well as red bean. The mochi was very pillowy yet chewy, the strawberry a little tart and not particularly sweet. Overall, I enjoye... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese shinjuku oiwakedango strawberry mochi 3.5
Nihonbashiya Apple Mochi: This shop adjacent to the Akihabara station has mini fruit-shaped mochi that are incredibly cute. I bought two to try: apple and persimmon. This apple one was my favorite with a surprisingly concentrated apple-flavored paste at its center. I didn't realize it would actually taste like apple, and it was well balanced and not too sweet, even though it's covered in sugar. 3.5/5.0
recommended confectionary sweets tokyo akihabara japanese nihonbashiya apple mochi 3.5
あわしま堂 Mandarin Orange Daifuku: I've had surprisingly little mochi in Japan, even though it's one of my favorite snacks, but the orange-themed packaging of this individually-wrapped snack stood out to me, and since I had never tasted orange-flavored mochi before, I decided to give it a try. The mochi itself is dyed pale orange and is much more plump and pliable than any store-bought mochi I've had in the states. The filling is almost like an orange pulp, slightly stringy in texture, and is notably acidic, rather than tas... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended mochi tokyo daifuku mandarin orange 3.5
Ginza Akebono Sakura Mochi: The first time I had sakura mochi, pink mochi wrapped in a cherry blossom leaf, it was from Fugetsu-Do in Los Angeles, I was surprised by the sweet and savory combination. The leaf is typically pickled and has a concentrated salty flavor that can catch you off guard if you're used to the mild and sweet anko-filled dessert. This version of sakura mochi was purchased from the Ginza sweets shop Ginza Akebono, where I had previously tried their strawberry-covered mochi. The chewiness of the m... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese ginza tokyo ginzaakebono sakura mochi 3.5