In the humid summer of Japan, shaved ice is the best choice for desserts!! 🍧 (Japanese: かき氷, Kakigori)
The shaved ice had improved so much in Japan in the recent years~ it is no longer simply shaved ice with syrup, but with soft texture and many different flavors! Not only that, there are many Specialized shaved ice stores opened in Japan these years so you can enjoy delicious shaved ice through out the year with many seasonal flavors 👍🏻
Let us introduce some delicious shaved ice shops located in Setagaya ku (ward), Tokyo. Setagaya (世田谷) is said to be one of the most competitive areas for shaved ice~ with many kinds of different stores selling different shaved ice and all listed on rankings for shaved ices, books and magazines!!

There is one more thing, the shaved ice shop basically would like their guests to eat the shaved ice before it totally melted, it makes them sad if there is a bowl of water left after you leave… Also, if there are a lot of people lining up waiting to enter, remember not to sit at the seats for too long, leave once you’re finished, if you want to spend time talking and siting, it’s better to go to a cafe.
Some people say you have to think of the shaved ice shop as a ramen shop, it is not a place for you to sit for a long time 😅
Now let us introduce some delicious shaved ice shops located in the competitive area of Setagaya, Tokyo!! 🍧🍧

和kitchenかんな (Wa Kitchen Kanna )

The first recommended shaved ice in Tokyo Setagaya is located 2 stations from Shibuya (渋谷), at Sangenjaya (三軒茶屋). Sangenjaya station is one of the most competitive locations in Setagaya, there are 3 shaved ice shop located near the station, which are all often introduced and recommended by many websites, books, and magazines!
Wa Kitchen Kanna (和kitchenかんな) is also one of them; this restaurant / shaved ice shop was opened in 2013. It continues insisting to use the best quality ice and fresh materials to make their shaved ice for its customers, they offers many different type of choices of flavors with many seasonal flavors for people to enjoy through out the year!
This restaurant also offers lunch, you can choose to come to have lunch then have the shaved ice as dessert 🍧

There are many famous and interesting flavors of shaved ice that Wa Kitchen Kanna offers, including Oshiruko (かんなの氷しるこ，750 JPY) and Taro (濃厚紫いも牛乳，750 JPY).
On the day we visited, we ordered Wakaba Strawberry & Matcha (若葉 いちご&抹茶，950 JPY) and Tiramisu (ティラミス，950 JPY)
It was very delicious! Especially the Tiramisu is definitely a must try! 👍🏻

Information for 和kitchenかんな (Wa Kitchen Kanna)

雪うさぎ (Yuki Usagi)

The second recommended shaved ice in Tokyo Setagaya is Yuki Usagi (雪うさぎ). This is definetlly one of the most popular shaved ice shops where you’ll find loads and loads of people waiting to enter! This is a shaved ice shop that is often time listed as one of the top recommended shaved ice shop in Tokyo! It is one of the must try shaved ice in Tokyo!
But since it is very famous and popular, it has longer waiting time as well 😅

We went around 14 o’clock on a weekend, and we waited for 3 hours before we finally entered the shop…
There is a signing book informs of the store, when you arrive, write your name on the list then it’s just waiting…
On the side of the signing book, it says that about 20 groups of people will be able to enter every hour, so you can leave the shop and come back in time for them to call your name.
But it was totally worth it!!
We were lucky to be able to try the daily limited flavor:
Salt Caramel with Granola (塩キャラメルグラノーラ とろ～り甘塩クリームに自家焙煎キャラメル)，800 JPY) and Strawberry Fromage (苺のフロマージュ(苺ミルク&マスカルボーネチーズ，900 JPY).

Yuki Usagi is also open through out the year, it uses seasonal materials to create different flavors of shaved ice. In late summer you would sometimes see special menus of melon and watermelon with half of it used as the bowl of the shaved ice!!

Information for 雪うさぎ (Yuki Usagi)

かき氷喫茶バンパク (Kakigori Kissa Banpaku)

The next recommended shaved ice in Tokyo Setagaya is Kakigori Kissa Banpaku (かき氷喫茶バンパク). This shaved ice shop was opened by an owner who loves shaved ice~ and he often uses materials from his home town, Wakayama, to make sauces for the shaved ice.
Kakigori Kissa Banpaku was opened in the beginning of 2015, it has been popular among people who likes shaved ice since then. It often ended up closing earlier because everything is sold out!

This shaved ice shop rents the space of a live bar in Sangenjaya, so it is only opened during the day and it doesn’t has certain holidays, it will close on random days…so it is lucky to get the chance to try their shaved ice!
Since Kakigori Kissa Banpaku doesn’t have much space to line up in front of its store, the staff may ask you to leave and come back later, this may be hard but their shaved ice is still popular among many people, they are willing to visit it all over the year.
We arrived a little bit after the open hour last time and we waited for around 1 hour or less. The shaved ice shop also requires their guests to at least order one per person.🍧
Last time we ordered the flavor that is famous for them and less seen in other shaved ice shops: Mint chocolate (チョコミント，900 JPY)

and Mango with Almond milk (マンゴー杏仁みるく，900 JPY)

Both has really thick flavors and taste really really good!!👍🏻

Information for かき氷喫茶バンパク (Kakigori Kissa Banpaku)

氷工房 石ばし (Kori-Kobo Ishibashi)

The next recommended shaved ice in Tokyo Setagaya is Kori-Kobo Ishibashi (氷工房 石ばし).
It is a rare shaved ice shop that still keeps its retro look since a long time ago, apparently it was opened in 1950s and it still continues to use the shaving machine that moves manually!
Kori-Kobo Ishibashi is located very close to Sangenjaya station, but it may be a bit hard to find, when you follow the map to this road, you will see the Soba restaurant (the brown building on the right), turn into this street and after a few steps you will see the shaved ice shop on your left hand side.

Both the exterior and the interior of the shop look very retro with retro machines that are still in use!

The retro shaved ice that they insist on making are popular among many people and is often chosen as one of the most visit shaved ice in Tokyo!
Last time we tried one of the most popular flavor: Black tea with milk (紅茶ミルク, 800 JPY) and the other flavor we tried were the Bluberry & Black currant (ブルベリーカシス, 700 JPY)

The shaved ice were refreshing and tasty~ if you get a chance you should find some time to visit the grandma at Kori-Kobo Ishibashi!

Information for 氷工房 石ばし (Kori-Kobo Ishibashi)

ティーハウスマユール 宮崎台店 (Tea House Mayoor)

The fifth recommended shaved ice in Tokyo Setagaya is Tea House Mayoor (ティーハウスマユール宮崎台店), located at Miyazakidai station on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi line. This shop is actully a shop specialized in black tea, but the shaved ice they sell became more and more popular and now has become a menu which their guests can enjoy through out the year!
However, they are only able to serve a certain amount of guests every day, so there are chances when you visit that you won’t be able to enter….especially in the summer, because they are too popular…
Their opening hour is at 11am, but in the summer, they will usually start their signing book from around 10am. You will have to write your name on the singning book at a specific time slot, you just have to return 10 to 15 minutes before the slot and wait outside for the staff to lead you to your seats.
At a little bit pass 10am, you may already see that most time slots are already taken….espcailly during weekends or summer vacations, so during peak season, it is definitely recommended to go at 10am and write your name down first!

It has a rule saying that you need to make your orders all at once, you cannot order more afterwards, so if you would like to try more than one flavor, remember to order it first!
It also has a limited number for people to order, for single guests, up to 3 cups; for two people, up to 4 cups; and for three or more people, 1 cup each person.

Last time we were finally able to enter and we ordered 3 cups of shaved ice all together!
They offers fruity flavored shaved ice as well~ but since it was our first time visiting, we decided to try out the black tea specialist’s tea flavored shaved ice!
Special picked Darjeeling (特選ダージリン, 850 JPY)

Rum & Chai (ラムチャイ, 780 JPY)

and the last is Bubble milk tea (タピオカミルクティー, 800 JPY)

Information for ティーハウスマユール 宮崎台店 (Tea House Mayoor)