I always love visiting this store when I'm at the Stanford Mall. Since it's close by, I thought I'd stop in before going home. You are always greeted my the friendly employees. Everything is decorated so nicely and organized very well. It's very pleasing to the eye. They have lots of yummy sweets, cakes and cookies. I purchased a white peach Castella cake, a white peach Financier and an apple Financier, as well as a chestnut waffle cookie. I did notice that the prices have increased, probably because of tariffs. read more

See all

O to the M to the G! All these sweets just for me?! Believe me! If I could I definitely would! This is such a cute shop with different types, hold up! This shop is filled with a very very eye pleasing variety of Japanese desserts and stuff that are packaged all cute! I was overwhelmed with everything and I actually wanted to buy everything! I had to control myself so I bought a few things and some individual desserts that looked so cute! Or should I say Cute AF! All we can say is that you would probably have to go through their website because my pics don't do this place justice. The employee working the shop was very knowledgeable and helpful. And that's my take on this dessert shop, Peace read more

See all

This upscale Japanese confectionery is located in Stanford Mall closest to Bloomingdales. They sell a variety of packaged sweets and some savories (mostly rice crackers). The sweets come in various forms: jelly, mochi, cookies etc.) I'm not certain they sell brands such as Yoku Moku as their items seem to be in house. I like to give them away as gifts to business associates, friends, and family. I wish they sold some items individually rather than a package so I can try them before I purchase a set. Customer service is friendly enough and the ambiance is boutique like. read more

I was persuaded to visit bc of a tasting event for Bon Cha Matcha & Hojicha & a few desserts to sample. This is a much more spacious location than the one in S.F. They seem to have more items as well. Items Purchased: Matcha Mochi (8pieces)$19- Martha dusted mochi that is so fresh, chewy & made with quality matcha powder. Always a favorite of mine Avashirabe Matcha & Original $4.20 each -a soft cookie on the outside & a matcha or white bean paste in the inside makes it a perfect pairing with tea. Ayashirabe $5.40-a shortbread like outer shell with a blueberry filling. It is the most expensive item I bought, so I like to savor this Ayasirabe & take the time to enjoy each bite. Bon Cha Matcha & Hojicha sampling was nice. The Matcha was comparable to what I have tasted before & of good quality. The Hojicha had a wonderfully earthly, grainy texture reminding me of sesame seeds, which I love. I would definitely buy the Hojicha when I run out. With freshness in mind, K.Minamoto is a place to get your Japanese treats. read more

See all

Both customer service and the boxes of peach and matcha mochis were excellent. After having bought 2 boxes of stale mochis, I reached out to Minamoto Kitchoan to explain the situation. They promptly and efficiently rectified the matter. We enjoyed the fresh newly shipped mochis within 2 weeks. We appreciate that they took the matter seriously and lived up to their reputation for excellent customer care and satisfaction. Thank you! read more

Cute mochi shop It is pricey! Friendly service Always ask for chill jelly :) Thanks! read more

See all

Minamoto Kitchoan: Delicious Wagashi with a Price Tag Minamoto Kitchoan is a great place to try authentic Japanese wagashi (sweets). The treats are beautifully crafted and delicate, with flavors that are subtle and interesting. I especially enjoyed the chocolate mikasa. It was very light, not too sweet and fresh. The staff was very sweet and friendly too. Each item was presented and organized in a beautiful way as you'd expect. However, be prepared for a bit of a splurge. Wagashi are traditionally made with high-quality ingredients, and that's reflected in the price. While definitely worth a try, especially for a special occasion, it's not an everyday treat for most budgets. Overall, 4 stars for Minamoto Kitchoan. Exquisite wagashi and a lovely introduction to Japanese confectionery, but keep in mind the price point. read more

See all

Upscale mochi Was shopping at Stanford mall and stumbled upon this cute little shop and couldn't resist walking in. They have a large variety of mochi and packaged into aesthetically pleasing packaging. I picked up a single package pear mochi as well as a matcha crème wafer. Their mochi is super soft and very sweet. It was super tasty. Downside is that their prices are premium - $4-6 for a single mochi. However, the mochi itself is beautiful and packaged super well. Not a bad place to pick up a fancy and tasty holiday gift read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Pear mochi and matcha crème wafer - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

We recently wandered into this Japanese specialty treat store at the Palo Alto Shopping Center. I bought a small box of white peach mochi to try. At $19, it is pricey for the quantity. However, they are delicious, soft, sweet, delicate, and flavorful; easily the best mochi/manju type snack I have ever tasted! So, if you want a special treat, it is hard to best these! read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Small box of white peach mochi - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Everything here is so aesthetically beautiful! Simply decorated store and beautiful desserts. Prices were kind of high because I think the desserts are directly from Japan, but also a reason why I don't think any of the desserts are fresh and made in house. We got only two items two try. Kuridaifuku: the description said one of their most popular items. It was cold and refrigerated. The mochi was chewy, but most soft and fluffy. The filling was good but wayy too sweet for my liking for delicate mochi desserts. $4.20 for a piece of mochi is also kind of expensive compared to what you can get at local Japanese spots. read more

See all

I heard great things about this fire from my friend and went to check it out. It's a gorgeous traditional Mochi store. I tried two different types of Mochi that were both supposed to be best sellers. The wrapping of the Mochi is especially elegant and delightful and would make for a cute present. The Mochi itself was super soft and well made. Out of the two mochis, I preferred the peach flavored one more (the one with yellow and pink packaging). read more

See all

I came with high expectations.. The wagashi (Japanese sweets) they sell are what you would expect from an authentic Japanese sweet shops -- lookwise. However, as a fan of Japanese sweets and have been to Japan multiple times, the level of sweetness may come as a shock. It is overly sweet not as what they make it in Japan. emphasis on the OVERLY sweet. It is overly sweet that you can't enjoy the flavors of the red bean or matcha or any else. Tsuya(Dorayaki - red bean) 3/10 too sweet Ichigo Komochi (stawberry mochi) - 2.5/10 too tart and too sweet Kuri Daifuku (chestnut wrapped in red bean mochi) - 4/10 nothing to say to it Fruit loaf cake - 5/10 surprisingly ok, first taste is like fruity condensed milk Will i try them again? could be but i would never try the ones i already did. I think i would try their Castella and cream cheese waffle cookies. read more

super expensive Japanese dessert shop. nicely packed. Sakura mochi for $4 each, not too sweet with little fresh sakura smell. Nice. read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

See all

K. Minamoto is a Japanese bakery with some very authentic desserts. Everything is mildly sweet and high quality. The portion sizes are not American. I'm slowly working my way through their many offerings. So far, I've had two small moon cakes during the mid-Autumn moon festival. Not so much a Japanese dessert as it is a rest of Asia dessert. I've tried some of their mochi (rice flour) and fruit desserts. Very good! They have a very good pear dessert for six bucks. Their peach dessert is $150 and the whole peach comes from Japan during their peach season - I'm not inclined to spend $150 bucks on a peach. It better be one of the best peaches every grown in the world if I'm going to shell out that kind of money. Lately I tried a financier here. It's a French almond cake dessert but Japanese style. Seriously if I didn't live in California, I would be so so bored. Just walk around this place or see the pictures on Yelp. It's all so aesthetic and beautiful. In Japan, art is everything and everything is art. read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Chestnut financier - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Delicious Japanese sweets! I tried the Kinkan Daifuku, which is a kumquat mochi. It was not too sweet, and slightly tart from the preserved kumquat that is surrounded by white bean. It had a zesty flavor and it was very enjoyable. A very subtle sweetness. They also have fancy gift sets and boxes to buy sweets in bulk. Traditional and pretty! read more

See all

I always walk by this place, and it never seems busy. I figured I'd give it a try. The store itself is really cute and clean, but it just feels so lacking. I ordered a few items on Yelp, and pickup took about 30-50 minutes to be ready. To be honest, that seems a bit long for just putting already packaged items into a bag. The sweets themselves seemed very underwhelming and not worth the price point as they weren't even fresh. All in all, I will be skipping this place next time I get a craving for some Japanese sweets. read more

See all

We were at Stanford shopping center and I found out about Minamoto on Yelp and decided to stop by and check it out. The store is very open and clean and kinds of empty upon walking in. They have Japanese desserts laying around the shelves along the walls. We got a bunch of different items to try out, and so far the things I've tried have been tasty. The right side has a bunch of mochi deserts and Japanese castella cakes. We also got the kingyo jello which is a clear jello with gold fish inside. It's too cute not to get it! All the items here are definitely pricey, and I certainly will come back to try other things. read more

Went here to buy a gift for Father's Day. This place is pretty cute and clean!! Their gifts are what you might expect from a Japanese store like this, and their employees were super attentive and friendly (although we were the only customers inside). I bought their White Peach Mochi, which was pretty delicious, and apparently a top seller. But I was quite blown away by their jellies! Their jellies can be eaten frozen or room temperature, depending on how you like it. We decided to get a white peach jelly (see the picture), freshly frozen from their storage in the back. It was unexpectedly perfect and delectable for that hot summer day!! I really want to try all their jellies now, but they are ~$5 each. These jellies are definitely more of a delicious and indulgent treat! So good!!! (Except for the $18 single jelly in the picture. Maybe one day..) read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Jellies!! Delicious cold! - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Picked up some sweets to bring home after lunch with a friend at the Stanford Shopping Center. The Usage San is a limited edition dessert for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The box comes with ten little bunnies, each filled with yuzu and are so cute and delicious. The muscat, pear and peach jellies are best chilled and were really delicious. The chocolate tsuya were inhaled by my son and husband and they declared it tasty like a donut. The last snack that I purchased was a bag of the rice crackers. My favorite go to when I'm looking for a little bit of crunch and its seasoned with the right amount of shoyu. Pricey but worth it. read more

See all

I recommend Minamoto. We have bought sweets from them over the years. They are fresh and good and wonderfully presented. They are not, however, inexpensive. This is a shop that is very much how high end international boutiques do their business. I hope they have enough clientele to prosper. (We were more regular in Japantown but the most famous of those stores has closed.) I would consider this place a worthwhile splurge if you fancy the cuisine and are walking by. read more

Foreground looking Japanese wagashi and fruit jelly. These make great gifts. Look amazing. Taste is not amazing per say but definitely an exquisite experience. Recommend. These are meant to be consumed in small quantities with good tea. By itself it may be too sweet. That's expected. When paired with matcha for example, it's perfect. Friendly staff read more

I've been a fan of Minamoto Kitchoan for the past five years, they offer a more special occasion dessert as the items are pricier and gift wrapped. After trying several items I will definitely be back for their peach and pear jelly. Super expensive at $19 a piece however it was so sweet and delicious! It's the closest I can get to Japanese quality fruits in the states so I'll take whatever I can get. I've also tried their peach mochi, the senbei crackers, and the pancakes stuffed with red bean and chocolate. The next best thing was the mochi but I don't feel it's as worth the price as the jellies. It's a popular place for picking up holiday gifts, they also run out of certain items if it's busy. read more

Went into K. Minamoto it's like the store in SF Downtown Market St. The sales lady has never been to the SF store. How can you live in the Bay Area and not go to SF? Well all the Japanese desserts are from Japan. Not sure how long they last, but I wouldn't buy a cake from Japan that's in a box, wouldn't be fresh. How old are the pastries anyways. I'd rather go to SJ or SF Japantown to get fresh mochi. read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I used to travel to SF just to buy a few sweets, but now it's only 5 min away! It is indeed a bit pricey, but what do you expect for imported Japanese sweets? Each piece I have ever tried from here has such an amazing flavor profile. My favorites are the Kashiwa Mochi and Sakura Mochi - both seasonal items. I have also bought many other items over the years including the Matcha Senbei and Matcha Baumkuchen - strong matcha flavor! It is a very quiet store and service is excellent. Sure, they may not pester you like other stores would. I like it. That's just Japanese culture. They wrap everything meticulously and are super polite. I strongly recommend this store to anyone looking for some authentic Japanese sweets! read more

I was visiting the shopping center and heard about this place. I'm really into Japanese sweets so decided to give it a try. The service was friendly and they answered all my questions. Aesthetically pleasing throughout the store with a minimalistic feel. Most of the items I tried were tasty and tasted pretty fresh. Only downside is the price point which is really high. I'm guessing it's the premium for being in such a high end shopping center and sweets straight from Japan. read more

Stop here to pick up a omiyage. My friends loved it. I was lucky to find a place that has the best mochi!

I like this small Japanese treat boutique. It's a bit too expensive for me but it's unique and offers many authentic high-end treats. I tried two items; the vanilla wafer cookie and this mini pancake looking treat with red beans inside. Both items were good tasting but I liked their vanilla wafer cookie the best. This was sweet and had more texture. Each piece was about $4-$5 which is expensive. Boxes of treats range from $40-$100! It's pricey but I can totally understand why. I highly suggest buying individual bites rather than gift sets. The Japanese craft and careful making of these pastries are well documented. It's something unique for sure and I'm glad it's here in Stanford. read more

Absolutely the worst service ever. I was greeted in the most rudest way possible. I understand it's a store to store policy the makes wearing masks still mandatory. I wasn't aware that masks were actually still mandatory in most stores. However the tone in the young man's voice was very rude. I work retail myself and would never speak so rude to a customer like that. Every time I come into this location I'm never greeted or asked if I need help. They tend to other customers. Not a very good feeling. I have tried giving this location the benefit of the doubt but it always fails read more

Yes, it's pricey, but it's not any more expensive than if you bought Japanese imported treats from Mitsuwa, for example. The store is nicely decorated and reminds me of a sweets shop or department store in Japan. I do think it's a little random to be at Stanford Shopping Center, but no complaints from me! They have fresh mochi, crackers, cookies, jelly, etc. read more

Very beautiful, sweet, and delicious treats. If they were local, I could see myself buying these for in-laws to flex. They are definitely on the pricier side, so I would not buy these regularly or an a whim. Given how pricey the treats are, I wish they offered samples. It's difficult to commit to buying a $50 box of treats without knowing what you're getting yourself into. read more

I stopped by here about once a month to treat myself and try whatever new limited seasonal item there is. I have never been disappointed by Minamoto and I've been visiting them since I was a teen (that's a long long time ago!!) so it's always nostalgia. You might get sticker shock from the prices but it's worth the money. You're getting quality items direct from japan with the most subtle flavors and aesthetics!! Not only are the desserts beautiful, the packaging is also equally stunning! They have a rewards programs too and what's most important these days in the world of now now now instant gratification: the omotenashi!! Japanese above and beyond customer service and hospitality from the moment you walk in :) I would easily pay two or three times the price for something if it guaranteed it came with such care every time. read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

The desserts look so cute - you can't find stuff like this elsewhere in the bay. I ordered a cake as a gift and the recipient loved it. The staff is very friendly and polite. They even accommodated my needs when I asked for some customization. I'll definitely be placing more gift orders. read more

Great place for unique food gifts. If your out-of-town friends are tired of getting See's chocolates from you, the mochi and pastries here are a great alternative. The prices are not cheap and range $20-50, but come nicely presented in individually wrapped treats and a lovely box and bag (for 10cents). read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Rabbit shaped pastries with Yuzu flavored filling - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Love love love this place. Used to live in New York and had visited Japan and it's hard to find Japanese pastries since I've moved to Albuquerque. It is pricey but so worth it. read more

See all

Super gorgeous little store. The packaging for everything was very cute, and everything was outrageously priced. Definitely the kind of place you go to because you wanna be fancy as hell and get something from Japan. The cashiers were polite, and the store is pretty tiny so it gets cramped with just a few people in there, but we got in and out pretty quick and picked up a few things. They were all good, but I think this would be a rare stop for me considering how expensive it is. Probably great as a fancy gift for someone's birthday or anniversary, though. read more

Minamoto Kitchoan - Front window display - Japanese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

See all

Everything that people have already mentioned in reviews is true. I walked in with an expense account wanting to give a special but unusual gift. I don't know a thing about Japanese candy so needed some guidance before I dropped a couple hundred dollars on some gelatinous blobs. I didn't even get a nod when I entered and felt a little like a scene from Pretty Woman. I asked for help and the people that worked there pretty much told me that the candy was not for me. So, I went to a little artisan chocolate place off Bryant where I was treated so kindly and happily spent my Money. read more

I used go to Mitsuwa in SJ to buy these Japanese snacks once in a while. The Stanford store, with well-displayed merchandise, is so much bigger and easier to shop around. Unfortunately, the benefits seem to end here. I hope they did not take the advantage of the high volume at this location by sending the expiring merchandise over. Lots of their products have short shelf life. I understand they are shipped from Japan, which takes time in transportation. What I didn't expect is that a whole bunch of Mochi, i.e. Daifuku ($3.60/pc) we bought only had one day of shelf life. The truth is they already tasted tough/dry the day of purchase. We only feel lucky that we didn't gift them. While I like a few of their savory rice crackers and deserts, most of their confections are very sugary. The Kasutera (sponge cake), for example, is moist but overly sweet, loaded with corn syrup and sugar. Some store bought Japanese sponge cakes actually taste better, for just a fraction of the price. Overall, I might stop by here for a little something if I am shopping at the mall, and definitely check the date on the package read more

Given the price I'd expect these snacks to be premium. They do look dainty enough, but once I actually took a bite I almost wanted to throw away the rest. Everything's way too sweet. There's no texture or subtlety in the flavors. Some of them even taste stale. Don't be lured in by their fancy shopfront--I've bought packaged candy at souvenir shops that taste better than this. read more

I stopped by to grab some mochi while my wife was shopping with the kids. I cannot express how nice the staff is here. The prices are a bit higher, but for the quality, it's to be expected. I would not hesitate for another visit next time to see what new seasonal items are available. read more

I always have been a big fan of the store. Love the authenticity and being able to enjoy taste from the home country. However, last week had very disappointing experience. Having specific seasonal sweets in mind to serve to my guests, i called to make sure they have it in store before shopping. They said some arrived damaged but when asked if they have it in store next day he said yes. So it was to my surprise when i took my time to go pick it up they had nothing for me to buy. Accidents happen but my disappointment was that not only he( manager!) Was not apologetic but simply rude. I fid not felt like treated as customer and left very sad. My love for the store is totally ruined. Hope they cam hire someone better as manager. read more