Take Out: Mango Pomelo Mochi from Mochi Lab

So, this is super random, but when I went to see my optometrist (who is a pretty hardcore foodie) last month, we started talking about restaurants in Koreatown North because I told her about my BTS food pilgrimage, and she highly, highly recommended Mochi Lab. In fact, she recommended it more than any other eatery in the area, and she's eaten almost everywhere along Yonge Street from Finch to Sheppard. I mentioned this to Minji who, as it turns out, is also obsessed with Mochi Lab, so since we were in the area, she insisted to take me there for my first visit.

Mango Pomelo mochi with butter crunch crumbs

Mochi Lab is a tiny take out-only shop that has just enough room for a little kitchen area, a counter partition, and a very narrow front area that has just enough room for a kiosk to order from and maybe four to five people to stand in. We got there around 4:00PM and there was a constant line-up at the kiosk, though this must've been a "slow" period because some reviews have said that the wait is over 30 minutes, but both Minji and I got ours within five minutes. Now, they recommend eating their mochi within 24 hours, but it's obviously ideal to eat them right away to get maximum freshness. However, there's no room in the store to eat these, so you have to go elsewhere. Luckily, there are a lot of random parks and playgrounds in this area, so there's actually plenty of choice for benches and cement blocks to sit on. Thus, we took headed over to an empty playground so Daniel could play with Lillian and Minji and I could devour our mochi. 

Mango Pomelo mochi with butter crunch crumbs

I decided to get the Mango Pomelo Mochi ($13.99 + tax), which consists of fresh mango and pomelo layered in cream cheese, all wrapped in mochi and then coated in butter crunch crumbs. Apparently, they used to just wrap their mochi up in parchment paper so they got messy real fast, but they put them in wax paper-lined bowls with lids now and provide forks, so it's much easier to eat (and store, if you aren't eating it right away). Now, I will be the first to admit that these are not photogenic. But for what they lack in looks, they totally make up for in UTTER DELICIOUSNESS. 

The mochi itself is super soft, super pillowy, and super stretchy with just the perfect amount of chew. It is wrapped tightly around a very generous mound of filling — I counted no less than six giant chunks of mango. Mine actually didn't have a lot of pomelo in it, so it was definitely more mango-forward, but I'm not mad about it because, frankly, I got this more for the mango than the pomelo. The cream cheese filling is mild and fluffy, and I think the slight salty tang tempers the ultra-sweet fruit really well. It is expensive for what it is, but in a city where we pay $8 for bubble tea now, I actually think $15 is fair for what I got — especially since the mochi is bigger than my palm. That having been said, I'm glad I don't live near here because my diabetic ass would be tempted to get one every damn day...

Mochi Lab

10 Northtown Way, Unit 112

North York, ON M2N 7L4

(416) 225-8885