Hit Japanese Soft Serve in Fish-Shaped Cones Expands to New SF Location

There’s a new treat luring customers to the downtown San Francisco Metreon location: Japanese-style soft serve in warm fish-shaped ice cream cones. Uji Time Dessert, known in Berkeley, the Japantown mall, and on Instagram for its signature taiyaki cones, officially opened in the Metreon (135 4th Street) on Sunday, located on the first floor of the complex, near Sanraku.

Uji Time, whose name name refers to a city on the outskirts of Kyoto, first opened in Berkeley in 2016. The sweets shop takes fresh-baked taiyaki — traditional Japanese fish-shaped cakes typically stuffed with fillings like red bean paste — and stuffs them with soft serve, treating them like cones. Flavors include black sesame, tofu, and rich, dark green matcha.

Uji Time expanded to Japantown in 2017, and these days, the company is on an expansion kick. New locations include San Mateo, Newark, Los Angeles, Pleasanton, and now SoMa. According to a representative at the Japantown Uji Time location, the new Metreon store is on the smaller side, with just small taiyaki cones available at the moment, rather than large. Current flavor choices are matcha, sesame, tofu, and a seasonal special flavor, lavender honey.

If Instagram is any indication — and it is — the latest location is already tempting soft-serve lovers. Hours are Sunday to Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.