REVIEW | Kevin's Taiyaki 붕어빵 - Korean/Japanese fish shaped dessert that's too good to resist

There's a few things we love about the frosty Canadian Winter, despite freezing our butts off!  It's none other than these fish-shaped waffle cakes called Boonguh Bbang / Taiyaki, filled with either red bean, black bean, green bean or custard.  They're available in Toronto via Kevin's Taiyaki.

'Boong-uh' means a Carassius fish and 'bbang' means bread/cake.  Kevin's Taiyaki is Korean-owned and operated but they use the word 'Taiyaki,' which is Japanese.  Not really sure why but maybe because these fish-shaped waffle cakes originated in Japan, before making its way to Korea in the 1930's.  There are little variations between the Korean and Japanese versions but what you get at Kevin's Taiyaki is the Korean version.

I know that Kevin's Taiyaki is available inside two Korean supermarkets.  One is in the PAT Supermarket located at Bloor & Christie (Koreatown - pictured above).  The other location is inside the PAT Supermarket located in Mississauga.

It's an open kitchen with around 6 waffle irons in the shape of the boong-uh.  The most well-known filling is the red bean, which is the original.  They also have black bean and green bean fillings that are delicious as well.  Our personal favourite is the custard, which is $1.75 each, a quarter more than the other red/black/green bean filled ones.

They taste the best when they're fresh off the grill.  The inside is moist and soft while the outside is perfectly crispy.  It's a sweet snack that you'll instantly fall in love with. 

Custard Filled Boonguhbbang on left & Redbean Filled Boonguhbbang on the right!

It's such a delicious snack that you can quickly pick up after a meal in the area.  After your first bite, you'll immediately fall in love and call these your favourite winter snack!