What’s a bubble waffle? Wichita can now find out at a just-opened downtown dessert shop
When I first reported in late May that the Union Station kiosks were getting a new vendor selling bubble waffles, the No. 1 question people asked me was, “What’s a bubble waffle?”
The new shop selling them — Sweet House, owned by Fnu Erico — opened on Monday. So this afternoon, my teen-age daughter and I stopped by to investigate.
Bubble waffles, also known as egg waffles, are a street treat popular in Hong Kong — and gaining popularity across the United States. They’re made with a special press that produces waffles composed of air-filled, pull-apart bubbles. Erico cooks one up, folds it up and then fills it with the customer’s choice of ice cream and candy toppings.
We tried the mocha waffle (original and green tea are other options) and asked him to fill it with vanilla ice cream, M&Ms and sprinkles. You can also choose chocolate ice cream or whipped cream, and other toppings include peanuts, Biscoff cookies, Kit Kat bars and Oreos.
The finished waffle wasn’t too sweet, and the most fun part was popping off an individual bubble and dipping it into the ice cream. The bubbles actually make these waffles more practically portable and shareable than other sweet waffle treats.
Fnu also serves other items, both sweet and savory, that are not familiar in Wichita, including a Indonesian sandwich made by grilling a hot dog bun with cheese, butter and sprinkles; and coffee buns, also known in Malaysia as kopi roti, which are soft, buttery pastries flavored like coffee.
My daughter also ordered one of Sweet House’s flavored iced teas, and we were surprised that it was served in a see-through pouch, sort of like an adult-sized Capri Sun. The tea was sweet and fruity, and she loved it.
The owners have some cute tables with tiny stools set up outside, and that might be a good place to eat your bubble waffle. We got a little overzealous picking off pieces of the waffle in the car and ended up with a chocolate sprinkle mess on my upholstery.
With Sweet House open on one side of the plaza at Union Station, 701 E Douglas, and the new Christmas-themed Candy Cones cart on the other, this is likely to be the sweetest summer on the square since 8 Below sparked a rolled ice cream craze in 2018.
Sweet House’s hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.
Sweet House menu
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This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 3:36 PM.
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