Gourmet Level Kakigori

The summer heat has been brutal this year! I think it was 37 degrees in Ibaraki a few days ago. When it is that hot, you want something to cool you down. In Japan, that cold thing is called kakigori (shaved ice). You can find kakigori everywhere in summer. At festivals, in cafes and restaurants, and food trucks. There are very few places that specialize in kakigori, though. Luckily, Mr. Ibaraki Eats knows a place.
One hot summer night, my wife and I were ready to just lie down on the floor of our place and blast the air conditioner as high as it could. My wife then said, "Why not get some kakigori to cool down?" That is when I remembered that there was a kakigori place in Ami Town. Not only did this place do kakigori, but they took it to another level of fancy gourmet style kakigori. The place I will be talking about today is Sakura Hyoukaten.

Sakura Hyoukaten

Sakura Hyoukaten is a kakigori restaurant located in the Inashiki area of Ami Town. It is right across from Kaumigaura High School. The Ibaraki Eats Duo drove from Tsuchiura to Sakura Hyoukaten. The kakigori place is tucked in the right corner of a small building. In case you can't find it, it is right next to a maze soba place.
We parked in front of the maze soba place and headed into Sakura.

Inside

When we walked inside, we were surprised that Sakura was almost full. We got the last two seats in the kakigori place. Sakura is a small kakigori place, and I mean small. There is a counter area that seats up to six people, and a small table area that only seats two people.
We grabbed the table seat and checked out Sakura. My wife found it cute that there were little figurines all around the inside of Sakura. They were all little cute animals holding ice cream or kakigori. After checking out the inside, we grabbed the menu.

The Menu

Sorry to say, the menu is in Japanese only. First off, all the kakigori looks like Michilen star gourmet level kakigori. Secondly, they are priced like Michilen star gourmet level kakigori. There are quite a lot of kakigori to choose from like the fig kakigori, an Earl Grey fromage (cheese) kakigori, a berry fromage kakigori, and a lot more! There are four pages full of kakigori!
My wife and I each ordered a kakigori and waited.

Fresh Berry Fromage

I have to admit, I had my doubts about Sakura. I was shocked by how expensive the kakigori was, so I was half thinking it was going to be this normal tasting kakigori with a few fancy things on it. I am happy to report that I was wrong, very, very wrong. This kakigori not only looked like a gourmet style kakigori, but it tasted like one. After my first spoonful of shaved ice, cream, and blueberry, I understood why Sakura had so many customers. This may be the best kakigori I have ever had. I ordered my kakigori with rare cheese, which brought out the flavor of the berries in the kakigori. The berries were blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry. I thought the berries would all have that frozen berry flavor, like it has been sitting in the freezer for a while. Nope. The berries tasted fresh, like they were just picked from the farm. The shaved ice part of the kakigori was this cold powder like shaved ice with berries inside of it. The cream around the kakigori was incredible. Everything about this kakigori was fantastic. Even though this kakigori is a bit pricey, it is totally worth it.

Nama Ichijiku Parmesan

Nama ichijiku means fresh figs, and Mrs. Ibaraki Eats loves figs. She ordered the small size fig kakigori, but it was anything but small. What came to our table was a mountain of delicious-looking fig sauce and powdery shaved ice. My wife got a spoonful of kakigori and gave it a try. She looked at me as if this might be the best kakigori she had ever had. I gave it a try myself, and I agree with her assessment. The fig sauce was incredible, and there were fresh figs inside the shaved ice! The Parmesan cheese flavor was very light, but it added a nice cheesy flavor to the figs. This kakigori was amazing, and it cooled us down from the summer heat. Another thing that impressed me about this kakigori and my kakigori was that nothing spilled over. Usually, when I eat kakigori, some of the ice or syrup spills over, and you get some of it on the table or the bottom plate. Not this kakigori. Everything stayed where it was supposed to, and it was easy to eat. Not sticky fingers, no mess.

After we finished our kakigoris, we were feeling nice and cool, and happy with all those delicious flavors we enjoyed. We both winced when we got the bill for our kakigoris, but it was completely worth it.
Sakura, thank you for some of the best kakigori we have ever had. Your gourmet style kakigori is something that everyone should experience. I hope the Ibaraki Eats Duo can go back to your shop soon to beat this summer heat and enjoy some fantastic kakigori.

So if you are around Ami Town and are craving something delicious to cool you down from this summer heat, why not give Sakura Hyoukaten a chance? Who knows? You might see us there. Enjoying some kakigori and checking out the cute figurines throughout the place.
Enjoy!

For more information on Sakura Hyoukaten, check out their Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/sakura_kakigorikobo