Benkyodo doubles as a dinette, offering up an Americana menu of tuna or deviled-egg white-bread sandwiches for under $6. But for me, the fresh mochi is the star of the show. Specialties range from the delicately chewy green mochi dusted with nutty kinako (soybean) flour to pillowy white mochi wrapped around soft creamy peanut butter. Age (bite-size sugary doughnuts filled with smooth bean paste) and festive rainbow suama (sweet mochi dumplings) are not to be missed.
It’s best to beat the after-school rush, as early birds are rewarded with fresh picks before they sell out. I prefer these treats as an unapologetic second breakfast, and regularly order the mango mochi and humble chofu, a tiny honey cake that’s wrapped around a plain glutinous-rice cake. If you are extraordinarily lucky, during the springtime Cherry Blossom Festival, you might get your hands on the sakura mochi, a pale-pink rice cake wrapped in a salted cherry blossom leaf.
