I remembered the last thing I did before leaving Taiwan was having a huge ice cream made in minanoto hence I missed this place a lot. Now finally got the chance to fulfill my dream again! I liked their white peach cake, green tea cake a lot which were not too sweet at all. Also the design was very cute so good for gifts as well. The only thing was the high price level though…
They offer Japanese sweets (Wagashi), which are beautifully wrapped and taste great. They are delicate and slightly sweet. So good. The employees are always kind and wrap our goodies neatly.
If you visit Minamoto often, make sure you ask for their frequent buyers card. When you have enough stamps, you can get $5 off your next purchase. These sweets are on the pricier side. However, you can taste the quality ingredients used.
Definitely one of my favorite places to visit when I'm at Mitsuwa Marketplace. You can find them at Rockefeller Center as well. They offer more items there.
With a selection of gorgeous desserts, from delicate seasonal cherries in a semi-sweet jelly cover to sweet cakes with red bean and more, the costs are steep ($3 a piece), but the goods aren't made here, maybe in the Midtown East or a bakery in the back.
I've always enjoyed Minamoto Kitchoan's products. If you're not familiar with this company, they offer a variety of desserts that are beautifully wrapped and make fantastic gifts. There's a large selection of desserts, from different mochi and jellies to cakes and cookies. However, I came here specifically for their green tea baumkuchen ($27).
I was thinking I would still have to drive to Baum's Sho in Williamsburg just for tree ring cakes, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. The green tea flavoring is particularly strong, which I absolutely love. It's not overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. Japanese desserts, especially cakes, are semi-sweet. This is no exception. The edges of the cake tend to have more sweetness, so don't trim them off! I'll let you decide if the baumkuchen here are as good as Juchheim's or similar bakeries, but the ones from Minamoto are great in their own right.
While a lot of people go for the peach jelly, I fell in love with the fuku watashi senbei cookies! They had samples out the day I stopped by (cream and green tea), and both were fantastic. I'd buy a box of those cookies next time. Hopefully they have ayugashi when spring rolls around–I would definitely stop by again if they do!
I have always been in awe of Japanese hospitality and Minamoto is no exception. If you're familiar with Minamoto Kitchoan's frequent buyer cards, then you know that you get a stamp for every $5 you spend, and once you have collected 20 stamps, or spent $100, you get a $5 reward. I know that hardly sounds like a good reward, but it's not difficult to spend $100 here, especially if you're buying gifts. I had purchased some gifts from Minamoto almost a year ago, and haven't had a chance to use my $5 reward, so I decided to finally use it. I did feel slightly embarrassed to just collect a freebie and not make a purchase. I told the lady at the counter that I just wanted the peach jelly thing and I wanted to use my rewards card. Since the item I chose was $4.50, she told me that she could not give me the 50 cent difference. Of course I said that was fine. I was not expecting her to acknowledge the price difference at all. I thought she would just hand me the item, but she carefully wrapped it for me even though I didn't spend a single cent here. To me, that is a sign of good customer service. This individually wrapped peach jelly did taste good. However, it was rather messy, because the sweet liquid inside gushed out when I opened it. It tastes very similar to one of those lychee jelly snacks, which makes me think it is really not worth $4.50. In the past, I have enjoyed their mochis and kasutera. The mochi is usually light and tasty, not chewy and sticky. The kasutera is spongy, fluffy, and sweet, but not too sweet. All in all, love Minamoto Kitchoan, not a big fan of my selection this time.
What an interesting little place. The sweets are alot prettier than, say a doughnut, but they lack the umph i think my American pallette is looking for.
We got the little cherry in jelly, it was tasty, but not amazing, and at $4 each, it's a little crazy.
But I totally recommend coming here at least twice, to really get an idea of how you feel about it!
I remembered the last thing I did before leaving Taiwan was having a huge ice cream made in minanoto hence I missed this place a lot. Now finally got the chance to fulfill my dream again! I liked their white peach cake, green tea cake a lot which were not too sweet at all. Also the design was very cute so good for gifts as well. The only thing was the high price level though…
I'm a big fan of Minamoto Kitchoan.
They offer Japanese sweets (Wagashi), which are beautifully wrapped and taste great. They are delicate and slightly sweet. So good. The employees are always kind and wrap our goodies neatly.
If you visit Minamoto often, make sure you ask for their frequent buyers card. When you have enough stamps, you can get $5 off your next purchase. These sweets are on the pricier side. However, you can taste the quality ingredients used.
Definitely one of my favorite places to visit when I'm at Mitsuwa Marketplace. You can find them at Rockefeller Center as well. They offer more items there.
With a selection of gorgeous desserts, from delicate seasonal cherries in a semi-sweet jelly cover to sweet cakes with red bean and more, the costs are steep ($3 a piece), but the goods aren't made here, maybe in the Midtown East or a bakery in the back.
Too bad they don't give you samples.
I've always enjoyed Minamoto Kitchoan's products. If you're not familiar with this company, they offer a variety of desserts that are beautifully wrapped and make fantastic gifts. There's a large selection of desserts, from different mochi and jellies to cakes and cookies. However, I came here specifically for their green tea baumkuchen ($27).
I was thinking I would still have to drive to Baum's Sho in Williamsburg just for tree ring cakes, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. The green tea flavoring is particularly strong, which I absolutely love. It's not overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. Japanese desserts, especially cakes, are semi-sweet. This is no exception. The edges of the cake tend to have more sweetness, so don't trim them off! I'll let you decide if the baumkuchen here are as good as Juchheim's or similar bakeries, but the ones from Minamoto are great in their own right.
While a lot of people go for the peach jelly, I fell in love with the fuku watashi senbei cookies! They had samples out the day I stopped by (cream and green tea), and both were fantastic. I'd buy a box of those cookies next time. Hopefully they have ayugashi when spring rolls around–I would definitely stop by again if they do!
I have always been in awe of Japanese hospitality and Minamoto is no exception. If you're familiar with Minamoto Kitchoan's frequent buyer cards, then you know that you get a stamp for every $5 you spend, and once you have collected 20 stamps, or spent $100, you get a $5 reward. I know that hardly sounds like a good reward, but it's not difficult to spend $100 here, especially if you're buying gifts.
I had purchased some gifts from Minamoto almost a year ago, and haven't had a chance to use my $5 reward, so I decided to finally use it. I did feel slightly embarrassed to just collect a freebie and not make a purchase.
I told the lady at the counter that I just wanted the peach jelly thing and I wanted to use my rewards card. Since the item I chose was $4.50, she told me that she could not give me the 50 cent difference. Of course I said that was fine. I was not expecting her to acknowledge the price difference at all. I thought she would just hand me the item, but she carefully wrapped it for me even though I didn't spend a single cent here. To me, that is a sign of good customer service.
This individually wrapped peach jelly did taste good. However, it was rather messy, because the sweet liquid inside gushed out when I opened it. It tastes very similar to one of those lychee jelly snacks, which makes me think it is really not worth $4.50.
In the past, I have enjoyed their mochis and kasutera. The mochi is usually light and tasty, not chewy and sticky. The kasutera is spongy, fluffy, and sweet, but not too sweet.
All in all, love Minamoto Kitchoan, not a big fan of my selection this time.
What an interesting little place. The sweets are alot prettier than, say a doughnut, but they lack the umph i think my American pallette is looking for.
We got the little cherry in jelly, it was tasty, but not amazing, and at $4 each, it's a little crazy.
But I totally recommend coming here at least twice, to really get an idea of how you feel about it!