From Thai rolled ice cream to ribbon ice, I like to think that I keep up on my frozen-dessert trends. But my favorite of recent years is taiyaki ice cream. I grew up eating the fish-shaped, red-bean-filled waffles at my family’s favorite Japanese grocery store, never imagining that one day someone would design a version with a gaping mouth ready to be filled with soft serve. I don’t know if I could have handled that kind of knowledge 25 years in advance.
Though the vogue for taiyaki ice cream first hit the US around 2017, I haven’t found any examples yet in my NoVA explorations yet. But I did discover something very close when I visited Epiq Food Hall in Woodbridge for the first time last week.
Epiq, with its 14 chef partners, has a little bit of practically everything, from unusual tacos to Viet-style drinks you won’t find anywhere else in the area. But the highlight for me was a visit to Kiki’s, a vendor that sells both soft serve ice cream and unique, bunny-shaped taiyaki, called Kikiyaki. The waffles aren’t intended to be filled with ice cream, but for $7.49, it’s possible to get a cup of your choice of flavor with a Kikiyaki on the side. My solution? Push the waffle into the ice cream.
Both are worth sweet-lovers’ time, together or separately. My peaches-and-cream soft serve was some of the smoothest ice cream I can remember eating, with an authentic stone-fruit flavor. I paired it with a Nutella-filled Kikiyaki, planning to have just a couple of bites. Before I knew it, the whole hot, hazelnut-y pastry was gone. My dining companion had a similar story with cookie-butter-filled waffle and salted-caramel ice cream. And you will, too, whatever combination you choose. // 14067 Noblewood Plaza, Woodbridge
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