Mikawaya

PAIRS WELL WITH RAMEN!
Strawberries and whipped cream, chocolate and peanut butter, a spoon and ice cream, cookies and milk, just a few things that pair well, and now adding to the list, ramen and Mochi ice cream or gelato. But not from just any parlor, thick, creamy, flavorful gelato or balls of Mochi from a tiny placed nestled in the Little Tokyo Village.
Not sure how it happens, but each time I’ve met up with fellow Unilocalers or civi friends for ramen in Little Tokyo, we end up coming here for a nice big scoop of some thick creamy goodness. And no matter what day, what time of day, or what time of day, there is always a line either to the door, or outside the door. The friendly staff scoops it quickly, it’s the customers who consume time choosing which flavors to taste and finally decide which flavors to walk away with. With so many options that are rotated out frequently, I can’t blame anyone.
While standing in line, patrons can ogle over various packaged Japanese goodies sitting on the shelves, and even some up for purchase, until they reach the mochi display. Let the drooling begin. Mikawaya Mochi is made with Mikawaya premium ice cream and encased in a soft, rice flour dough. And oh so good.
While I taste most flavors on each visit; chocolate, Crème Brulé, mango, strawberry, cookies and cream, etc…, my staple has become the Toasted Almond. Which is always accompanied by another flavor. Their gelato is so cold, thick, creamy, and fantastically flavored, never overpowering, nor weak.
Not ready to leave the parlor, well they have indoor seating for you and a few of your homies. So, pull up a chair, take and post your gelato or mocha food porn on the social media of your choice, and enjoy each mini spoonful or bite of your cold creamy goodness.

$ 1 mochi, yes please!!! There was a line the day we were here but it moved pretty fast. I got the strawberry and plum wine. I loved the strawberry mochi but the plum wine was just ok. That day they did not have the more interesting options like the matcha green tea or the black sesame mochi. I will go back to try more if i am in the area.

Everybody around the neighborhood loves this ice cream/​gelato joint and I can see why. The place serve all kinds of flavorful ice cream or their famous mochi (Japanese dumpling like ice cream bun). They have ice cream or gelato mochis which make choosing more difficult. We ended up ordering their ice cream green tea flavored mochi which is popular. It was great and I can definitely taste the green tea in it. They serve all kinds of pastry and cakes as well. Overall, my girlfriend and I are always gonna go here whenever we’re in Little Tokyo. A must destination in this part of the city

Mochi and Ice cream? It’s a match made in heaven.
If you love ice cream and Mochi rice cakes, this place is worth checking out. For $ 1.30, it was a cheap and delightful treat. They have many interesting flavors to choose from, such as guava, mango, pistachio and so on.
I especially dig the Green Tea flavor — it’s subtly sweet with pungent taste of green tea and a touch of herbal, definitely different than your typical green tea ice cream. It’s also worth giving the other flavors like Strawberry and Chocolate a try to add a twist to those traditional favorites. This dessert is best eaten within 15 mins :)
Tip:
Cash Only.

A great place for dessert if you’re in Little Tokyo!
They have mochi ice cream, ice cream, mochi gelato, and gelato. I’ve had mochi ice cream before, usually the store-​bought ones in the freezer section of the supermarket. However, I’ve never had mochi gelato before! It’s a lot softer than mochi ice cream, and they have a lot more unique flavors. I tried the toasted almond and the cookies & cream. Both were delicious! As for the mochi ice cream, you can never go wrong with green tea.
I usually have to get more than one because I can never just choose one flavor. That’s not an issue since it’s super affordable (ranging from $ 1 – 2).

My husband and I had the Peach, Green Tea, Pistachio, Mango and Red Bean.
Husband words: «What is this called again?»
Me: «Mochi» Is this your first time eating this?
Husband: Yes!
Me: Are you serious? That’s sad.
Husband: I can’t believe it to. How did I miss this? This is mejor de sexo…
Me: Oh man!
And there you go. the newbie loved it! We will be back.

Been wanting to try this place for a while now but every time the line is so long we couldn’t wait. We came early on a Friday afternoon after eating sushi. There was a line but only a 5 minute wait. The store is small and basic. They have a decent range of mochi and gelato flavors. We only wanted to try the mochi so we chose the hazelnut, crème brûlée, cookies and cream and pistachio. I loved the mochi itself but the only ice cream I really enjoyed was the crème brûlée-​reminded me of the ones you can buy from 7 eleven in HK when I used to visit and I loved it so much! The other flavors were ok. I would go back again but just for the crème brûlée

I can’t believe I had never been here before! I love gelato and mochi! Having them together is just as great as chocolate and peanut butter eaten together! Well, almost, lol!
This was a perfect place to grab dessert after having ramen nearby. They have several flavors of mochilato which is the mochi with gelato filling. These were the bomb!
I had a bowl of Hazlenut gelato and a Crème Brûlée mochilato. The gelato was smooth and really had a nice flavor. The mochilato was awesome! Next time, I’ll probably get the 6 pack to try the various flavors that they offer here.
I know where I’m heading now when I’m in Little Tokyo and want some dessert. My new go to place. You’ll find me here if I’m in the area. There goes one of my New Year’s resolution. Oh well, it’s so worth it ;)

Mochi and mochi-​lato are the reason to make the stop here in Little Tokyo! These ice cream balls of joy are filled with either ice cream or gelato, covered in a thin flour wrapping, and then dusted with a bit of flour. It is a perfect bite size dessert that pays tribute to Japanese culture, and here they also serve flavors you normally can’t get at Trader Joes: red bean, matcha, black Sesame, cookies and cream, to the gelato flavors of mint chip, coconut, and even exotic ones like plum wine.
During the new year this place goes crazy and the lime can get long– but there’s also other traditional Japanese dessert offerings such as boxed Mochi. The ice cream/​gelato mochis are still a must try (especially since they are a deal at $ 1-​$ 1.50 each).

I was happily surprised to stop in here for the mochi ice cream. Strawberry and green tea. There was no line or anything so there was no wait. I was pretty impressed with their selection and I sat (very briefly) while I finished the great combo of rice cake and ice cream before browsing through the mall.

Always a full house because it tastes so wonderful.
Line goes quickly though.
Limited seating, but it is at a marketplace where u can stroll & eat more!

If you’re in the area and interesting in something sweet, this is the place to go. The much raved about mochi here lives up to the hype and worth the wait in line, which goes by rather quickly. Nice, soft, chewy exterior paired with a good amount of ice cream at the right temperature. There are a variety of flavors such as green tea, pistachio, hazelnut, etc. However, if you go too late, the most popular flavors will have run out.
Definitely worth a stop if you’re strolling through Japanese Village Plaza Mall. $ 1.50ish each

My favorite mochi ice creams in the world!!! They have different flavors here such as pistachio, toasted almond, hazelnut, etc. and they’re all SO good!
Every time I am in the area, I have to stop by Mikawaya for these babies. I am a huge fan of their red bean, black sesame, and pistachio. Two always does the trick by satisfying my sweet cravings but the difficulty is being able to only choose two when everything sounds/​looks so good.
The mochi is absolute perfection with a sweet and tender exterior and just the right amount of ice cream. They are wonderful! You have to try these. I’m pretty sure they take credit card here too…

The perfect end to a hot day! We only ordered the ice cream mochi, which were perfectly sweet and fluffy. However, like some of the other reviews have said, it was not too different from the packaged mochi you can get at supermarkets. The line in the store was also pretty lengthy. While I would not come here all the time, it was a great to experience this cute shop.

Came here on a Saturday night, the sky was pouring and for some reason we figured that we wanted to get ice cream.
They serve regular ice cream and also mochi ice cream. We each got a flavor: strawberry cream, matcha and hazelnut. I believe they have 2 types of mochi ice cream, one where they make themselves and the other one is from the box you can find at the grocery store. They were sold at $ 1.50 each. You also need a $ 5 minimum purchase for validation. The strawberry and matcha flavors were nothing special but it’s a safe pick if you are not feeling adventurous. The hazelnut… YUM! That was good. I really enjoyed it. I can probably eat like 10 of them if I could.
They sell other things here such as candy, drinks and snacks.

Did not really get the hype, nor do I love the combo of mochi and gelato.
I went with the chocolate to keep it simple and while I did enjoy the chocolate flavor and the gelato, I really did not like the mochi, first a bit too frozen to eat, then it just gets soggy and messy.
Prices were fair and the service nice, fun to try but I won’t be rushing back for more.

I got the mochi ice cream. I think it was ok. Nothing really special. The mochi skin was too thin and powdery. But they do have a lot of unique flavor.

Thank you very mochi, Mikawaya! This 105-​year-​old confectionary is known for inventing mochi ice cream. Rather, its former CEO and President Frances Hashimoto is known for creating one of the best desserts in the world. And this is the original shop! It’s such a hit that you can now find Mikawaya’s mochi ice cream products in major supermarkets like Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Albertsons, etc.
When I initially saw the labels on the mochi ice cream display, I thought, «I’ve seen those labels before… ahh! Those are on the Trader Joe’s mochi ice cream I buy! Are they just selling mochi ice cream from a supermarket?» But once I learned that Mikawaya is actually the creator of mochi ice cream, I immediately backed down. And once I actually bit into the mochi ice cream, all was forgotten. It’s fresh and it’s delicious. The mochi is soft and sticky and not too thick, and the ice cream filling is confectionary goodness.
Flavors include chocolate chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mango, red bean, black sesame, green tea, Kona coffee, matcha green tea, plume wine, mint chip, and cookies and cream. The store also has mochilato (gelato-​filled mochi), gelato, sorbetto, as well as Japanese snacks.
A must stop for dessert if you’re in the neighborhood!

You think you know mochi, but you really don’t unless you’ve been here!
This was the perfect dessert (after slurping a hot bowl of ramen) to cool off.
Mikawaya has regular ice cream as well as mochi ice cream to satisfy any sweet tooth. And they also sell gifts of Japanese sweets in other display cases and on shelves along the walls.
The mochi from Mikawaya are made perfectly. The mochi layer on the outside isn’t too thick, like some places can make it, so you get a plentiful amount of ice cream to enjoy!
You must get either Green Tea or Mint Chip (or both like I did). They are equally sooooo goood!
I was a bit disappointed by the black sesame mochi as I found it to lack flavor (peeps who have had black sesame ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory in NYC would agree)
Regardless I’ve yet to explore all the flavors they carry and I can’t wait to go back to do just that!

All about the mochi.
Large selection with flavors that you normally don’t see in the markt aisle. We had the mocha gelatos and a regular.
Pistachio was okay, it had small pieces of pistachio nut. I have had better ice cream before. Mango and Crème Brûlée were more flavor specific and very sweet.
My friend taught me to massage the mochi until it was pliable/​soft enough. I think I might have just graduated from Mochi U after this one because apparently I always ate it wrong! Average $ 1.50 each.
Lines, super long. I think it took about 10 – 15 minutes until ordering. Less than $ 5 and I still used the credit card. Tourist-​filled. Buy it to eat outside, the place gets uncomfortably packed.