Being in New York City, we are completely spoiled when it comes to the sheer variety of food, as well as the food trends that either take off or come here quickly from other far away, beautiful lands. Artisanal flavored ice creams, Thai rolled ice cream, salted caramel everything, bubble tea in many, many forms (Boba Guys is here now!) — it’s all here, and it’s freaking everywhere. One of the latest and greatest to arrive in the city is Taiyaki NYC, a Japanese-inspired dessert spot that opened in Chinatown just yesterday that is pretty much everything I could possibly want in a dessert: a cute, fish-shaped Japanese pastry  made from a pancake/cake batter, filled with your choice of filling (looks like custard and red bean are options), then topped with Asian flavored ice cream (hello, black sesame and matcha!), mochi, fresh fruit, and a wafer stick. As soon as I saw this in my Instagram feed yesterday, I knew I had to drag Chris downtown to try it. The last time I had a taiyaki was from a taiyaki stand in Kyoto last summer, after Chris and I were headed back to our ryokan after the night’s first dessert. He was completely full and didn’t want a taiyaki, but the rich scent of taiyaki in their fish-shaped cast iron molds beckoned me, and I knew I couldn’t leave the area without buying a couple. I had no idea I would be able to get another one a year later right here in New York, as I’d never seen them here.

Well, today was a complete failure: we walked to Baxter Street to find an insanely long line that was almost half a block long. My stomach had a sinking feeling when I realized that it had to be coming from the taiyaki store, and there it was: Taiyaki NYC. Chris refused to wait in the line, so we had to leave Chinatown without my beloved taiyaki and ice cream. At least I got to pick up a moon cake for Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

I’m not giving up, though. I’m determined to get back there and succeed within the next four weeks.