Mochi donuts and ice cream hit St Peters at Shmochi
The team behind Shibui Dessert Bar are opening Shmochi in St Peters – a place where patrons can enjoy playful ice cream flavours and the viral mochi donut all year round.
When we walk in the doors of Shmochi – the new dessert bar by the Shibui crew – the team prepare four spoons, each with a taste test of their new ice cream flavours.
One is ube cookies and cream, which is lilac with purple biscuit chunks spread throughout. Another is Earl Grey and strawberry, which tastes like tea in ice cream form. We get a taste of matcha strawberry and the durian birthday cake flavour, based on the smelly tropical king of fruits.
“The durian birthday cake is our childhood birthday cake,” Quang Nguyen, co-owner of Shmochi says.
“When it was a kid’s birthday, your parents would order a big birthday layered sponge cake with a durian cream inside. So that’s like a throwback to childhood.”
He says, when it comes to the durian fruit, “you either love it or you hate it”.
“Some people find it really disgusting in terms of the smell – and there’s different varieties that are stronger, sweeter, more custardy, but it’s a love-hate thing.
“Especially if you’re in Asia, you can get some really fresh stuff. It’s really stinky. People do think it smells like an old garbage bin.
“I think within the Asian community, if you like durian, you’re going to love that ice cream.”
You might like
This is ahead of Shmochi’s soft opening this weekend, which is the next venue by the team who also co-own Third Time Lucky Coffee, Devour Cafe Patisserie, Ong Vietnamese Kitchen and Noi Vietnamese Eatery. This also includes co-owners Lisa Chao and Thy Nguyen.
Much like the small bites CityMag tasted, many of the ice cream flavours are based on nostalgic memories.
“You can be a bit more playful with scooped ice cream and add extra elements and textures in,” Quang says.
“To start, it’s like a bit of a throwback to childhood, but also heritage and Asian flavours.”
There will also be coconut kaya caramel, lychee and strawberry Eton Mess, cereal milk and cereal crunch, Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, and more. The seasonal flavours will change at the whim of the team .
“It’s all science,” Quang says on how he makes each flavour.
“You’ve got to format it. You’ve got to rework every flavour.
“It’s a lot of… taste testing, really, and then seeing where we want to go with texture or flavour.”
Thy says every flavour is made with real ingredients.
Subscribe for updates
“Even with the strawberry, it’s real strawberry – it’s not like the syrup,” she says.
“We use really good quality products as well. So that’s obviously the first starting point, and then [Quang] will do his magic and then turn it into whatever – like a jam or compote – whatever it needs to be in.”
Aside from ice cream, the other menu items will be the mochi donuts, which Shibui is best known for, fairy floss and a chocolate fountain.
Thy says she wants the space to feel “simplistic but also bold”.
“Colour was a big thing for me,” she says.
“When you walk into the space, [I wanted it to] bring out your inner child – how you get all giggly – that’s the feeling I was trying to get.
“So red ceiling, pink walls, just really leaning into it, and then just playing with textures as well. Our mochi donuts are curved, hence the walls are also curved.
“We want to have that really nice balance, and it really represents who we are.”
The team wants the space to be both practical and fun, catering to takeaway and dine-in patrons.
“A lot of the neighbourhood are very excited that we’re coming and people want to just go out for an ice cream on the weekends or just after school or something like that,” Thy says.
“So we definitely wanted to have space for people to sit if they wanted to. We’ll also have outdoor seating as well.
“It’s being approachable in that way is the biggest thing.”
Shmochi is officially opening next Wednesday and will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm until 10pm. It’s located at 199 Payneham Road, St Peters.
There will be a soft opening this Saturday and Sunday.
Connect with the business on Instagram for more.
