Korea has bingsu. Taiwan has Ice Monster. Japan has kakigori.
Kakigōri is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.
Umezono is a dessert shop in Kyoto with multiple branches. I visited one (not their largest) to try my first kakigori.
The visit
I visited the Kawaramachi branch located on a busy commercial street.
They also had other Japanese sweets, in particular sweet skewers.
I focused on the task on hand and chose a kakigori. Unfortunately this shop did not have many options in terms of flavor.
I had the green tea kakigori that came with a green tea scoop of ice cream on top, some red beans and mochi. There was also a small glad of additional green tea syrup.
The portion was big, but manageable for one person. Overall it was quite good, even if I do not crazy about matcha (green tea).
The check
I spent 930 yen (8.70 USD) for this huge dessert. Good value.
Where in Kyoto:
234-4 Yamazakichō, Nakagyō-ku.
In Japanese: 〒604-8032 京都府京都市中京区山崎町234−4.
Website: umezono-kyoto.com.
Tip: most of these kakigori places are closed on Wednesdays (do not ask me why). If you like to try Umezono, go to their main branch “Umezono Gallery and Cafe”.