Even with a shop name like Mayo x Mayo, we weren’t expecting this much mayo.

The word “original” has a bit of a different nuance in Japanese. It’s not so much used to describe something revolutionary or inventive so much as something that’s unique to a specific place. So, for example, a restaurant that makes its own roux from scratch, as opposed to using any sort of pre-made version, might boast about its “original curry,” even if the restaurant’s curry itself is pretty orthodox in style.

But we recently stumbled across a mayonnaise specialty shop in Kobe that’s original in both senses of the word.

▼ オリジナルマヨのお店 = original mayo shop

Called Mayo x Mayo, the simple but inviting storefront is flanked by a little outdoor terrace section. After stepping inside the shop, we saw that they do indeed offer their proprietary mayo in both pouches and glass jars.

But what really grabbed our attention was the blackboard with Mayo x Mayo’s wares listed on it, which included a section for wagashi…

…a.k.a. Japanese sweets?!?

The first item under the wagashi heading was mitarashi dango. Dango are mochi dumplings, generally served skewered, and mitarashi dango is what they’re called when they’re slathered with sweet soy sauce glaze, but at Mayo x Mayo, the mitarashi dango come with mayo too.

We’re not talking about a little dab of mayo for color or a subtle flavor accent that might go undetected if you weren’t looking for it. Mayo x Mayo puts a ton of mayo on them, so much so that there might even be more mayonnaise than mitarashi glaze.

While Japan has a loyal foodie sub-demographic of hard-core mayo fans, our Japanese-language reporter Haruka Takagi doesn’t count herself among them, but she doesn’t dislike mayo either. She likes mayonnaise, but thinks of it as just one of many tasty condiments there are in the world, or at least that’s what she thinks when she bothers to think about mayonnaise at all, something that doesn’t happen all that often, to be honest. This made Haruka the perfect candidate for taste-testing duties, since she isn’t predisposed to love or hate mayonnaise itself. She was, however, understandably apprehensive about this unusual flavor combination would play out, and so, steeling her resolve, she swiftly bit down and tore one of the dumplings off the stick…

…and it turned out she hadn’t needed to worry at all!

To her happy surprise, Mayo x Mayo’s mayonnaise mitarashi dango tasted great! Part of this is thanks to Japanese mayonnaise being comparatively thicker in consistency and less sour-tasting than its western counterparts, and another part is thanks to Mayo x Mayo’s mayo having very little sourness to it at all, even in comparison to other Japanese versions. What you’re left with is a very pronounced creamy sensation, which blended deliciously with the sweet and salty flavors of the mitarashi glaze. Haruka had expected the two sauces to acrimoniously fight each other for dominance and for her taste buds to suffer as collateral damage from the battle, but they actually played very nicely together, and the mitarashi glaze that Mayo x Mayo uses being an especially sweet example also helped.

Mayo x Mayo charges 240 yen (US$1.50) for its mayo mitarashi dango, but you can also get a skewer of regular mitarashi dango, without mayonnaise, for 200 yen. However, you can’t get away from the mayonnaise with another of the shop’s desserts, their daifuku.

Daifuku are also a kind of mochi dumpling, but whereas dango are solid spheres, daifuku have a mochi wrapping that goes around some sort of filling, most commonly anko (sweet bean paste). At Mayo x Mayo, though, the filling also includes mayonnaise.

Mayo x Mayo offers two kinds of daifuku, both with a cream cheese anko filling with mayo mixed in too. The Black Daifuku (which is actually brown on the outside) also gives you the flavor of hojicha (roasted green tea) while the White Daifuku’s extra ingredient is honey (both are priced at 300 yen).

Once again, the result was much more delicious to Haruka than conventional wisdom would have led her to expect. The primary impression here came from the rich cream cheese flavor with a touch of saltiness, and though the mayo wasn’t nearly as pronounced as it was with the dango, she could still taste its presence.

Haruka had also picked up a pouch of Mayo x Mayo’s original mayo, for 680 yen, though, so she decided to add a squeeze of the stuff to her daifuku…

…and though she was no longer surprised by this point, she was happy to find that this was also a great-tasting combination.

Since then, Haruka has tested Mayo x Mayo’s mayo out with other, non-dessert food, and she reports that it works great for more conventional mayonnaise uses too. A trip all the way back to Kobe to restock might not be in the cards when her pouch runs out, but thankfully Mayo x Mayo sells its mayonnaise online too. And if seeing photos of daifuku has your stomach growling more so than the mayo, there’s a new dessert spot opening in Tokyo soon that you won’t want to miss.

Shop information
Mayo x Mayo
Address: Hyogo-ken, Kobe-shi, Higashinada-ku, Yamakitamachi 3-7-11
兵庫県神戸市東灘区本山北町3-7-11
Open 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]