Japanese restaurant chain Sukiya’s main focus is beef bowls, or gyudon, as they’re called in Japanese. But while its beef bowls are tasty at any time of year, Sukiya realizes that we could all use some extra cooling refreshment as Japan turns into a hot, sweltering furnace during for summer months, and so this year they’ve started offering shaved ice too.
We’re never going to be upset at increased access to shaved ice, but with Sukiya being a fast food chain whose specialty is savory meat dishes, we figured we should keep our expectations low as for how well they’d do with frozen desserts…and now we feel silly for ever having doubted them.
For starters, Sukiya’s shaved ice is surprisingly beautiful. At just 330 yen it’s less than half the price you’d pay for a similar item at a dedicated dessert cafe, but still with colorful eye-pleasing aesthetics that’ll have you reaching for your camera to snap some pre-snack pics.
We started our taste test with the Pachipachi Cream Soda-flavor shaved ice. Pachipachi is a Japanese onomatopoeia for a popping sensation, and so this dessert features popping candy powder.
As for the color, in Japanese sweets jargon “soda” doesn’t refer to Coke-like cola, but to a kind of light apple/citrus cider. A summertime favorite, “soda” is often colored blue like the summertime sky, and that’s the cool inviting hue of this dessert, which is topped with a scoop of iced whipped cream.
Digging in with our spoon for our first bite, we were happy to find a perfectly balanced grain to the ice. It’s neither shaved down to a powder nor left with big shards that’ll hurt your teeth as you bite through them. It’s in just the right in-between spot, with a pleasant but manageable crunch, and “soda”-flavored candy pellets providing some additional interesting texture, and the popping candy giving a fun jolt with each bite.
The syrup is what makes or breaks shaved ice, though, and we’re happy to report that the Pachipachi Cream Soda’s get full marks. The mix of apple and lime flavors is sweet with just a hint of tartness for a very refreshing result. And if you (like us) are the sort of shaved ice fan who can’t resist eating the most syrup-soaked part of the pile of ice first, don’t worry because Sukiya gives you a cup of additional sauce to pour on whenever you feel like it.
Fully satisfied with our first Sukiya shaved ice, we turned our attention to our second taste-test subject: the Strawberry Milk with Strawberry Syrup shaved ice.
Naturally, this one is aimed at strawberry lovers, and it comes with a generous helping of frozen strawberry bits.
It comes with both strawberry and milk syrup already poured over the ice, but you get an extra cup of strawberry syrup too.
By this point our expectations for Sukiya’s shaved ice had climbed sky-high, and the Strawberry Milk with Strawberry Syrup did not disappoint. The presence of so much fruit gave it an upscale feel, like the desserts from those fancy ice cream parlors where they mix things into the cream, and the cup of extra syrup let us adjust as we are for whatever balance of sweet and tart flavors we were in the mood for at that particular instant.
Again at just 330 yen, these felt like delicious bargains, and our only complaint is that we didn’t have room to try Sukiya’s third shaved ice variety, matcha green tea with sweet red beans. That’s something we’ll be rectifying soon, though, since while the shaved ice is a limited-time addition to Sukiya’s menu, it’ll be around for the rest of the summer.
Related: Sukiya location finder
Photos © SoraNews24
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6 Comments
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falseflagsteve
This dessert is obviously aimed at children and ladies you see. Another chain store jumping on a retro dessert trend. Walked past McDonalds at Shin Sekai the other day and they were advertising similar you see.
I have zero interest in this sugar laden stuff but if you do, please have in moderation, it’s lacks nutrition and is sugar laden.
bearandrodent
I would not be putting anything that neon blue into my system.
englisc aspyrgend
Sugar and chemicals, looks a fairly scary poisonous concoction. Highly processed and chemical laden foods are very bad for you, as is sugar.
garypen
Pretty standard kakigori. Coincidentally, my wife and I had a couple of them today - she had the azuki/matcha and I had the strawberry. Pretty decent. Nothing special. I keep forgetting to freeze the ice I need for my ice shaving machine at home. Doh!
Enjoyed the una-gyu-don, though. I assume at the price paid, it's Chinese farm-raised unagi, which is raised in truly horrible conditions. But, it was quite tasty. I doubt the rare occasion that I eat imported unagi will adversely affect my health. I hope.
Norm
Yes, spot on, old top. We see, and, yes, we see, respectively. But since I haven’t had anything sweet in a dog’s age, I’m going to give it a go during my 2023 summer rumspringa. Hopefully, I won’t wake up in an obese hyperglycemic state.
Gary, glad to see someone tried it before judging it. I’m not a sweets guy, but I think I’ll give it a try tonight after this dog day Osaka Tuesday.
餓死鬼
It's not a proper dessert unless it's gotten a health warning from Steve.
I may give one a try next time I visit Sukiya, though I don't know that they can match the magnificence of shaved ice from Grandma. Also, the light blue one looks like they're pouring liquid detergent on it.