Tightly sandwiched between an art gallery and a beauty salon sits Taiyaki, an ice-cream shop known for their Instagram-famous taiyaki fish-shaped cone. But on a sunny, winter Sunday, other items were drawing more interest – namely, their souffle pancakes. Despite recent reports of hours-long wait, there was no queue to be found outside of the small ice-cream shop. But inside, it was by no means empty. Customer Julio Guzman commented: “It looks a little crowded so it should be good, right?”
Derived from a fusion of Japanese fascination with western cuisine, Taiyaki’s hotcakes have allured Instagram foodies since its launch. Dubbed “souffle pancakes”, the menu item was introduced early February and is only available to purchase Friday through Sunday, from 11am to 2pm.
“We do everything by hand. It took us four months to come up with a good recipe,” said Taiyaki co-owner Tom Yang. “We do it in limited quantities for around 100 per day. Sometimes, we go over if people come and they’ve been waiting a long time. We always make a little extra … Everything is made from scratch, that’s why it might take 10 to 15 minutes per order,” said Yang.
Taiyaki has been open for over two years, with their first location in New York’s Chinatown.
Almost every weekend since the launch of the towering, wobbly pancakes, the shop has been inundated with curious customers. Queens resident Vickey Song said a recent Sunday was her return after the lines initially intimidated her. “[When it came out], I was going to go with my friend but the line was too long at the time. It was two or three hours [long].”
Like Dominique Ansel’s cronut of 2013 and the rainbow bagel craze of 2016, the souffle pancake has become a New York novelty, exclusively available in one place and drawing huge crowds. For many, the appeal originated from Instagram and Facebook ads.
Taiyaki patron Leonora Gogos came with her mother. “I found out about [the souffle pancakes] through Instagram … I had seen lots of videos about these in Japan and this is the first place that has them in New York, so I really wanted to try it. I’ve only had one bite but it was a very good bite.”
The pancakes still aren’t the biggest draw to Taiyaki – their ice-cream still reigns, with many unaware of the pancakes. Yang explained this may be partly because the fish cone is unique. “When we first introduced our concept to Chinatown, we came up with a fish-shaped Japanese ice-cream cone, which is pretty much derived from a Japanese dessert. When people give out fish-shaped pastries in Japan, it [means] ‘I wish you good luck, I wish you good fortune’. We’re doing the same concept with the fish, but we added ice-cream on top.”
For me, the pancakes only cemented that I am indeed a waffle person. But the novelty of the dessert was enough to intrigue a skeptical New Yorker and for that, I might return to Taiyaki for whatever comes next.
