Is It a Mochi? Is It a Donut? New Cairo Café Says: 'Why Not Both?"
Is It a Mochi? Is It a Donut? New Cairo Café Says: 'Why Not Both?"
Shops have pushed the humble glazed donut to its limits - cronuts, doughkies, duffins. But the mochi donut? That one we didn't see coming.
Over the past few years, the dessert world has gone hybrid. We've seen the rise of the cruffin, the crookie, the brookie, and the cheesecake brownie. The humble glazed donut? It's been through the wringer - transformed into cronuts, doughkies, duffins, and even those questionably healthy apple-ring imitations.
Enter the mochi donut: the chewy-crispy-fluffy Franken-dessert you didn't know you needed.
What might sound like a niche mashup has quietly taken over dessert menus across the U.S., fusing the bounce of mochi with the deep-fried satisfaction of a classic donut. And now, it's landed in Cairo. MochiDo, which opened a few months ago in EDNC, SODIC, is the first café in Egypt dedicated to this peculiar and oddly satisfying treat.
But in a sugar-soaked world overflowing with six-syllable inventions, one has to ask: why all the innovation? Can't we just stick to cookies and brownies?
Mohammed Medan, co-founder of MochiDo, doesn't think so. 'People are never satisfied,' he tells SceneEats. 'It's in our nature to constantly search for something new - especially when it comes to dessert.'
In a classic 'hear me out' pitch, Medan brought the idea to his sisters. There was hesitation at first - but eventually, they went all in. And when we say 'all in,' we mean it: creating MochiDo required significant investment in specialized (and expensive) equipment, not to mention sourcing niche ingredients. 'The entire setup - from concept to production - took two years,' he adds.
For the uninitiated, Japanese mochi is a bite-sized dessert made from rice flour, tapioca, and coconut milk, steamed to achieve its signature chew. At MochiDo, that dough is shaped into rings and deep-fried, resulting in a crispy exterior and an elastic, cloud-like centre.
The Japanese-American fusion extends to the drinks menu, too: think boba, sago, and single-origin coffee. A colorful lineup includes date-banana almond boba, tamarind-ginger iced tea, sobia taro, and lychee hibiscus - all served in a space drenched in playful purples, greens, and pops of color. 'We wanted the interior to feel as fun and expressive as the menu,' says Medan.
So next time you're craving something sweet - but don't quite know what - it might be time to give the mochi donut a shot. It's chewy. It's crispy. It's weird. And it works.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CairoScene
a day ago
- CairoScene
Ralph Lauren's Café Lands in Riyadh Serving Style & Signature Brews
Ralph Lauren's first Saudi café in KAFD blends New York charm, signature brews, and exclusive merch. Riyadh's café culture just got a stylish boost as Ralph's Coffee, the luxury café by iconic American designer Ralph Lauren, opens its first brick-and-mortar location in King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). After last year's pop-up coffee truck teaser, the new space blends New York charm with Saudi sophistication - featuring the brand's signature green-and-white palette, vintage décor, and a giant teddy bear that's selfie-ready. Guests can enjoy Ralph's signature brews, both hot and cold, including the bold Ralph's Roast, alongside classic American desserts like New York cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, and the Ralph's Brownie. To please both your taste buds and your eye, every dessert comes on custom Ralph's Coffee china. The Riyadh café also doubles as a retail hub, offering exclusive branded merchandise - think mugs, tote bags, hats, and even dog bowls. Partnering with Al Moajil Hospitality, this launch marks Ralph Lauren's growing presence in the region, joining over 20 global Ralph's Coffee locations.
CairoScene
3 days ago
- CairoScene
Saudi-Born A/N Tea Opens Quiet New Outpost in Cairo's Zamalek
Saudi-Born A/N Tea Opens Quiet New Outpost in Cairo's Zamalek After opening in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, A/N Tea has made its way to Zamalek, bringing a quietly curated tea menu and simple social ethos to a neighbourhood steeped in its own rhythms. Tea is a relic that somehow never feels outdated and yet, in a world brimming with turmeric lattes and QR-coded cafés, the simple pleasure of a proper cup of tea often gets lost in the froth. Born in the city of Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, to celebrate the enduring modesty of tea, A/N Tea is now steeping in a new setting—Zamalek. The tea-focused café opened its second location in the leafy Cairo neighbourhood just six months ago, marking a shift from the Gulf's eastern coastline to the Egyptian capital's island district. Founded by friends Annas Yoseif and Abdullah, A/N Tea began with an offhand idea during one of many casual hangouts in tea shops. 'We were just always hanging around in tea shops. One day we thought, why don't we open our own?' Yoseif tells SceneEats. The first space opened in Khobar with a clear mission: keep it simple, keep it social. That same approach has travelled to Zamalek. The café serves only tea and sandwiches—no trending add-ons, no bubble tea, no matcha foams. Instead, A/N Tea's menu draws from familiar blends like mint, habak, and karak, and includes regional favourites such as maramiya, a Taif-native sage leaf. 'We built our menu around the belief that tea should be drunk as it is,' Yoseif says. The café's Cairo location reflects its low-frills philosophy. Housed in a minimal yet warm space, A/N Tea in Zamalek aims to create room for conversation rather than spectacle. 'The main vision was to create a place that resembles a sort of common ground,' Yoseif explains. 'A place where people from different backgrounds can come and bond over the shared comfort of a good tea. We wanted to create a warm space for everyone. Our branch in Egypt echoes the way people live here - it's so beautiful, everyone appreciates simplicity.' What defines A/N Tea, beyond its limited menu, is its focus on precision. 'We steam the tea leaves so all the flavour comes directly from them,' Yoseif says. 'You'll taste the best tea of your life.' By moving from Khobar to Cairo, A/N Tea hasn't reinvented itself—it has simply planted its model in a new kind of city rhythm. In Zamalek, where quiet conversations and slow days still have a place, its arrival feels less like a disruption and more like a natural pause.
Al-Ahram Weekly
5 days ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Van Gogh Museum features African artist for first time - Visual Art - Arts & Culture
Expressive brushstrokes depict a man seated at a table, his face hidden behind a book of Japanese prints, a plastic chair in the corner, and a Nigerian passport lying on the table. It is one of 10 new paintings by Nigerian artist John Madu, created for "Paint Your Path" -- the first solo exhibition by an African artist at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, which opened Friday. Madu, 42, produced the 10 works in just three months in his Lagos studio, each responding to one of seven paintings by the Dutch master. "Before I even knew who Van Gogh was, I knew about his work," said the artist, recalling how as a child he admired his father's calendars filled with Impressionist art. "Van Gogh's works actually stuck out to me because of the yellows, the swirls, the strokes," he told AFP. Madu plays on the global familiarity of Van Gogh's work to build connections between local and universal themes, notably through self-portraiture and the use of symbols. Van Gogh's famous wooden chair is reimagined by Madu as a white plastic seat -- sometimes the main subject, sometimes carried on the shoulder of a protagonist resembling the artist entering a cafe in France's Provence region with a yellow facade. "So I feel the world of Van Gogh plays out for people to relate to you," he said. "I really wanted to pay homage to this master I really love. "So I thought for it to blend perfectly, the strokes, the brush strokes, the colour theme should connect together. "That would make the works actually feel like one." This is not Madu's first dialogue with Western art -- his previous works have drawn inspiration from Gustav Klimt, Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell. These references resonated with the "Beeldbrekers" ("Image Breakers"), a group of young adults who co-commissioned the exhibition with the goal of making the Van Gogh Museum more inclusive -- both in its exhibitions and outreach. "For me, especially, it's a kind of representation to see an African artist being represented in a museum like this," said Himaya Ayo, a 22-year-old member of the Beeldbrekers. "So, when I heard that, I immediately signed up for it, and now I get to take part in this amazing, but also very historical moment." Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
