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| - Let me just say that I wanted to give 3 1/2 starts but I can't do that so I rounded up.
When I first heard about a snow cone/snow cream/shave ice/kakigoori place opening up, I did have mixed feelings about it. Is there such a demand in this town? I mean....I sometimes have this craving for ramen, sushi, burger, whatever, but....kakigoori? Not exactly, so I have been anxiously awaiting what this is all about.
In Japan, as with most things there, kakigoori or snow cones/cream whatever you want to call it, is very seasonal. You really don't find it often unless it's in the middle of the summer, so having a permanent place is somewhat of an odd idea from my perspective. I did see a lot of shave ice places in Hawaii and that's somewhat understandable given the climate there. I did eat at the famous Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa, and my impression was....what's the F'ing big deal about this?
Which is exactly what I felt when I ate at Kuma as well.
Well, the ice is very finely shaved for melt in your mouth texture, very good. Certainly better than Matsumoto. I did have the "Bruce Tea", which is the Ujikintoki equivalent with matcha green tea and mochi with condensed milk. I actually liked the green tea flavor, but mochi was crap. Chewy, and tasted and textured like it came out of a fridge, but it's somewhat difficult to make a real mochi, besides, 99% of Americans would have no idea what a real mochi tastes like so I guess it may be a moot point.
I'm a bit turned off by silly names like "bruce tea", "ninja/sumo" sizes, "shinobi nut", etc. It's kind of like Shoku Ramen naming one of their ramens buta-san. I guess they are trying to be cute, but from a native speaker standpoint it's silly to say the least, and bordering on annoying.
Anyway, I think the kakigoori itself was exactly what it was supposed to taste like: 4 stars. Was I impressed? No, but I've never been impressed by Kakigoori before. Do I have a craving? No. Would I go back? hmm.....ehh..... that might be just my personal taste, so it might be a GREAT place for those people who love shave ice, kakigoori, and such, so I settled on 3.5 stars.
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