Now grown up and finally in its permanent home, Mochi Mochi Japanese Café in the Cape Town CBD has morphed from a temporary shared space and tiny pop-up to its current, spacious Heritage Square location.
You’ve possibly passed an eyecatching pink Japanese character on a Buitengracht Street wall in town. Step inside the Heritage Square entrance and you’ll find calm Japanese symmetry in blonde wood tables and seating, the space brightened by colourful anime murals.
Visually, the new forever home of Mochi Mochi celebrates the playful “kawaii” side of Japanese food. A fun menu offers artisanal mochi, plus Japanese sweet and savoury snacks, and beverages.
Mochi is a truffle-like ball made from sugar, glutinous rice flour and water, cooked and pounded into “squishy stretchiness” for wrapping around fillings, says Tjing Tjing House Executive Chef Adri Morel. She demonstrates the action with her hands, then smiles: “It’s quite fun to play with.” Fillings include caramel, bean paste and chocolate. There’s even milk tart flavour.
REINVENTING A HOT FAVOURITE
Mochi Mochi Heritage Square opened its doors in January 2023, after quite a few reinventions.
Owner Ilze Koekemoer originally opened Tjing Tjing Rooftop Bar (and Dear Me restaurant) in Longmarket Street in March 2011.
“Japanese culture, food and décor has always appealed to me,” she says. “I've been intrigued by Japanese design and style for decades.” As her chefs started to show an interest in Japanese culture and recipes, Tjing Tjing House transformed.
Morel was initially a pastry chef when she joined Tjing Tjing in 2015. Mochi Mochi’s current menu is largely thanks to her enthusiasm for sweeter things, plus memories of a fantastic Japanese holiday.
“These were the first things I ate in Japan on my first trip in 2017, on my honeymoon,” Morel smiles. She’s referring to a souffle-like Japanese cheesecake, served with miso caramel. And Mitarashi Dango, three mochi dumplings on a skewer stick, butter-fried and coated with soy caramel sauce, and topped with kinako roasted soya bean powder.
JAPANESE CONFECTIONERY
When Tjing Tjing House converted into a multi-level Japanese restaurant in 2018, with Torii on the ground floor and Momiji on the first, Morel created Japanese sweets and confectionary to suit the individual restaurant offerings.
“We had great feedback and interest in various Japanese pastry items served in Torii and Momiji, but what people loved most were the handmade mochi truffles,” says Koekemoer. “We realised there was an opportunity to take the concept of a separate pastry and treat spot to a wider audience.”
Then Covid struck. “Before Covid, Tjing Tjing didn’t offer mochi, except in our fine dining menu at Momiji. People had always asked if we could sell it downstairs,” explains Morel.
“Our pastry section was tiny, so I was slightly limited anyway. The kitchen was free because restaurant restrictions meant no sit-down lunches and dinners, only take-aways. But once everything started opening again, we thought: let’s try selling mochi."
MOCHI MOCHI BRAND
Casper Schutte of Spook Design Co was tasked with creating the “kawaii” brand for Mochi Mochi with “unique, lovable characters”.
Mochi Mochi by Torii started trading as a pop-up in November 2020 in the Molten Toffee coffee shop next door to Tjing Tjing House in Longmarket Street.
“We knew Molten Toffee couldn’t afford to serve only beverages but had a lease for the next two years,” says Morel. “So, we did a mini co-lab. We had the food, and they had the drinks. We started offering milk breads, mostly sweet ones. Plus a few savoury milk bread hot dogs.”
It proved quite a hit. “We’d used Molten Toffee as a mochi testing ground and knew people loved the product, that they were coming back. It wasn’t just a phase,” says Morel.
Koekemoer believes the fascination with “all things Japanese” has helped. “It mainstreamed in 2019 in Cape Town during the Rugby World Cup. Japanese cuisine started becoming more popular, with a move away from Asian fusion. Japanese youth culture, through Harajuku fashion, manga, cosplay etc, exerted a similar intrigue,” she says.
As the Molten Toffee kitchen was small, the Tjing Tjing team looked for an offsite kitchen and found space opposite the Fire & Ice Hotel. The “Mochi Mochi Lab” is now their production and test kitchen for Tjing Tjing and Mochi Mochi .
In December 2022, they closed the pop-up and reopened as Mochi Mochi Japanese Café in Heritage Square in January 2023.
ALL THINGS JAPANESE
At mochi mochi, savoury and sweet milk breads are popular for breakfast or lunch. The Kewpie Mayo Egg Pan or Croque Monsieur Pan move at breakfast.
At lunchtime, an Okonomiyaki Beef Dog is fried on a flat-top, then garnished with kewpie mayo, sticky soy sauce, furikake and bonito flakes. The dog is inspired by a traditional Okonmiyaki pancake made with cabbage and pancake batter, but pickled cabbage is a filling in this bun instead.
A barista prepares pour-over coffees and Japanese green teas including Genmaicha (roasted brown rice tea) with its broth-like flavour, or matcha green tea, prepared with a traditional bamboo whisk. WAZA Japan imports the teas, and sells scarves, quality Japanese gifts and trinkets in their “mini konbini” inside Mochi Mochi.
Is more innovation in the Mochi pipeline? “Yes, definitely,” says Morel. “If Japan can provide the inspiration, there will definitely be something new at Mochi Mochi.”
IMAGES: Claire Gunn
Other stories you might like:
Ramenhead: Peter Tempelhoff's new eatery
Sip, savour, repeat