For the third installment of my mochi train, I decided to go visit Kansai Yamato. For people that haven’t been following along, I decided to go on a mochi crawl through Honolulu. I’ve never really thought about mochi in Hawaii before but it makes sense since they are heavily Japanese-influenced. What made me really want to go to Kansai Yamato though was this amazing strawberry cream-filled mochi (Yuki Ichigo) picture that I saw on Yelp. This is probably the biggest type of daifuku (filled-mochi) I ate during my trip and it was totally worth it!
Kansai Yamato Location
The location is a little hard to find. We actually couldn’t find it at first even though we were in the right place. Kansai Yamato takes up a stall that’s inside a warehouse-looking building. You can either enter through the main Ranch 99 doors or there is a small single door at the left side of the building. Both entrances will eventually lead you to Kansai. You’ll just have to walk around a bit inside the building.
Hours of Operation
As with most small businesses, Kansai Yamato has limited hours. Their Facebook page says that they are open from 9:00 am-4:00 pm daily but Yelp says they close at 3:00 pm. I would always call them before you head over there since times are changing due to COVID.
What Is Kansai Yamato Known For?
Kansai Yamato is mostly known for their Yuki Ichigo (cream-filled strawberry mochi). They have a bunch of other cream-filled mochi like oreo, banana, ube, and chocolate, but the strawberry one is probably the most popular. They are also known for their peanut butter-filled mochi, obanyaki (pancake-filled pastries) and sansai okowa (sticky rice with mountain vegetables).
What Did We Order?
Of course, we got the Yuki Ichigo ($3.99) and one order of the peanut butter-filled mochi (sorry I forgot the price). I’m not a huge fan of whipped cream but since this is what they are known for, I had to try it at least once. To my surprise, I LOVED it. I thought the whipped cream was going to be overly sweet but wasn’t at all. It was super light and refreshing especially with the strawberry in the middle. I couldn’t believe it was that good! With that being said, I still thought it was too much whipped cream for my taste but I loved it nonetheless.
One Yuki Ichigo is definitely enough for one person and maybe even two. My friend and I split it and we thought it was the perfect amount. We ate the peanut butter-filled mochi later since we were stuffed and that one was delicious too. I would have never thought about getting peanut butter but the lady who help us suggested it and I’m glad she did!
Overall Review of Kansai Yamato
You HAVE to go and get the Yuki Ichigo. If this location is too far, I’ve heard that they sell them at select Times Supermarkets. If you don’t try one of these, you’ll definitely be missing out! Also, a good thing to note is that the Kansai Yamato location is CASH ONLY. So, make sure you have enough cash on hand!
Other Pictures
