First Look: Torori, the Osaka-Born Chain Famous for Warabi Mochi, Arrives In Melbourne

At Torori, it’s all about the jiggle.

The Osaka-born chain, which launched in 2020, specialises in warabi mochi – a Japanese dessert different from the mochi most Australians are familiar with. While typical mochi is soft and chewy and made with glutinous rice, warabi mochi is made using starch from bracken ferns, has a more translucent look, a melt-in-your-mouth texture and a panna-cotta-like wobble. 

Torori has more than 140 stores across Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, and opened its first Australian branch in Haymarket in Sydney last year. 

Warabi mochi’s unique texture is achieved through a time-consuming and laborious process of crushing and soaking the roots of the bracken, extracting the starch and delicately heating it with sugar and water. The mixture is poured into trays and tossed in powder toppings such as matcha, chocolate and kinako (sweet and nutty roasted soybean flour) before it’s cut and served. Warabi mochi has a relatively neutral taste, meaning it’s a great vehicle for flavour. It’s a “very delicate dessert”, says Torori Melbourne co-owner Brandon Kasman, who is also the general manager of Sushi Jiro. 

Beyond the typical warabi mochi, Kasman says there’ll be weekend specials with changing “mystery toppings” that won’t be posted online. Customers have to visit the store to find out what they are. There’s also a popular tiramisu take that sees warabi mochi layered atop creamy mascarpone and matcha-soaked ladyfingers. 

The Melbourne store also exclusively sells pancake-like dorayaki sandwiched together with tiramisu cream and a slice of warabi mochi inside. “Customers have commented on the wafting aroma of the dorayaki being made fresh in-store,” Kasman says. 

There’s also a long list of tea and ice-cream made in-house, including flavours like milk chocolate, Hokkaido hojicha and Okinawa kuromitsu (dark brown sugar syrup).

Kasman says the fit-out is based on Torori’s Japanese locations, with plenty of wood, including large timber signs and a row of noren – cotton shop curtains displaying the shop’s logo, which are typically hung in the doorways or windows of traditional shops in Japan. 

**Torori**
259 Collins Street, Melbourne 

**Hours:**
Mon to Fri 8am–6pm
Sat & Sun 9am–6pm

@torori.au