Berkley, MI — A few days before heading out for a week-long trip to Phoenix to visit some friends, I noticed a new donut shop of sorts was preparing to open in Berkley—not any old donut shop, but a new location for the ever-expanding Mochinut!

This Hawaiian-crafted concept combines an American donut with Japanese mochi, creating a signature ringed donut of eight connected mochi balls to develop the mochi donut. The unique shape has a donut’s wonderful crispy exterior texture, but it has a softer, chewier interior like mochi. And don’t forget all the creative and colorful coatings, incorporating additional sweetness and traditional donut flavors like strawberry, raspberry, and glazed.

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Mochinut’s newest location was set to open in Berkley, right along southbound Woodward Avenue just south of 12 Mile Road, with a soft opening on January 20th. Unfortunately, I would still be in Phoenix until Wednesday morning, so I made plans to go Friday afternoon before work for the location’s Grand Opening celebration.

I walked in around 1:30 p.m. to ensure I had enough time to place an order and capture photos and video for this blog post and my social media channels. The Mochinut in Berkley was booming with activity and was connected with next-door establishment Uncle Andy’s Pizza. I would soon find out that the owner of Uncle Andy’s Pizza (yup, Andy himself) was also the franchise owner for the new Mochinut Berkley location. Andy came by and introduced himself as I was taking photos. He was friendly and very energized with the launch of his new endeavor, explaining that he decided to purchase the space next to his pizza shop and enlist in the Mochinut franchise. Andy and his staff were all very engaging with me and the other customers who walked in, ensuring everyone was assisted and enjoying the fun new concept.

I observed several mochi donut options along the counter as I took photos and captured some great shots of the sweet treats. One of the helpful staff members informed me that when it came to ordering, there were two options: you could either verbalize your order to them to place or use the self-serve kiosk with a massive touchscreen. I decided to be adventurous and order via the kiosk. Although I only intended to consume one mochi donut, I ordered a half-dozen since I knew I would be heading straight to work and could share them with my coworkers. I also ordered three different Korean corn dogs with similar intent and got myself a boba tea since I’m an avid consumer of those drinks!

I ordered six mochi donuts, selecting the strawberry, raspberry with funnel, Oreo, Ube, glazed, and churro. For the Korean corn dogs, I chose the three specialty variations, all half-and-half (hot dog and mozzarella cheese): hot Cheeto, crispy ramen, and potato.

After my order was ready, I thanked Andy and his team for their service and headed to work. Once I arrived at my station, I quickly laid out the boxes and began snapping some quick photos and videos of the mochi donuts, corn dogs, and boba tea. As I was doing this, two of my colleagues, Ryan and DeJanay, also arrived at work and walked into the break room. They both instantly inquired about the sweets and food before me, and I happily offered for them to try some since I didn’t plan on eating that much!

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I always say food is often best shared, and many of my work friends are well aware of my foodie adventures and savviness when it comes to all things food. A side role at work for me has always been the food guru, guiding people to various places depending on what they feel for or if they need something quick or reliable, that’s around the station. I’ve worked with Ryan and DeJanay for over two years now, and we’re all good friends, so I was excited for them to partake in this new foodie endeavor.

Just as the three of us began biting into the sweet and soft mochi donuts, two other colleagues, Hannah and Rachel, came in and jumped in on the mochi donut fun! We all sampled bites of the different mochi donuts, separated by a knife and fork, and the room reverberated with a resounding YES to every selection. These donuts were so tasty but not overwhelming with sweetness/sugar, at least from the Ube and Strawberry bites I sampled.

I enticed my coworker Ryan to have the Oreo mochi donut, which he enthusiastically accepted and enjoyed in about four to five bites. I also slid over the crispy ramen Korean corn dog for him to try. Later, I asked Ryan what he thought of the mochi donut and corn dog he had tried.

“You can tell the donuts are top-notch just from looking at them. Many donuts look like they are made from a donut template (like a cookie cutter). These donuts have a slightly different shape, which suggests they’re rolled by hand. They also have substance. They have the perfect amount of dough. Not too light and not too thick,” said my colleague, Ryan Herbst. “The Korean dog with crunchy ramen hit the sweet spot, and not just because it has a hint of sweetness in the dough. The soft mozzarella cheese works well with the crunchy ramen. There are hints of the classic corn dog flavor, but more importantly, it is wide open to customization with an array of sauces at your disposal. Need more sweetness? A little extra salt and spice? Neither choice is bad.”

I asked DeJanay how she enjoyed the Ube mochi donut and the potato corn dog.

“I want to start off with the cheese pull in the potato corn dog. The cheese was very pulling, and as an avid cheese lover, I was happy to see that the corn dog had the right amount of mozzarella cheese. It wasn’t too much or too little; it was just right! I like the combo because you get both the cheese and the hot dog. They don’t overpower each other. In fact, they each had their own show. Cheese had its moment on stage, followed by the corn dog finishing off the main event.”

I was still chatting with Ryan and DeJanay in the breakroom as they were both near finishing their corn dogs. DeJanay described her foodie experience, from the crispy crunch exterior to the epic cheese pulls. She elaborated on the half-cheese and half-hot dog potato corn dog’s flavor profile and how the food had encapsulated a perfect balance of sweet and salty.

“Now, let’s get into the batter. It has a hint of sweetness; with the potato, it’s like sweet and salty are working together in a dance. They start off with a waltz before they break out the loud music and finish with a cha-cha. If they were real people, they would win the dance competition,” DeJanay explained. “The corn dog is the right size — you only need one to feel full. I highly recommend the Korean corn dogs from Mochinut!”

I sampled a sliver of the hot Cheeto corn dog, offering most of it to my work buddy and Foodie-at-Arms, Juan. I know what Ryan and DeJanay meant regarding the surprising sweetness lurking within the corn dog batter. It was a nice and different kind of subtle sweet whose presence you could note but not be overwhelmed by. The hot Cheeto dust was solid as expected, adding that heat kick to the sweet, all woven together by the delicious and copious mozzarella cheese.

Not to be forgotten, the Ube boba was a standout in the bubble tea circuit. It was refreshing, and I loved the container choice for the drink; it was unique and fun! The best part was still being able to use the wider diameter straw that typically accompanies a boba drink to vacuum the iconic and chewy tapioca balls. I went with the strawberry popping boba for this particular order, which made quite the explosive and fruity burst when you bit or smushed one in your mouth. The strawberry paired beautifully with the Ube, a blended-up sweet purple yam whose flavor profile crosses between vanilla and pistachio. Overall, I was delighted with this boba selection!

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My coworkers and I really enjoyed what we sampled from Mochinut’s new Berkley location, and I’ll definitely be stopping by for future boba experiences and the occasional mochi donut! I’ll have to check out Andy’s leading enterprise as well. I’m always on the lookout to try a new pizza operation, and it helps when it’s connected to another excellent establishment for dessert or meal additions like a Korean corn dog or boba tea.

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If Berkley is a little out of your way, there are other Mochinut franchise locations around the State of Michigan and Metro Detroit, including Troy, Ann Arbor, and Shelby Township. While this newer donut concept is still taking root around Michigan, I wouldn’t be surprised if more of these eye-catching and deliciously sweet treats start popping up in more bakeries and donut shops around our state soon! They’re just so visually appealing AND satisfying to eat; what more could you want?

For more information about Mochinut, click here. If you want to learn more about the new Berkley store or other Metro Detroit locations, click here.