Japan Centre launches new mochi bar at Leicester Square store

Japan Centre has just opened an exciting [Mochi Bar](/en/locations/japan-centre-mochi-bar "Japan Centre Mochi Bar") at our London Leicester Square store, bringing you a delicious range of mochi treats to tantalise your tastebuds. Created by our expert Japanese bakery, and hand-baked fresh every day, our Mochi Bar offers you a menu full of mochi delights, and bubble tea too!

Mochi is a Japanese sweet treat made from glutinous rice or rice flour, giving it a uniquely gelatinous texture. Traditionally served as small dome shaped treats, mochi has become progressively more creative, and is now available in many forms and flavours!

Here are some of the delicious mochi treats you can enjoy at our Mochi Bar. This is your one stop shop for all things mochi including Donuts Pon de Ring, Cookies, Ice-Cream, Daifuku, Pan Bread and Dango!

When you visit Japan Centre Mochi Bar, you can enjoy a delicious bubble tea in a variety of flavours – choose from original milk tea, taro, matcha, and more! Our Mochi Bar also has an adorable range of mochi merchandise including themed key chains, birthday cards, stickers and pins.

Mochi has been making waves on social media recently, partly due to [Little Moons mochi ice cream bites](https://littlemoons.com "Little Moons mochi ice cream bites") becoming the latest viral food trend on TikTok, resulting in sales soaring by 700%! In Japan however, this tasty treat has been around for over 1000 years, and mochi makes its way into many of Japan’s celebrations. The traditional New Years mochitsuki ceremony involves making large batches of mochi and sharing them with the local community. The rice is soaked overnight, steamed and then pounded into a smooth paste using a large pestle and mortar. It takes two to tango at this energetic ceremony – one person to pound the mixture, and the other to turn it!

In Japanese culture, different types of mochi are connected to specific holidays, celebrations or seasons. In spring, when the cherry blossom trees burst with large clouds of pink blooms, sakura mochi (pink in colour and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf) are the go-to mochi treat enjoyed across Japan. On Children’s Day, it’s traditional to eat kashiwa mochi, wrapped in an oak leaf to symbolise the wish for children to grow up strong and healthy like a sturdy oak tree.

If you’re feeling creative then you may want to try your hand at making some of our mochi recipes at home, like these sumptuous strawberry and red bean ichigo daifuku or this [sweet red bean soup with mochi dumplings](https://www.japancentre.com/en/recipes/545-shiratama-zenzai-sweet-red-bean-soup-with-mochi "sweet red bean soup with mochi dumplings").

If you can’t get to our Leicester Square store then you can still enjoy delicious mochi treats by shopping at japancentre.com. Our ready-to-eat mochi harness some of the quintessential flavours of Japan including matcha, sesame, red bean, and zesty yuzu fruit. Which mochi treats are you most excited about trying?

Words by Emily Lovell