La Mochi Donuts & Sweets
La Mochi Donuts & Sweets serves up colourful and creative Japanese-inspired treats. Established in 2021, this bakery prides itself on being one of Toronto's earliest sources of mochi donuts.
The store is both bigger and smaller than I expected it to be. Though seating is scarce and a takeout counter fills most of the space, the building is still bursting with personality.
The walls are painted pastel pink and white, with a fun pattern that curves and criss-crosses like melting icing.
Neon donuts are scattered throughout the room, complementing the bakery's rainbow logo and giving the space a cute, playful vibe.
La Mochi's menu is fairly limited. Its main draws are its deliciously chewy donuts — made with sticky rice flour — and its selection of imported Asian beverages.
Donuts can be ordered individually ($4.25), or bought in boxes of six ($25) or twelve ($45). These pastries are baked daily and decorated by hand.
We tried six different flavours, starting with the Strawberry Pocky Donut. This tasty treat is covered in sticky strawberry glaze and crispy pocky bits. The Creme Brulee Donut is equally gooey, thanks to a thick layer of creamy yellow frosting.
While the taste isn't identical to creme brulee, it has a rich, caramelized quality that nevertheless evokes the popular dessert.The Chocolate Donut is covered in chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles, which make it a bit denser than the other options.The Matcha and Oreos Donut combines the bitter taste of matcha tea with the crunchy sweetness of Oreo Cookies.The Fruity Pebbles Donut takes things a step further by covering an otherwise conventional vanilla donut with pieces of multicoloured cereal. The crunchy pebbles make this donut a delightful standout.Rounding out our six pack is the Hazelnut Donut, a mild, semi-sweet donut topped with crushed hazelnuts. Other flavours on offer include Original, which is dusted with powdered sugar, and Mango, which comes covered in rainbow sprinkles.
Black Sesame, Cookies and Cream, Churro and Coffee flavoured donuts are also available.We also tried the Yamanashi Grape Cider ($3), a fizzy, non-alcoholic drink made from red grapes.My favourite drink was the Lemon Ramune ($2), a soft drink served in a distinctive glass bottle sealed with a clear marble.
The citrus-flavoured soda is tasty enough, but the bottle's design makes drinking it a unique experience.
If you've never had ramune before, give it a try. There's something immensely satisfying about pushing the plunger down and watching the marble drop out.La Mochi Donuts & Sweets is located at 3272 Midland Ave, Unit B115.
Fareen Karim