MOGOO POPCORN
No. 38, Lane 190, Dun Hua S. Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2772-5208
MRT: Zhong Xiao/Fuxing
website: mogoo.com.tw Chinese only
$
Kid friendliness: kids will love the different flavors
Visit reviewed: 12/31/2009
Mushroom kernel popcorn. Have you heard about it before? I hadn't before I tried Mogoo Popcorn. What's the big deal? It's round, it's fluffy, it's easy to munch until you're wanting to get another bucket at 9pm, an hour before they close. Mogoo Popcorn uses only mushroom kernels, so therefore its name in Chinese- Mogoo, the Chinese word for mushroom.
The first time I spotted the shop was seeing the bright yellow sign after eating dinner at Pho Hoa across the street. The first time I tried Mogoo Popcorn in the store I wasn't that impressed. Perhaps it was the stale samples. Maybe the other flavors- seaweed, cheddar cheese, chocolate- were not my thing.
But I'm sure glad my friend Cynthia gave me a bucket as a gift so that I could become a fan. Their "American Original" flavor was pretty much kettle corn, it was light, crunchy, sweet, but not too sweet, with almost intangible taste of sea salt. The shape of the popped mushroom kernel gives it a round shape that gets pretty evenly coated and satisfying texture when you eat it.
The original flavor is my favorite, but if you want something sweeter, you can try their "American Caramel," "Hazelnut Caramel" or "Okinawan Brown Sugar". If you want something different, you can get the "Black Forest Chocolate" or Seaweed.
For the "American Original" flavor, Mogoo offers three different sizes- small is a long bag (NT$90), medium is (NT$150) and large comes in a extra large long bag (NT$200), and the bucket is NT$110. The other flavors have slightly different prices.
I like getting it in medium because the bucket keeps the popcorn from getting stale and is just the right size for not eating way too much. The smell of freshly made kettle corn was permeating the store and there was no way I wasn't getting a bucket.
Off to the right side of the store, you can spot the popcorn makers doing their magic. None of that premade movie theater popcorn here. I would totally sneak in some of this in rather than buy the often stale sweet popcorn at the theater.
Boxes also crowded the store making it almost hard to walk around. I guess it had become a popular option for gift giving, as my friend had also given us all a bucket at a lunch date a few months ago.
But if you find yourself addicted to the mushroom shaped popcorn, don't blame me! Just take back your bucket for refills like my friends do to get a NT$20 discount. Ooh, mushroom flavored popcorn, now that's something I'd definitely try.
14 comments:
Tasty looking popcorn! I tried a local commercial brand w/cheese flavor and it was better than what I could get in California!
BTW Ice Monster on Yongkang street closed for good :-( . Owner had alimony payment dispute with his ex-wife (who started IM with him). It was like US$1.1 million in payment...
looks awesome
Oh what an interesting find! I didn't even know there was such a thing as mushroom kernels. And I like all the flavor offering.
I LOVE Popcorn!! I can't believe they have an entire store dedicated to flavored popcorn!
Just got to Taipei a month ago, and will definately check this out. Those popcorn makers are like the giant version of popcorn machine! And mushroom? wow~
looks and sounds interesting and delicious. i may have to add this to my food itinerary hahahaha
There's this popcorn stand I found when I was in Taiwan last Nov. PopcornKing at Shihlin. Was meaning to tell u abt it but slipped my mind. Give it a try if u're in the area. Absolutely fell in love with the popcorn. They use the mushroom kernel as well!
I got a tub of their cheddar cheese popcorn, and was surprised that it tasted sweet (caramelly) and a bit peppery (black pepper, but not spicy), with a very faint cheese flavor. It wasn't the salty snack I had expected, but tasty nonetheless.
i LOVE reading your blog and reminiscing about all the fun eats in asia! this looks great; i don't think i've ever had popcorn in asia!
Looks gooood! I have never heard of this place. The idea of popcorn shops in Taiwan is definitely new.
I visit your blog all the time but haven't ever left a comment before. Just wanted to say your recommendations look fantastic!
P.S. What camera do you shoot with? I really like the quality of the images :)
so i read this post right, and decided to show my gf who then thot she'd show it to her sister who was lucky enough to take time off work and go back to tw for the lunar new year. surely she decided to check this place out, end result, she decided this is so good that we must all try it, especially for me as a popcorn lover. anyway, she made an order of 15 buckets of popcorn and i received my two today (expiry date printed on the film-sealed bucket being 21st march) =) see, this is why i like food blogs, not only are they nice to read they do come in very handy! thanks!
i went there today, and unfortunately the shop doesn't exist anymore :( I was really looking forward to having kettle corn.. maybe another place another time!
hi yes as shauna mentioned above this store is no longer there. i did however find another location that just sells it and doesn't have the kitchen. the location of that place is
No. 2 Lane 223 Alley 10 ZhongXiao E. Rd Sec 4
It is actually not very far from the shop that sells the cheese and bacon bao. Just need to go straight across the big busy intersection and you will see the Mogoo store on the corner. I hope you can update the information so other people can enjoy this deliciousness! I love looking at your blog for recommendations to eat. Thanks so much!
Shauna and Carol: thanks for the update! I’ll edit the post! I believe Mogoo Popcorn transitioned into another company a few years later and now in Eslite and certain malls like in Nangang you can find Planet Popcorn and other similar ones. If you can find it, the kimchi flavor is super addicting and was my favorite for a long time
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