A dessert ice cream shop on the edge of Chinatown in London is serving up unicorn and mermaid ice cream cones and fish waffle cones. Taiyakiya is located on the edge of Chinatown near Charing Cross Road and has been selling the decorative and Instagram-able ice cream creations in vanilla, chocolate, matcha, and rose flavours. The rose flavour is my favourite and tastes delicate.
Taiyakiya opened near the end of spring last year. Not long after it opened, I went to try the unicorn ice cream cone with the rose ice cream, plenty of sprinkles, and a marshmallow-y unicorn horn and ears. I was highly impressed with the soft serve rose-flavoured ice cream, and the cone creation was cute. The little cafe (there are only waiting seats) was very popular and busy, but the staff were friendly and apologetic for the delay.
I also bought a Nutella-filled Taiyaki, which is a sweet dessert. Taiyaki is translated to "carp", and these waffle "carp" with fillings are popular sweet treats. The traditional filling is red bean, which tastes a little to me like fig, but these and other similar products contain fillings such as vanilla custard, matcha, and nutella or chocolate for western tastes.
My last visit to Taiyakiya was last week, and I opted to have the carp waffle cone. (The last time, the carp waffle cone was sold out and unavailable.) The mermaid cone came with a fish tail and shell, made out of a marshmallow sweet texture. Visitors can also choose their own toppings from a selection, and I choose the mermaid sprinkles, which is what I had had last time.
Taiyakiya is located at Newport Court, the little alleyway running off Charing Cross Road into Chinatown to the square. They are open from 12:00 to 10:00pm on Sunday through Thursday and stay open until 11:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
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