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Tue. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wed-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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It is places like Shuei-Do Manju Shop that make me say, "I'm glad I live in San Jose"! This is the place to go to for manju/manjuu and other sweets. I can't ever imagine myself not going here for a year.
The place is cute. The manjuu are fresh. The ladies I usually see there are wonderful. The prices are very good. There is even a shaved ice section that's cute too. The place is easy to spot as well. You expect me to give a flaw for this place? On a side note, one of Japan's emperors used to visit this place on his last trip to America. That tells you how good the place is.
+: Massive selection of food overall, magnificent people, this is definitely one of my favorite places to go to if I don't feel chipper all of a sudden.
-: Flaws? What flaws?
Hello and who does not love Mochi/Manju? I do I do!
I love it so much that I devoured four of them walking to the car! Checkout the soft, silky sweetness of the mochi from Shuei-Do in this video and pics on my foodie blog: http://bit.ly/88lOBk
Nomnomnom isn't it delish? Sooo amazing, and besssst mochi I've ever had.
Notes: cash only, get there early, because once they're out, they're out! White bean my fave.
-Love, @StarryEyedFoodi
BEST MOCHI I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!
I ordered the mochi (1.30/ each) that was made of rice flower and red bean and it tastes like heaven. (i'm drooling now as i'm writing about it) I'm a person that always gets sick of red bean after one bite and when I ate this one i just wanted more. The texture is really smooth and moist, not dry and crumbly like most red bean i've tasted. The doughy part (not sure what it's called) was gooey and smooth as well. The two ladies that work there are so cute and helpful too! =)
My favorite spot for manju. When I was pregnant I must have had at least 3 dozen! The manju is fresh and the ladies are super sweet. Get there early! They usually sell out before the end of their business day.
aww I love this place. So many memories as a kid here. My grandma lives in Japantown and she always would pick up a box of assorted manjuu for my brother and I. My favorite is the pink one (: I've been here so many times and the quality of the manjuu is exactly the same: excellent! I honestly don't think I've had better manjuu anywhere..
Super Yummy! I must come here whenever I am in Japan-town. Fresh manju, small cozy shop, family business. Whats not to love?
I've heard great things about the shave ice but i keep forgetting they only have these during the weekend.
The japanese mochi is freshly made! It tastes so much better than what you can get from a japanese grocery store!
I'm tempted to give this place a 5 star, however, we like the mochi in Benkyodo in San Francisco Japan town better. The dough at Benkyodo is more delicate and there's a wider selection of mochi like those fruity ones. With that said, this place is the best in the south bay for mochi! (Let me know if you had better in other places)
Also, this store is conveniently located and the hours are good (unlike Benkyodo that barely opens on weekend) Don't forget to bring your cash, it's cash only!
fresh mochi made daily!! if you need a quick, delicious gift, stop by here. they have many varieties of mochi.
they also have other cookies and snacks. i like the hawaiian guava cookies. Mmm...
but then again, if they are sold out of a variety, they don't make any more. don't go too late in the afternoon.
How can you not give Shuei-Do five stars? It's particularly old-skool in a very old-skool neighborhood, but this stuff's good... literally, like candy.
The Emperor of Japan once was served Shuei-Do on a visit to the US. That's a big deal. It doesn't surprise me, because Shuei-Do makes the best manju I've ever had, including manju made in Japan.
It's always fresh, very tasty, and sweet without being overly super-sweet. In general, Japanese sweets often taste better because they don't go overboard on the sugar and/or sweetness. It's the perfect, subtle level of sweetness that borders on savory.
AAA+++
Yes indeed, the best mochi in the bay area.
their mochi are super fresh and aren't too sweet.
i love love love it. can't get enough of this place.
So this place was pretty hyped up for me and I was really excited having gone to a mochi shop in Los Angeles in Japantown downtown and I was looking forward to much of the same experience.
This is definitely a small, mom/pop shop and they look like they have hand made mochi's and manjus. They do have quite a selection, but definitely not as much as the place in SoCal. I got four different types and tried them all including the Brown Rice, White rice Manju with red bean, their wafer cookie with red bean as well as the popular manju they have which is called ... ninaka? I cannot recall the name now but honestly they all tasted very much the same.
I wasn't superbly impressed with this place I guess it's a nice dessert place if you're looking for something not so sweet. I was expecting it to be a little on the sticky side but was surprised to find it was not sticky at all. They are CASH ONLY and they are closed on Mondays. I did enjoy the wafer cookie quite a bit tho.
Food: Scrumptious
Service: Helpful
Price: Reasonable
This is the first homemade mochi shop I've ever been to and I am definitely impressed. The mochi is soft and fluffy and fresh. Hubby likes the pink ones stuffed with white bean ; I like just about everything else. My favorite is probably the fruit flavored mochi only ones (no filling), but they didn't have them today (or sold out by the time we arrived).
Today we tried the shaved iced (it was the last day!). A HUGE helping of perfectly soft, airy, melt-in-your-mouth shaved ice topped with watermelon/strawberry (two flavors included) and a dash of condensed milk (50cents extra). Great deal for $3.50.
The fresh mochi runs about $1.50 per piece. We got the 8 pack for $10.80. Great price for the quality!
I cannot believe that I've passed by this place so many times before. Thankfully my curiosity got the best of me.
Shuei-Do first caught my eye with its shaved iced customers ordering outside. I noticed that there was a little shop past the shaved ice. Inside there is a modest counter with different Japanese sweets. Since I haven't tried that many Japanese sweets I was quite fascinated.
I ended up with a "Pink White' mochi and a "White Manju". The Pink White was excellent with its fresh fluffy chewiness. Its sweetness is addicting. The White Manju is filled with a really smooth red bean paste. Yum! These two treats added up to $2.30. Pretty cheap for the quality.
If I knew how good it was I would have bought a box. I would recommend storing these in a semi-cool area because my hot car kind messed up my White Manju. I don't presume that they use preservatives.
If I'm back in San Jose I'll definitely pick up more.
When I was younger whenever family would visit we would get huge boxes of manju from Shuei-Do; I was raised on it, it's my favorite dessert, and I can never seem to find any from other shops that I like better.
Their manju always seems fresh and warm, with just the right consistency. During the summer the line for their shaved ice goes quite a few shops down, and they always have other Japanese candy to purchase inside.
* Chomp chomp chomp * This is weird.
*chomp chomp chomp" Okay this is growing on me.
* chompity chomp chomp * Hey it's weird, and I like it!
I had Strawberry and Pineapple shaved ice with Azuki beans, which was a new experience for me. It works, it actually works.
The Azuki beans (add 75 cents) are soft and slightly gummy with a sweet taste. They provide some substance to an otherwise light and airy treat.
Regular size is huge and you can easily split this with someone.
Lots of flavors so you'll find something that you want. bubblegum, strawberry, cherry, banana, mango, coconut, pineapple, lime, and grape are some I remember.
Mango and coconut have a 50 cent surcharge.
The family in front of us all got Sno-Caps (shaved ice topped with condensed milk), so I'm trying that next time.
And there will be a next time. Oh yes.
Just be sure you drop by on a day the shaved ice window is open:
Friday 11 AM - 4 PM
Saturday 11 - 4
Sunday 11 - 3:30
I love that the tip jar is pulled in through a hole in the window screen.
There's a long line and a bit of a wait. I think it's all part of the scene at Shuei-Do Manju.
Am I a manju connoisseur? No. Do I pick up some manju from Shuei-Do whenever I'm in Japantown? Yes.
I am really glad that San Jose's Japantown has a manju shop. I like the plain fruit manju with no bean that they make on weekends.
I woke up bright and early today to venture here with my boyfriend in hunt for the elusive strawberry mochi. They had it today! Along with orange! I got both, along with the usual suspects - habutae, brown inaka, monaka, and the pink one with the lima bean.
The strawberry and orange mochi were not what I expected. I don't know what I expected, maybe more like the habutae but instead of a grey outside, a strawberry outside with red bean inside? Instead, the whole thing was red and strawberry flavored (same with the orange - except orange colored). The flavors were light but I didn't like them as much as the red bean ones...
Still good though! And I tried their shaved ice another time and it was refreshing!
Delicious, light tasting yet filling dessert snacks that leave you wanting more. My boyfriend found… Read more »
The best manju comes from this shop. I always bring it as omiyage (gifts when traveling) and everyone always loves the variety of manju. Manju is pretty much a pounded rice dessert with some sort of sweet bean (usually azuki bean) on the inside. Our family has been going here since before I was born. I myself like the grey, green, and kinako covered ones. Each differs in it's own way. The lady's are very helpful and will give you good advice if you need to travel and take them as gifts. Metered parking is all around which allows you to discover the rest of San Jose Japantown as well.
The reason this place gets five stars is because the old ladies are the cutest things ever!
The manju and mochi's are awesome as well, I like the non-herb ones with red bean and white bean filling. I believe those consist of the pink, purple, green ones.
That's all you need to know, go try to mochi and manju they have shaved ice in the summer too, but if you want some of that head to Banana crepe just down the street!
CASH ONLY don't forget, I always go here when I have cash on me.
Worth the drive every time!
I love all of the smooth bean flavors.
A little pricey, but delicious and worth the splurge.
Great service with warm greetings when I walked through the door with my friend, great selection, delicious mochi, and the two of us left super excited. You can't really ask for much after that, now can you?
I tried the pink mochi with white bean, green mochi with red bean, and this mochi with wheat flour on it. All three were delicious; it seems like you can't really go wrong here. The mochi is so soft and light, I really was impressed: it was the best mochi I have ever had. Perfect gifts for the family!
"Do not let places like this fool you..."
I wasn't really a big fan of shaved ice until today. I think it's just the way this place made it. Or maybe it just tasted amazing after a very very bad experience at this dim sum joint.
Taste: Yummy. I did not do half and half. I got a mix of milk and strawberry. The reason being, milk was the most popular. What if you mix it and basically spice up the milk a little. Which I ended up doing and what happened? Look at what I gave it, I'm not going to let you know and expect you to go try it for yourselves.
I really don't know why people are starting to copy one another with that chomp chomp chomp crap. It really doesn't fly for some things. For instance, how does it work for shaved ice? You can't chomp on shaved ice... wait correction, you can. But you can only chomp on shaved ice if the ice isn't shaved finely.
Bringing me to textures. Oh yes, I think this is how shaved ice is suppose to be made. You really couldn't chomp on the ice because it was really well shaved. Which probably why I didn't like the other places I have tried. Other places taste like a snow cone, this taste like fresh powder snow scooped up and flavored to your liking.
My cousins said... Do not yelp this! We do not want it to get around and create lines for us. Yeah, they usually try to keep the good stuff on the dl. But I see much reviews on this place already, so I was like ehhh. It's already out there with lots of reviews.
They got half and half with a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Yes, they even put ice cream if you request for some in the middle of the shaved ice as well. This will probably be my next test. Mixed milk and a flavor with ice cream in the middle.
If you guys are wondering when they open, go and check the hours for yourselves as well. Because I have no clue on the time as well. But I do know it's only on weekends. BTW did I mention you do not really go into the place to get shaved ice. It's basically a hole in the wall place.
But back to the chomp chomp chompy thing. For this I would not use it, because you do chomp... You... Let it melt. I let it melt. I let it melt. I let it melt in my mouth... =) YUMMY in my TUMMY!
My wife was off from work, and the kids were off from school, and I thought, why not, I'll take off too! We wanted to check this place out for quite a while, so we took a little drive down to San Jose one Friday morning.
When we arrived, we stepped into the store, and it was pretty busy with customers patiently waiting to be served. The ladies working behind the counter are so nice. As busy as it was, they greeted us in a genuinely warm manner.
Behind a long glassed-in display case, there are trays of different mochi and manju. So many to choose from! We didn't know how many we were going to buy, but each of us pointed to what we wanted, and one of the ladies pulled them out. We ended up buying about a dozen varieties of mochi and manju, with various fillings of red bean, white bean, and lima been. (Dozen wasn't enough, have to buy a larger box next time).
The lady that was serving us neatly arranged the goodies in a box, and took care in tying a ribbon to secure it. I was going to take a picture of the contents of the box, but some of the mochi and manju never made it to the car. We immediatly opened the box, made our choices, and ate them. My wife had one filled with azuki bean, I had one with white bean filling, while my daughter had a strawberry mochi square. Since there was nothing with chocolate, my youngest daughter couldn't care less (we did get her a box of Pocky).
We also noticed shave ice is served from 11:00 to 2PM. Looking at their machines, the ice is actually shaved, not crushed or pulverized. We'll have to try this out another time.
Good to know about this place. With this place in the South Bay, and Benkyodo in San Francisco, it's nice to be in the middle.
This is an authentic manju/mochi shop located in the heart of San Jose's Japantown. Mochi is fresh...very light and soft. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful.
The best part of this place is that they also sell shave ice with vanilla ice cream! Hard to find a place that does this in Northern California but the texture was almost like that of Matsumoto's shave ice on the north shore of Oahu. Portions are gigantic. If only they had lilikoi topping, it would be perfect. Brought back great memories of our trip to Hawaii, and anything that can do that is truly amazing.
Hands down my absolute FAVE place to get mochi.
This small shop is run by a bunch of Japanese grandmas who, according to legend, get up hella early in the morning to make gobs (literally) of mochi and then spend the rest of the day selling what they made until they sell out. And then they close at whatever time they sell out. I have gotten there late in the day before and have had my hopes crushed by not being able to buy any of my fave mochi because they were sold out. So my advice to you is get there early, especially on the weekends, and go nuts - buy extra, buy some for your friends, your fam, even your neighbor! You will not regret it!
What makes this mochi super good is that the outer mochi layer is just enough thickness so you get a chewy bite with a medium amount of filling. If you do it just right, it is possible to have every bite you take a perfect mochi to filling ratio. My fave ones are any of the smooth ones with white bean. I also like the strawberry mochi squares (no filling) or any of the other fruit flavors with no filling. Red bean and powdery mochi are also terrific but I prefer smooth white.
The grandmas don't rush you as you're looking at the long case of mochi. Once you've made your selections, they tenderly tie or saran wrap up your choices and ring you up on a little cash register.
In addition, the shop sells a lot of snacks, shave ice (though I've never seen anyone running that counter). Parking is on the street and can be difficult to find during the lunch hour. If you love mochi, you have to visit this spot. Oh and you better be nice to the grandmas because if I find out you weren't and they closeup shop because they're fed up with rude customers like you, I will hunt you down and make you apologize to them!!!
So there is a difference between mochi and manju? Up until today, it was all mochi to me. Manju is made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat while mochi is pounded rice cake. Who knew? Well, probably most everyone but me.
They've got 14 different kinds of manju in this store, and though I only sampled a few, they were all good! Really really really (that's 3 really's!) fresh! Great flavor and texture, and best of all, really really really (that's 3 more really's, 6 if you count those from the last sentence) fresh! :o)
Love this manju shop!
BTW, does anyone know how these compare to Benkyodo in San Francisco?
Mochi,
A Japanese delicacy
Nice and soft
Just gobbled the whole thing
Unsure why or how it disappeared so quickly
When I saw the name of this store, I thought it was a cosmetic store (Shiseido). ahaha I refer to this place as "manju". CA$H ONLY!! No tax! Manjus are $1.30 each! Monakas are $1.50. The Monakas weren't that great. I really didn't like the powdery Kinako. I felt like I was eating Chinese powder medicine. bleh. *gags* Brings bad memories. But my fav maju was the pink and whites! I can eat a dozen of those straight! yum yum yum yum :) I don't know how to make manju for $1.30, so I shall worship them for now!! :D
I didn't know what to get here. So I got what the staff recommended to me...
1. Yomogi- (green manju) with azuki (red beans) :)
2. Kinako- (white mochi with tan powder manju) with white lima bean paste covered with a light brown powder =\
3. Pink & White- (pink manju) with white lima beans :D
4. Monaka- (wafer looking) lots of red bean paste with a wafer covering ($.20 more than the manju) =\
Who knew such a tiny shop would have a huge selection of manju? The case looks like a jewelry store filled with colorful gemstones, sweet soft gems filled with smooth bean pastes!
The mochi is soft and not too sticky, the perfect thickness to hold in the delicately flavored fillings. My favorite is the pink lima bean one.
When somebody told me they had strawberry mochi, the first thing I thought of was Maui-style strawberry mochi - a huge red bean mochi with a fresh strawberry inside! Well.... as long as you don't have that image in your head, you won't be disappointed. It's a strawberry-flavored mochi with strawberry-flavored white bean filling.
Maybe I could buy some of their red bean mochi and stuff strawberries inside?
THIS IS THE STUFF!!!! Woah!!!
Sofi P's picture
"Red&White- Chichidngo. Dark purple- Ohagi. Gray- Habutae. Brown- Kuri"
I got a box of these as a present from an "anonymous" a couple years back, (still don't know who it was, or why I didn't hesitate to gobble it up without knowing what it was) and they were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I always wondered where they were from! Now I know, from browsing through Yelp...
I remember the pink mochi!!!!!! "Chichidngo"? It was my absolute favorite. Didn't know it was in SJ - I'm sooooo picking up a box of my own!
THE BEST SHAVED ICE.... ever!!! I went during the obon festival a week ago and the line was ridiculously long but well worth the wait! The syrup they use isn't too sweet and it complements the vanilla ice cream and red beans. so so good.
unfortunately i can't say that i've tried anything else in the shop. but i wouldnt be afraid to try anything in there. their service is great even though they get super busy. parking can be a bitch especially on a busy weekend. but who cares!! i'd walk ten miles just to get shaved ice. ok im exaggerating but still... great place for shaved ice
Yum!! Delicious manju!
Shop is tiny but these ladies seem to be busy all the time! People line up anxiously waiting for the soft delicious morsels of red bean goodness!
Yesterday I tried the brown sugar and red bean variety along with a green one with smooth red bean and a pink one with some kind of white bean, I believe it was a fava bean. My favorite was the green one with the smooth red bean filling.
Prices are around $5.40 or so for 4 and CASH ONLY!
All ya gotta know is this is the place to get fresh delicious soft mochi.
A tad sweet though.
Cash only!
Hands down, LOVE this little shop! I just wish that they were open longer hours, but C'est la Vie -- these treats are so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that they're definitely worth waiting for!
The only manju/mochi place I know! I'm in the area frequently and I always have to go there when I do. I always get the pink manju with the white bean paste, or the little pieces of mochi that taste like strawberries. Mmm.
You can buy the manju from in small trays to big boxes for events. The staff is so friendly and nice. And in the summer, during the Obon festival...shaved ice! The syrup is just right for me, and my mom is a sucker for red beans and condensed milk.
The mochi I had was MELT IN YOUR MOUTH good, they had just made it =) lucky for me haha . My favorite has to be the pink one with red bean like everyone's been talking about
5 star mostly because the women there are so cute!! They work hard making them & selling them all day. The mochi with no filling, just floavor which are in the corner, are okay, Id put ice cream or something on it, theyre a little plain for me. I love all the different candy and crackers they have in there, reminds me of when I was a kid.
I can't wait to go finish my little mochi's with some tea to balance out the sweetness, my little japanese guilty pleasures mmmmm
I have been wanting to try this place ever since i realized I love mochi, and we finally made a stop there on Sat.
My husband had never been here, but his Japanese aunt had bought stuff here years ago.She was pretty old, so this place has been around for a LONG time.
The woman working behind the counter was so sweet, and friendly.
I bought two pieces, but after eating a piece outside, I was forced to turn around, go back in, and buy a few more pieces.
I LOVE the azuki wrapped in herbed mochi!!!!! This was my favorite of the three I tried. I also liked the azuki wrapped in plain mochi, but was not a fan of the azuki wrapped in a steamed biscuit. The azuki was a little too sweet for my taste.
I will definitely be back, I'm thinking about the mochi I have left as we speak...mmmm.
***CASH ONLY***
Today's the LAST day for shaved ice!! I believe it's only offered during the summer...Man, we were lucky because we were thinking about coming next weekend instead! The boyfriend and I had the shaved ice, which you get to pick two flavors, and additional toppings like condensed milk (snowcap) for $0.50. You can pick from two sizes, small for $2.75 and larger one for $3.00. For us, we ordered....
-a small shaved ice with Strawberry & Milk flavor + snowcap ($3.25)
-& kinako mochi + Monaka from the counter. ($1.40 each, x2=$2.80)
The shaved ice was REALLY soft and finely shaved, not chunky like you see in snow cones. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like chomping on ice-- I like it melt in my mouth, just the way ShueiDo makes their shave ice. Too bad we all have to wait till next summer :( But at least I get to try it today! The mochi I had was really soft, and the lima bean paste filling was very smooth, and has a really nice flavor to it. I think the mochi just dissolved in my mouth...it's delicious. The monaka, oh my god. I think I might have to get like ten of these to bring home for chinese new year..It's two soft/crispy wafer with a very very yummy red bean paste filling...for $1.50 each, I think it's worth it considering everything is freshly made this morning.
Service wise, there are japanese grandmas serving you, and they are very sweet, nice, and helpful :) I'll be back!
Manju manju manju.
Rice flour (or steamed/baked wheat flour) "buns" filled with either whole red beans, red bean paste, or white bean paste. Maybe 8 varieties at all? For size, think a little larger than a golf ball.
Cash only, closes early, and not open at all on Mondays. Each light gooey puddle of goodness sets me back a little over a dollar. There are many that buy by the box.
I know some people say their mounds are a little rough around the edges, but the very polite and friendly elderly Japanese ladies that run this shop are extra sweet and fresh yummy manju is hard to find. Just think of it as that extra "handmade" look, you know?
My only personal complaint is that the fillings are quite sweet. My sister and I like the white bean because it is less so. Although they aren't the best in the bay area, if I'm around San Jose or even South Bay it's definitely worth the side trip. Fresh always beats the boxed or fridged stuff, hands down.
Once I have one, I often find myself with a curious craving for more.
I guess since their omochi was served to the emperor of japan on their last trip to the states, I'll have to give this place five stars. heh. I always thought this place just served shaved ice since I didn't know what "manju" meant, having always known this snack as "omochi".
Man, this place is good. Kinda pricey since I can easily pop down four of these suckers and still have room for more. My favorite was the rice flour powdered one. Usually those taste terrible so I was reserving that one for my husband (who I was hoping didn't know better), but it was my favorite. I got a steamed bun with red bean filling but it wasn't too great. Maybe I should have steamed it again when I got home though. I think my life would be complete now if a shop opened up that served fresh buns.
San Jose, CA
Category: Specialty Food
San Jose, CA
Category: Bakeries
San Jose, CA
Category: Bakeries
San Jose, CA
Category: Home Decor
San Jose, CA
Category: Bakeries
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