Waffles and Mochi

An instant classic of children’s television; the magic is all in the imaginative, endlessly flexible premise and its outstanding execution. ... Engaging, illuminating, curious and effortlessly inclusive, light but not glib or cloying, educational without being pedantic, made for tots yet clever and stimulating enough for adults to enjoy alongside them, Waffles + Mochi might be the first great kids’ show of the decade.

Waffles + Mochi strengths are legion. First of all, the title characters are absolutely insane and absolutely adorable. ... It’s built to get kids excited about cooking, but it’s entertaining enough for adults to enjoy. Warm, witty, and unabashedly brilliant, Waffles + Mochi is truly spectacular.

This well-done childrens’ show is better than any dumbed-down E/I show I’ve ever seen, and will arguably do more to change people’s eating habits than anything the USDA thinks it can do.

The series is good educational television, comparable to the best of PBS. Its eclectic form—animated musical interludes featuring Maiya Sykes and Sia as singing fruits; live-action cooking demos starring famous chefs and well-cast kids; stunningly deft explanations of non-American food traditions—mirrors the experience of scrolling through YouTube Kids.

“Educational” television tends to be Kryptonite to kids, who will go out of their way to avoid learning anything when plonked in front of a screen. However, Waffles + Mochi doesn’t lay on the life lessons excessively and Obama is relaxed, and agreeably deadpan, in her interactions with her furry co-stars.

Kids likely won’t leave begging for gazpacho or interested in award-winning restaurants or moved by celebrities they probably don’t know. But Waffles + Mochi works when its pantry-full of star ingredients strive not for name recognition but literacy, broadly construed: nutritional, geographical, emotional – a soup any open-hearted person can get behind.

A well-balanced mix of familiar ingredients: a fanciful set, documentary visits to far-flung places, real kids being real, comical or calming adults, and puppets.

The most enriching and entertaining parts of Waffles + Mochi are these interactions with chefs, as well as the trips to places like Peru’s Valle Sagrado, where the heroes watch a man dubbed the Potato Whisperer harvest potatoes with all kinds of colors inside. If there’s a second season of Waffles + Mochi, let’s hope that Thormahlen and Konner let segments like those breathe a little longer.

I question whether preschoolers and kindergarteners, the seeming target audience, would be able to cognitively follow along with Waffle and Mochi's brimming half hour escapades. The loving intentions are clear, but the writers often play with too many lessons at once.

The show bristles with gimmicks and gags and surreal overlaps between puppet world and real world. Then again, it is a show with puppets made for children that wants to excite them about the foods that weird them out. Some sensory overload is called for. ... Even if it doesn’t convince your kids to eat gazpacho, Waffles + Mochi is a show that feels wholesomely entertaining.