Family travel is always unpredictable and some of our favorite trip memories come from times when things don’t go as we expected. On a recent trip to Asia I was really excited about all the fun restaurants we’d get to see! I was really intrigued about one called Dim Sum Icon, a cafe that I saw on Instagram and it seemed to have different pop-up cartoon character themed foods. I was excited because I had seen a bunch of Twin Stars dim sum pictures from the restaurant that looked absolutely adorable and thought it would be fun to go there with our twins. So after a morning spent on a ride most of the way up to Victoria Peak and a hot hike to get us to the very top we made our way to what we thought would be a fun and memorable lunch for our family.
It was definitely an experience. The theme when we went was not Twin Stars but a really odd cast of fruit and vegetable characters that we too slowly realized resembled parts of human anatomy. This probably would have been fine and even entertaining without kids in tow, but we were there as a family so it felt a little odd. I don’t think our kids noticed how quite taken aback we were as we finished our meal but the hubby and I agreed later that it was definitely one of the strangest meals we’ve ever had with our kids. We’ll probably laugh about it forever so I’m totally thankful that we went but at the time I was a little worried I might have scarred us all for life.
(From what I’ve seen on Instagram lately, I think the character now is one called Gudetama which resembles an adorable sunny-side up egg so it will probably be a totally different experience if you visit with kids now. I LOVE Gudetama-why was it not Gudetama when I went???!!)
When we arrived in Tokyo on the same trip, we were being hosted at a restaurant called the Pom Pom Purin Cafe that is based totally on another Sanrio character that looks like a dog and a delicious caramel pudding. I fell in love with this cafe instantly and even recommended our family in Singapore to IMMEDIATELY try the one there, which they seemed to love too! (I noticed from their pictures that the foods in the Singapore Pom Pom Purin cafe were very similar and there is a Pom Pom Purin Cafe in Hong Kong too, so hopefully the pictures I’ve included will help you imagine what you might have if you visit the cafe…..but you never can be sure.)
I had an adorable marshmallow filled coffee.
And a chicken curry with a Pom Pom Purin Shape.
One of my boys had an amazing layered pancake dish with different fillings in every layer. How thoughtful it is to put a different flavor in each layer?
And our whole visit was the epitome of Sanrio ‘kawaii’ (A Japanese word for cute!). I really appreciated all the fun that went into the food preparation and I know my kids did too!
And ultimately I loved both experiences for what they were. My family loves foods and trying new things and character themed foods are usually a big hit with kids and grown-ups too and in Asia there are so many fun foods to try. Is trying new foods something you do on trips with your family? And have you ever had an unexpected experience eating out with your family that turned out to be one you remember for a long time? I’d love to hear!
(PS. As stated above were guests at the Pom Pom Purin Cafe but I was not required to post and the views in this post are definitely my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
What an experience! The coffee and pancakes looked amazing! Made up for the previous (unusual!) meal! Love reading your experiences!