What I ordered: I ordered the “create your own taiyaki ice cream” deal with a milk and matcha ice cream swirl with red bean inside. I was also kinda sorta forced to pick two things to go with it, so I just asked for two dark chocolate cigarettes.

My friend ordered the same thing. I actually copied them, but they got strawberries on the side.

What was good: Uh. Everything. Like, I kept thinking about this particular thing when we’d be walking around in the beating sun because it was so refreshing. I love matcha, but I don’t like it when there’s too much since I think it’s pretty bitter. However, it was just right, and it tasted great with the milk soft serve swirl.

The red bean was excellent as well! I felt like there was this obligation to get red bean since I got the matcha swirl, but it didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to eat it. It was a little sweeter than most red bean paste that I’ve had, so I really enjoyed that.

But the best part was the taiyaki cone/shell/whatever you wanna call it. A lot of taiyaki I’ve had have been kinda soggy and kind of crap. I’ve always dealt with it though because I’ve always liked the filling. However, this shell was nice and crispy. I think the best part was eating the tail of the taiyaki and hoo man was it delicious. It hit all the right notes with me, and I was completely satisfied.

What was bad: Nothing. This was delicious and I want like a dozen more.

I guess if I had to nitpick (and this is a non-issue), the taiyaki shell was still warm so the ice cream was melting pretty fast. I think that’s a dumb thing to complain about since it did not take away from the taste of the taiyaki.

Overall...

... man. This makes me want to learn how to make my own taiyaki and open up my own shop to sell taiyaki ice cream! I could probably eat this thing year-round and I don’t say that about a lot of foods! If I ever find myself back in Little Tokyo, I’m definitely picking up some taiyaki at Snowya!

You can find Snowya at: