Kakigori Kaiji, Sydney

Kakigori Kaiji is a brand new Japanese shaved ice store in Sydney's Haymarket Chinatown area. For their spectacular ice desserts they use a special block of ice imported all the way from Japan. With just 5 flavours, we give Kakigori Kaiji a try to see what the ice is like and whether the ice makes a difference!

"Are we crazy going to shave ice in this weather? It's freezing!" I ask Monica as we walk towards Kakigōri Kaiji, Sydney's newest shave ice store on Sussex Street in Sydney's Haymarket or Chinatown area. We arrive at the Japanese shave ice store, decked out in white. The owners are Miho Wakatsuki and her husband Warren and the shop opened just 1 month ago in July 2024. There are 5 varieties of shave ice available here as well as hot and cold drinks like matcha lattes. That morning I had messaged Monica and we already agreed on our flavour selection.

Sydney has no shortage of shave ice from Korean bingsus to Japanese kakigōri which is the Japanese name for shave ice (bingsu is made with a frozen milk base while Kakigōri is made with a water ice base). Kakigori goes back as early as the Heian Period (794–1185) where it was a simple shave ice with syrup mainly served to the aristocracy.

At Kakigori Kaiji it all starts with the ice. Kuramoto ice is a big name in the ice business and they are the oldest ice manufacturer in Kanazawa, Japan. Their ice is made with water sourced from Japan’s Mount Haku and is said to contain very few impurities. It is called Junpyo, meaning "pure ice" in Japanese and is created by slowly freezing drinking water at about -10°C/14°F while continuously agitating it for over 48 hours (to remove any microbubbles). When freezing water, the pure parts are frozen first and by freezing the water slowly it ensures that impurities like minerals are not trapped in the final ice. The resultant ice is said to have clarity, hardness and slower meltability than other ice. The syrups are also made in-house. Kakigori doesn't come cheap here at around $26 each, however they are enormous and could easily be shared between 2 or 3 people (which we see all the other tables doing).

Each kakigori comes out separately as they take quite a bit of time to craft using the 13cm/5inch blocks of ice. The first kakigori to come out is the Uji Kintoki sweet milk matcha kakigori with sweetened azuki red beans and a little pot of sweetened condensed milk on the side. We dig in and take a spoon to the ice and we like that the flavouring goes right through to the centre. The ice is so light and fluffy and I love the sensation of it melting on my tongue. Because it is so light, the mountain of ice threatens to topple over, especially when we dig into the centre in search of more red beans. And what is really interesting is that even though it is very cold outside, eating the ice doesn't make us feel cold at all because it is that light.

Monica and I both have a strong love of strawberries and cream so we were both so excited for this one to arrive. There's a generous amount of real strawberry puree that is sweetened perfectly so that it isn't too cloying or jammy, all it tastes like is pure, sweet strawberries. In the centre is more whipped cream, meringue pieces and more strawberry syrup. It's hard to pick a favourite but if you're after a super light fruity dessert after a big meal this one is probably it. And in terms of its meltability, we actually take what we can't eat home and it stays frozen for a good 30 minutes in the car!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like kakigori? Do you like eating frozen desserts in winter?

Kakigōri Kaiji

394 Sussex Street. Haymarket NSW 2000

Monday - Thursday 3pm to 10pm

Friday - Sunday 1pm to 10pm

https://www.kakigorikaiji.com.au/