Quick test The popularity of East Asian food is accelerating, and the latest craze is a tenacious Japanese ice cream delicacy – the café opened at the Helsinki Forum charms with its cuteness

To cutenesscolors and everything sweet are happy to immerse yourself in these times.

The small Retail space on the Simonkatu side of the forum is shrouded in pastel colors. In the past, for example, kebabs have been sold at the place. Opened last Christmas, Momochi offers mochi ice creams and donuts.

Momochi is just one indication that East Asian food culture is now of great interest. JK Shop, a Japanese-Korean store, opened in Hakaniemi in the summer of 2021. Taiwanese bubble tea, born in the 80s, is already available in several places, and Japanese mochi pastries have appeared in supermarket freezers.

Made from rice flour, the mochi, which is unique in structure and slightly marshmallow-like, is most often filled with red bean paste. In Momoch, the delicacy is filled with tough ice cream. The ice cream can be compared to Turkish maraş ice cream, although the toughness is not of the same class. The chewing gum-like stretch of Maraş comes from the resin of mastic pistachio wood.

In Momoch is buzzing despite the corona situation. Customers take their delicacies with them.

The showcase is like Marie Antoinette’s nap. There are several flavors of pillow-like mocha: blood orange, matcha, mango, strawberry, tiramisu, raspberry. We end up with the latter two and take the white chocolate-hazelnut donut as the pick-up boy. We take the coffees at Cafetoria, a roastery in Lohja, as filter coffee and cappuccino.

Everything at Momoch is done on site. The staff focused on their work seems to enjoy their work and the company of each other. It gives the customer a sense of being on the verge of something meaningful.

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Everything in Momoch seems to be thoughtful from cloudy lights to a donut wall.

We start spoon our moche until we realize the treats are being eaten by hand. The rice dough is so tough that the teeth work better with a spoon. Tiramisu tastes its sacred trinity: coffee, cocoa, and alcohol.

Raspberry is fresh and sour. Definitely a delicacy of summer heat, which can be mashed without fear that the ice cream will melt along your arm.

Donut is also a degree tougher than usual. The combination of white chocolate and roasted hazelnuts is unbeatable. Hot coffee sits better on the side of a donut than a cold mochi ice cream. After the test day, cold canned beverages such as Taiwanese bubble tea and banana milk will also appear on the shelf.

Everything in Momoch seems to be thoughtful from cloudy lights to a donut wall. The latter combines Japanese aesthetics with a shameless posing culture. Many stop in front of a wall and lift two fingers or their donuts up for a picture.

Momochissa forgets about the hard world for a moment, sinks into the multi-sensory and soft mochi cloud.