604: Mochido (Vancouver)

Updated: Aug 4, 2021

Finally, I have successfully checked into this place and have joined the hype!

Interesting fact - it's located in an industrial area in South Vancouver. Another interesting fact - this has come in as the second ... least favorite donut shop from my donut polls.

As always, I did enough research before heading over and my homework saved me from a long que. Although I arrived at a quarter to 1 in the afternoon, before their opening hour, a short line has already formed. By the time the clock stroke 1, the line was assembled roughly by 10 or so people. This is on a Friday afternoon by the way. As I was hiding behind a car trying to avoid the direct heat from the scorching sun, I overheard the people in front of me complaining how the line was insanely long on her first visit, but it was on a Saturday. (I didn't quite catch how long she had to wait for it though. I was busy looking for shades.)

I was the third in line and I honestly don't understand what was the hold. The first person ordered two boxes of assorted plus two singles, the second group ordered another box of assorted with some minor changes, I ordered three singles. It's so freaking simple and I don't even need a notepad to write these down. On the other hand, the lady took our payments swiftly and had us waiting on the side. I had to wait 30 minutes in total for 3 single donuts. For crying out loud, how hard is it to throw in three donuts into a paper bag!?!?!! What took 30 minutes!?

To save you some trouble, I suggest that you come on a weekday at around 2:30 to avoid the first wave of craziness. Of course, you could also pre-order on their website, but you would have to commit half a dozen of donuts by doing so.

Now about the donuts, I ordered three different flavors including the black sesame, salted brown butter, and ube coconut. All the donuts have the same mochi donut base but were dipped with different flavored glaze. The black sesame was quite bland but it's not as sweet as the other two. I can see why so many Asian bloggers praise highly on this. After all, the highest form of praise on desserts from the Asians is that - it isn't sweet... The sesame taste comes mainly from the sesame sprinkles on top, which were scattered sparsely.

The ube flavor has a stronger flavor but I could tell it's composed mainly of the Ube extract and coconut shavings on the top. It's pretty good but not mind-blowing.

Last but not least, the salted brown butter is my favorite of all. I believe it's a favorite from the majority as well. It's on the sweeter side but it's perfectly balanced by the salt added to it. It basically tasted like the caramel popcorn, and I'm almost positive that it's the same ingredients used, but minus the baking soda and corn syrup. Imagine a moist brown sugar powder paste that crumbles easily, and tasted like caramel popcorn on a donut, with a chewy and bouncy bread texture.

Overall, I would say these are pretty delicious. Its texture was chewy and fluffy and it did not harden after it was cooled down. Compared to Mister Donuts from Japan, I could confidently say that Mochido is superior to the mochi donuts from Mister Donuts (Honest to God and I'm not being patriotic). So well done! The ones from Japan were a bit hard and the flavor wasn't as impactful.

Even though I've given Mochido a higher score than Duffin Doughnuts, the same outcome from my donut poll, I think I would still prefer having Duffin's if I ever feel like having a donut. I have a hard time accepting them as part of the donut family, that's all.