torched shaved ice by michelin-star pastry chef 🍧

just a disclaimer‼️ this kakigori-based dessert place is not actually michelin starred, but!!! the pastry chef, Miho Horio (pictured! 📸), used to work at a michelin starred ⭐️ french restaurant before opening this tiny (it only has 9 seats 😭 - 7 counter seats + 2 at the side) dessert restaurant 🌸

eating shaved ice (kakigori 🍧❄️) is considered a must-do activity to beat the summer heat, especially in japan 🔥🥵 my papi came across a tiktok featuring this particular kakigori restaurant serving seasonal flavours of shaved ice. her creations vary with fruits & produce of the season 🍓🍊🍇🍑, which were carefully imported from various prefectures domestically. this means that the menu will change each time you visit her dessert shop! 🌱

we were truly impressed by the presentation of our kakigori & were super duper amazed by the flavours 🤤 we ordered a 1) passion fruit creme brûlée kakigori ☀️ and 2) a peach 🍑 & meringue kakigori. these were clearly the crowd favourite (based on what other customers ordered!), and we enjoyed them so much!!!

the passion fruit and chiboust shaved ice was created by carefully layering stacks of shaved ice, passion jam, passion fruit seeds and bits of chocolate/ toffee/ cacao 🍫 (which added a layer of complexity, because it was slightly bitter & had a crunch to it). the entirety of the layers was stacked with chiboust (an Italian meringue, which was super light & not overly sweet), before powdered sugar was sprinkled over it. ❄️☃️ as a final touch, the powdered sugar was torched to resemble creme brûlée & we loved every bit of it!!!!

the flavours were super well-balanced, and not too heavy to finish despite its large size. the passion fruit was especially refreshing in the summer heat, and truly our favourite shaved ice dish. 💫

the peach kakigori was slightly heavier than the passion fruit kakigori, but the peach was so fresh, sweet & juicy that I immediately fell in love 😍 this was truly the best peach that I’d ever eaten, and i couldn’t get enough of it. the shaved ice was topped with an airy biscuit/ pastry which kinda tasted like Japanese corn snacks. I couldn’t quite place whether I enjoyed the biscuit, but it paired really nicely with the peach.

there was also a soft jelly made from a berry that I couldn’t quite recognise, but I loved the extra textures, for they provided an element of surprise with each bite 🤭

it was such a unique and fun experience for us, and we enjoyed every part of it! each shaved ice dessert was planned and created with so much thought and attention to detail, and we loved it so much 😍

🌟 a thing to take note - reservations are a must for international tourists, especially when you’re running on a tight schedule ⏰🗓️ and/ or you’re visiting japan during peak period. the server that they use for reservations is tablecheck, which should be the first option that pops up on google!

❣️reservations can only be made 7 days in advance 😢 at 9pm (japan time, which is 8pm in SGT), which means that you’ll likely have to make reservations right before you fly/ ✈️ on the trip itself.

⚠️ ALSO!!! reservations are so competitive, we missed the timing by 2 hours 🫢 and all the slots were fully taken up, so we had to arrange a reservation for another day ☁️ + move our itinerary around to fit it into our trip. do take note that each slot is about 45 min each, and required a fully-refundable deposit of $60 💸.

📝 do take note that there is a minimum order of 1 item (either kakigori/ French toast) per person!!!!

more details if you wna check it out:

🍧 azuki to kouri

📍 Japan, 〒151-0053 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Yoyogi, 1 Chome−46−2 グランデュオ代々木 1F

⏰ japan timing: 11am -7pm (closed on Wednesday)

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