On a recent Los Angeles trip, one of the highlights was a visit to Mochi Cream for their mochi donuts imported from Japan. I went to the Torrance location, but there is actually one in Costa Mesa. I only wish I knew that sooner, otherwise I would have tried this place out a long time ago. I can’t wait to go back for more.
Mochi Cream is located inside the Mitsuwa Japanese Market. It’s a little shop that sells various flavors of mochi cream (mochi stuffed with a cream filling) and mochido (donut shaped mochi). The donut ones are so cute!
There are currently seven flavors of mochido and more than two dozen flavors of mochi cream.
Pro tip: If you plan on trying all the flavors of mochido, get the box of six and then buy the 7th one separately. The box of six contains one of each flavor except the newest flavor (green tea), and includes a pretty pink box at no additional cost. But if you just buy them individually, they won’t give you a box without charging you extra. I’ll go into more of our experience with that later.
Here’s my box of still frozen donuts.
The donut shaped mochi are made of mochi, stuffed with cream in the middle and a sauce inside the cream, and then coated with chocolate. Since they are imported from Japan, they are kept frozen. If you are doing a road trip, make sure you bring a cooler.
Once the mochido are defrosted, they are super soft. I really enjoyed these and want to go back for more. And also learn how to make my own. Here is the raspberry custard:
I also couldn’t resist buying their mochi cream. They have so many unique flavors like sakura, darjeeling tea, black sesame, strawberry shortcake, blueberry yogurt and many many more. It was hard to choose just a few, but this is what I ended up with.
Here is the cross section of the new strawberry shortcake.
This is a cross section of the blueberry yogurt.
The price varies on the mochi cream depending on the filling. The ranged for about $1.90 – $2.10 per mochi. These were good, but I enjoyed the mochido more. I felt the regular mochi had too much cream and not enough mochi dough.
Onto our mochido box incident. The mochido are priced at $2.30 each. My friend went first. He bought one of each flavor and they handed it to him in bags. He asked for a box and was told that a box cost extra. He then pointed to the one on display, which has a box of 6 for a price of $13.80 including the box. The lady told him that the box set already includes the charge for the box…except if you do the math it’s the same price as buying 6 mochido. He tried to reason with her but she couldn’t understand. So then, it was my turn. I asked for a box set and also the green tea one. It ended up being the same price except I got a pink box and a pretty bag. So then, my friend asked to return his order and do the same as mine and he’d pay any difference. They let him but the three employees sat puzzled over the register when the price of the exchange kept ending up the same. It took quite a long time to finish the transaction and I’m still not sure they understood.
Even with the box incident, these were worth it, especially if you enjoy mochi. I can’t wait to make another trip.
Mochi Cream
Multiple locations
21515 Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
https://www.mochicream.com/
If I live in Hollywood area, do you know how far it is to this store? Or are there any other stores who cater these mochi cream? I really want to try them. Thanks!! 🙂
I believe the Torrance location is the closest one to you
These look so gooood! I’ll be going over to LA for the first time in two weeks for winter break! Do you think these mochis will make good souvenirs to bring back home? 🙂
Hmm, the only issue is that they are supposed to be kept in the freezer, so it might be hard to take back.
Hi Kirbie!
I love your blog,
There’s a mochi cream at the Mitsuwa in San Jose, too. We normally order it while waiting for our ramen at Santouka. It’s a perfect dessert for our meals at the Mitsuwa food court.
Hi Christine! I did read that there is one in San Jose. I wanted to go last time I went home, but we never really go to the Mitsuwa in San Jose, so I didn’t have a chance to try it. Hopefully next time!
OMG, I can’t believe I overlooked the plate!!! It looks so nice! I’m so happy that you like it! TJ Maxx…clearance (cough, cough)
haha, thanks again!
Oh, I’ve never seen those type of desserts before! Those filled mochi donuts are so cute, but expensive. That sucks that they are priced differently too.
How frustrating about that box incident! Seems like poor customer service to me.
You should check it out next time during a road trip! I think you’d like them. Yeah the filled ones they have “premium fillings” and stuff which cost more. The box thing was frustrating, but I think it was just that they couldn’t figure out the math. Though there were three of them! Did you notice the plate? 😉 I used it for the tiramisu cake too. So elegant looking. Thanks again!
Looks super tasty. I’ll have to try them next time I’m in LA. Did the freezing seem to mess with the texture?
I’ve had reasonable success with Just Hungry’s mochi via stand mixer recipe. Its not as quite as smooth as regular mochi, but way easier 🙂
No, the freezing didnt affect the texture. Once it’s defrosted it’s super soft. I know the fridge will affect mochi texture, but for some reason the freezer usually works. I’ve frozen a lot of mochi over the years.
LOL at the price incident… The mochido looks SO adorable and delicious! 🙂
My friend started to think in his head “how many Japanese women does it take to figure out the price…” sort of along the lines of the joke “how many __ does it take to change a light bulb?” Heh.