Two Ladies Kitchen - Hilo, Hawaii

Two Ladies Kitchen, located at 274 Kilauea Avenue in Hilo, Hawaii, is a place you will not want to miss if you love mochi, a Japanese rice cake confectionary.  A small family owned business, Two Ladies Kitchen continues to make fresh mochi daily for its customers. There are customers waiting out the door to get their hands on the mochi at Two Ladies Kitchen, especially the strawberry mochi, which is a popular item always on demand. Now, I too am in love with their strawberry mochi after being a customer this past weekend.

I would highly recommend you pre-order any mochi at Two Ladies Kitchen, especially their strawberry mochi, because it's a high demand item that may not be available at the time of purchase. Also, the shop is small and obscure, while parking is limited, so please keep your eyes open! It's not hard to find, but it is easy to miss. Also, Two Ladies Kitchen only takes cash.

The mochi, especially the strawberry mochi, is a perfect omiyage (gift) for family back home (if you live in Hawaii).  However, if you live outside of Hawaii, you'll have to enjoy your strawberry mochi in the islands because it's perishable and will not make it past the agricultural inspectors since there's fresh fruit inside.

I couldn't resist buying one of these for my mom who absolutely loved the mochi!  Nex to these, I saw mini mochi.

When my friend first told me about the strawberry mochi, I couldn't get a clear picture in my mind about what he had meant. "There's a strawberry inside with tsubushi an (sweet Azuki bean paste) and mochi on the outside. It's really good."

No matter how many times he described it to me, however, I wasn't sure if I understood what he meant. It sounded different than the mochi I'm used to. I thought to myself, "There is actually real fruit inside of the mochi!?" Maybe a jam or jelly, I imagined. 

It was hard to believe.  I had to check it out for myself, so I bought half a dozen to bring back home.

The strawberry mochi didn't look like what I imagined once I opened the box.  They were huge!  I couldn't believe how sweet and fresh the strawberries were inside of the mochi either.  It was one of the most creative and delicious mochi I have had.  Really.  Typically, mochi doesn't have fresh fruit in it, but this one was something special.

There's no doubt in my mind that the next time I visit Hilo, I'll be stopping by Two Ladies Kitchen.