I think a conditional retraction of all the statements I made about disliking Asian desserts needs to be in order. Because I do like some Japanese desserts like the peanut and black sesame mochi D and I had in Kyōto, like the green tea soft serve jelly/fruit concoction at Chanoma Cafe and like the subject of this post: the mochi waffles at Hana Hana.
Hana Hana consisted of a casual Japanese restaurant downstairs and a Japanese cafe upstairs. I’d long known of the cafe because C had mentioned them to me months ago, but it wasn’t until two Fridays ago that I visited when D and I caught up with N and T, and DT and his girlfriend. The space is exquisitely fitted out with wood and Japanese fabrics. It is so gorgeous, I find myself in awe every time.
This time, I had the mango mochi waffle. It was deliciously chewy, as I’d expected. It was drizzled with Monin mango syrup and dusted with icing sugar. I’m often weary of syrups (that you make drinks from) drizzled directly onto food, but this was the perfect sweetness and strength. The mango ice cream had just the right amount of creaminess (the taste of milk really puts me off foods). I could’ve done without the canned mango, though – it was mushy and tasted like it’d been processed, which was not pleasant.
On an earlier visit, I had the green tea mochi waffle, with matcha syrup drizzled over a scoop of green tea ice cream, two dango, and a dollop each of azuki bean paste and whipped cream. The mochi waffle was the part of the dessert that I enjoyed the most – it looked like a normal waffle, but it had the chewiness of mochi! Mochi dough can taste a bit bland, which is why I didn’t enjoy the dango, but the baked aspect of the waffle made it interesting. I thought the green tea ice cream was too milky (far more so than your standard ice creams!), but D enjoyed it so it must be a matter of personal preference. The azuki bean paste was just the right texture and sweetness, though – I would have enjoyed more of it.
I still prefer Western desserts to Asian (or fusion) desserts, but the desserts at Hana Hana weren’t bad at all.
Hana Hana is located at 5/209 Thomas St, Sydney NSW 2000.