Is It a Mochi? Is It a Donut? New Cairo Café Says: “Why Not Both?"

Over the past few years, the dessert world has gone hybrid. We’ve seen the rise of the cruffin, the crookie, the brookie, and the cheesecake brownie. The humble glazed donut? It’s been through the wringer - transformed into cronuts, doughkies, duffins, and even those questionably healthy apple-ring imitations.

Enter the mochi donut: the chewy-crispy-fluffy Franken-dessert you didn’t know you needed.

What might sound like a niche mashup has quietly taken over dessert menus across the U.S., fusing the bounce of mochi with the deep-fried satisfaction of a classic donut. And now, it’s landed in Cairo. MochiDo, which opened a few months ago in EDNC, SODIC, is the first café in Egypt dedicated to this peculiar and oddly satisfying treat.

But in a sugar-soaked world overflowing with six-syllable inventions, one has to ask: why all the innovation? Can’t we just stick to cookies and brownies?

Mohammed Medan, co-founder of MochiDo, doesn’t think so. “People are never satisfied,” he tells SceneEats. “It’s in our nature to constantly search for something new - especially when it comes to dessert.”

In a classic “hear me out” pitch, Medan brought the idea to his sisters. There was hesitation at first - but eventually, they went all in. And when we say “all in,” we mean it: creating MochiDo required significant investment in specialized (and expensive) equipment, not to mention sourcing niche ingredients. “The entire setup - from concept to production - took two years,” he adds.

For the uninitiated, Japanese mochi is a bite-sized dessert made from rice flour, tapioca, and coconut milk, steamed to achieve its signature chew. At MochiDo, that dough is shaped into rings and deep-fried, resulting in a crispy exterior and an elastic, cloud-like centre.

The Japanese-American fusion extends to the drinks menu, too: think boba, sago, and single-origin coffee. A colorful lineup includes date-banana almond boba, tamarind-ginger iced tea, sobia taro, and lychee hibiscus - all served in a space drenched in playful purples, greens, and pops of color. “We wanted the interior to feel as fun and expressive as the menu,” says Medan.

So next time you’re craving something sweet - but don’t quite know what - it might be time to give the mochi donut a shot. It’s chewy. It’s crispy. It’s weird. And it works.