New Ice Cream Store Kyoyo Haus Brings Handmade Mochi to the Square

A new store in The Garage complex is joining the growing number of ice cream vendors and Asian-inspired shops in Harvard Square with mochi ice cream and soft serve that drew hundreds of eager customers on Sunday.

Called Kyoyo Haus, the new store had its grand opening this weekend after publicizing their $1-soft serve deal widely on Instagram and TikTok. Allen H. Cheung, one of the co-founders, said they were forced to close after selling out of ice cream hours before their normal closing time.

“It was an almost three and a half hour line,” Cheung said. “It was kind of crazy.”

Still, some customers were undeterred. Sejal Krishna — a student at Harvard Law School — said she “did not make it” on opening day due to the line, but she and her boyfriend were drawn by their flavor offerings, and came back the next day.

The three Natick brothers who co-founded the store hand-make the mochi and fill it with sweet gel using a syringe. They were inspired by visiting family in Japan and enjoying a popular brand of mochi ice cream called Yukimi Daifuku.

While the original concept for the store was frozen yogurt, the brothers ultimately decided soft-serve was better suited to compliment their unique flavors like black sesame and ube. “Soft serve is a little bit easier to get neutral, better base, and get different flavors that match well,” said Allen Cheung.

“I knew we couldn’t bring the big bowl back from Japan, but I was like, we have to have an experience, so then I decided to make handmade mochi,” said Ivan Cheung, one of the co-founding brothers, who is still a senior in high school.

Once they returned from Japan, the two older Cheung brothers invested in the store with money they had saved after graduating college.

“I had no clue how to even do it. It was kind of spur of the moment,” Allen Cheung said of when the three first began making mochi. “We've been testing different recipes at home, and then we just finalized the recipe and are trying to scale it up from there.”

The brothers said they spent the next five months testing new flavors and learning how to make mochi from scratch. The trio said they are currently the only working staff at the store.

Kyoyo Haus faces competition from a number of dessert eateries in the square, including staples like Berryline, which has recently gone viral — and also sells mochi.

But for Scarlett Wu ’27, Kyoyo Haus’s mochi was superior.

“I tried Berryline before,” she said, “but this is like, you can barely feel the mochi. It’s very thin, very creamy and it’s all handmade,” she said.

“It’s not too sweet. I feel like, as an Asian person, my best comment for dessert is not too sweet,” she added.

Many heard about the grand opening through Tiktok and Instagram. One food influencer’s reel depicting their mochi after their “soft opening” on October 28 drew tens of thousands of views.

“The whole social media started snowballing,” Allen Cheung said. “It’s been a surreal kind of experience.”

Kyoyo Haus is the latest of many new Asian-inspired restaurants and stores to open in the Square, which students at their opening appreciated.

“It’s nice to see more international eateries. Definitely brightens up the food options,” said Mariana Beyer-Chapa, another student at the law school.

Allen Cheung said he was ultimately happy their store had won over customers with their flavors, and not their Instagrammability.

“The most rewarding part about the store right now is having everybody say, ‘oh, we came for the gimmick, but we’ll be coming back for the flavors.’ I enjoyed making sure our flavor quality is good, and not just having people come in for their mochi ice cream photo,” Cheung said.