Taiyaki, the traditional little fish shaped, waffley treat from the shores of Japan has arrived in London. Whilst this may well not be a new dessert in Asia, or even in London, the new Covent Garden store dedicated to serving fish shaped waffles is indeed pretty new.
Opening earlier this year, the store is literally what Instagram accounts in 2019 (and no doubt into 2020) are made of. Pastel interiors, friendly staff and super photogenic desserts in the shape of novelty fish. What could be yummier?
It is not hard to see from where the store derives its name. The original dessert is taiyaki and this store is Yaki Yaki. The traditional Japanese dessert has been brought into the 21st century, with a wide range of new flavours and inventive ideas.
The store serves three main versions of the desserts; mini taiyaki, ice cream taiyaki and croiyaki.
Mini taiyaki is what I opted for. These are warm, bitesize pieces of hallow, fish shaped goodness. You can pick six pieces for £3.95 in any arrangement you like. Flavours include vanilla custard, matcha custard, yuzu custard, red bean custard (the most traditional of the Japanese flavours for this dessert), Nutella or cheese and jalapeno.
As I do not have that much of a sweet tooth, but still wanted to try these little fish, I split six mini bites with my partner and we chose four Nutella filled fish and two vanilla custard ones. Nutella, being Nutella is by far my fish of choice, with the vanilla one being what I would describe as ‘nice’, although felt a bit dry after the gooeyness of Nutella.
The biggest option at the store are the savoury taiyaki sandwiches which are larger fish shapes, filled with pulled beef, mushroom and spinach or chorizo and these are £4.95.
One of the most unusual would need to be the croiyaki, which merges the humble French croissant with the Japanese dessert, resulting in ‘croiyaki’. Instead of conventional cheese and ham or jam fillings, these are swapped for red bean, Nutella or apple and custard flavour fillings, served crispy and costing £3.95.
The ice cream options are in the style of a ’99’, soft serve and a popular staple on many a food blogger’s feed this summer. Pushing traditional wafers and their regular shapes out of the window, Yaki Yaki replaces them with of course fish shaped cones.
For £4.50 you have a choice of vanilla bean, matcha, vanilla and matcha twist, ube, coconut and ube and coconut twist flavour ice creams. You can also pick one topping, free of charge from fruit, popcorn, Oreo’s, chocolate rings, sprinkles, popping candy, torched meringue, jelly babies, poky biscuits or ube wafers.
I am definitely happy with the choice I made on my first visit to Yaki Yaki, on what was a very rainy Saturday evening, just before they closed for the night. I am almost certain it is somewhere I will be back to in the future to potentially try their pulled beef big fish or even a croiyaki.
Is this a dessert you would like to try? Or maybe you already have. Which one would you go for and what fillings take your fancy? Let me know in the comments below.
Ellies London 
Okay these look so cute! Next time I am in London I might have to hunt these down! Thank you for sharing! Merry Christmas 🤍
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They are super cute and soooo good! I’m heading to this actual area over the weekend and I really want to pick some up when passing! ♥ Thank you for reading and commenting 😘
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I’ve never heard of these, but would definitely try them next time I’m in London. They’re very cute. 💞
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They are the cutest! I was genuinely surprised at how good they were – I think I was semi expecting them to be mushy or too spongey and soggy but they weren’t! x
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That is cute food. Looks tasty.
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Right!? It was delicious – I was genuinely surprised by how lovely it was, as I was honestly semi expecting them to be a big soggy or have that spongey texture, but they were great!
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I thought they were savoury lol silly old sod…..would like to give them a try if I’m in the vicinity on my next trip….😀😀😀😀
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Noooo, not silly at all – they look a savoury and there were lots of savoury options available in the shop for the other varieties of fish. I think the bigger ones were more savoury than the little ones! The place is right near Covent Garden so we can definitely get some ♥ Also, come to London soon 😀 x
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Wow, this is original! It reminds me of the little fish kiddie snacks, but with a new twist. I would definitely try these, ice cream being my first choice.
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They were delish! I can’t recommend them enough, especially because I had pretty low expectations of them. I don’t know why but I was anticipating them being soggy and/or too sweet! 😮 Pleasantly surprised fir sure and curious what the savoury ones would be like! 🐟
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I’ve been such a big fan of taiyaki forever because it’s so good and tasty! I’ve yet to try ice taiyaki though x
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Oh wow, that’s amazing – I can’t say it was really on my radar until I went here! I can’t recommend these little fish enough – they are seriously yummy, and I would love to try the savoury ones when I am next passing, although it might be hard with the lure of Nutella! x
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Looks yummy! I love Japanese treats, I went to a cute Japanese bakery once and their cheesy treats are pure heaven! Love this post ♡
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Thank you so much – I am so glad you enjoyed this post. I can honestly say I don’t think I have sampled many Japanese desserts or snacks, but I would be super encouraged to try more if they are like this and/or involve cheese! ♥ x
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Ooh these sound and look so good! 😊
I’ve never tried them before!
I’d love to try the vanilla custard!
Love Lozza xo
http://girlygabble.com
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I highly recommend – I am wanting to try the savoury ones now but I think the temptation of the nutella next time I am passing will be too much! x
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I’ve never heard of yaki yaki or this kind of dessert before (I do live out in the sticks though!) but how cute. Anything with Nutella in I am very much up for, as is my daughter. I don’t get to London very often but I’ll remember fish-shaped waffles for the next time I’m near Covent Garden, thank you and yum!
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I hadn’t heard of them either – it was seriously the fish shaped logo that peaked my curiosity – I’m shockingly under advised when it comes to all things Japan really! I can’t recommend these little things enough – I am super keen to try more!
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I haven’t ever heard of these before, but they sound so yummy and interesting! 🙂 I’ll definitely try them if I get the chance, lovely. xx
Soph – https://girlvsworldblog.com x
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Right!? I was in the same situation to be fair – it was the fish shaped logo that got me through the door! I can’t recommend them enough – there’s a flavour for everyone and I would love to try more of them for sure! Thank you so much for reading and commenting ♥ x
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I have not heard of these before, they sound lovely, hopefully I might try one 🙂
Nic | Nic’s Adventures & Bakes
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You must! They are wonderful! I’d like to try some of the other flavours and perhaps sample the savoury ones! Thank you for reading ♥ x
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I’ve never heard of these before. What an adorable idea placing these tasty bites in a 99 style cone! Not only delicious looking but perfect for instagram too!!!!xxx
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They’re so good for instagram for sure! I’ve seen a few places similar and some similar posts on insta since visiting but I’d never seen/noticed until I was passing the store 💜 Thank you for reading and commenting 🥰
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These look delicious! God damn the wedding diet! I can only imagine how yummy these taste.
Particularly the Nutella one x
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These are definitely worth a little cheat! ♥️ ESPECIALLY that Nutella one x
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These look really delicious.
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Definitely something to sample! ♥️
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Wow I had seen these little fish popping up all over IG, so now I’m glad to know these treats are called taiyaki! I think I would have gotten the mini taiyaki, too!! The Nutella and ice cream flavors call to me the most!!
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The big ones look so awesome but I had no idea what they’d be like so had to start small! Do sample if you get the chance! They’re super cute and yummy! 💙
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Looks cute and I’m sure its tasty. I like how this comes with three types and I would get the one with ice cream.
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That sounds like a plan! I think I’d like to have them again sometime in some other flavours! ♥️ Thank you for reading :))
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Just another food I plan to eat when I get to Japan.
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That’s such an awesome idea! I bet they have all sorts of flavours over there! x
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