K Minamoto | San Francisco — Local services in San Francisco

We just happened to walk by and noticed the window display, very much in the Japanese sushi restaurants...but hold on, it wasn't sushi. We had to investigate.

This simply shop displayed the various Japanese sweets known as "Wagashi". Food in Japanese culture is both pleasing to the eyes but also tastes really good. We grabbed a basket and started reading the little signs describing the flavor and type of sweet. Some we're like Chinese moon cakes with red bean fillings, while others were mochi with different seasonal fillings, while others were jellies fill with fruit. There was also an interesting item we picked up, it was a block of jelly which you push through a tube into individual strings and you dip into a sweet sauce. My girls loved everything we brought it. I should add, we really loved the sweets with whole chestnuts in the middle.

It was a slightly pricey treat, but all so good. The sales women inside the store were all very sweet and of course polite. The one that helped us was even teaching my daughters some of the words they didn't...

If you like trying tasty Japanese desserts, this is the place for you.

Located on busy Market street is K. Minamoto, a Japanese dessert store with a myriad of selections and outstanding customer service. You'll be greeted when you enter and thanked when you leave, and the staff are happy to answer questions. The prices are high especially for prepackaged food, but a box of high quality desserts will make a wonderful gift to anybody.

I bought a matcha senbei and a chocolate mikasa. The matcha senbei has a flavorful filling trapped between two thin but wavy (like wavy potato chips) macaron reminiscent cookies. The chocolate mikasa (dorayaki) has a luscious, incredibly creamy chocolate filling between two little pancakes. I paid nearly $10 for them so I wouldn't go every day, but this is a good place if you'd like to treat yourself. If you'd like to try only one thing, I'd recommend a chocolate mikasa. You won't regret it.

P.S.

Even if you're not going in, you should probably pause to look at the display. It changes from time to time and they're always...

What a great store to find great unique Japanese desserts. Similar to ones you see in Asia, everything is perfectly displayed and wrapped... as if it's a gift.

I came and was curious to see what they had. To my surprise, they not only have a lot of boxed gifting options but also individuals desserts to buy and eat on the spot.

The staff is kind, polite, and attentive. They were helpful to find the right mochi for me to buy and bring back home. They were able to tell me which ones would survive the plane ride back.

The mochi itself had the the perfect soft chew while giving way to the dense sweetened chestnut paste inside. It was rich and sweetened lightly. The chestnut was very flavourful and reminded me of the roasted chestnut flavour you get on the street. Wonderful spot and I highly...