The hot weather makes people scream for anything that will cool them down and anything that will provide refreshment even for a while. Ice cream, gelato, smoothies, frappe, halo-halo and Bingsu - name it, we all want them! With the increasing popularity of Bingsu stores providing cozy places for millennials to cool down, more and more entrepreneurs are taking advantage of this summer heat.
Enter Ikigai Kakigori Cafe.
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| Ikigai Kakigori - Tomas Morato |
Offering the same shaved iced goodness, Kakigori is actually the Japanese version of Bingsu which is more like our local summer favorite - halo-halo.
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| What is a Kakigori? |
Braving the distance on a Saturday, I went to Quezon City for a #tomasmoratofoodcrawl. Ikigai was our 6th stop. You should be a little observant if it's your first time to visit Ikigai. You will not easily spot it coz it doesn't really have a big signage and it's located in a building - Pos Building. To find it easily, you have to remember that Pos Building is right in front of Il Terrazo. Ikigai is just on the ground floor but it's prone to being covered by parked cars.
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| Inside Ikigai Kakigori Cafe |
The place was small. There were about four tables that can accommodate 2 persons each. They also have this wall table lining up the sides of the counter area.
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| Inside Ikigai Kakigori |
With just a couple of customers, the place can get really cramped. There isn't much in their menu except different variants of Kakigori, Japanese Cheesecake, Vietnamese Shake Coffee, ice cream, yogurt and their new offerings - panna cotta and tiramisu.
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| Ikigai Kakigori counter |
We decided to get regular sizes of their "best sellers" according to their staff - Strawberry (which is new in their menu), Mango, Kuromitsu and of course Matcha.
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| Strawberry Kakigori (Regular) for 210Php |
This was the most expensive and was the group favorite. It had shaved ice with milk x generous serving of fresh strawberries x vanilla ice cream. The freshness of the strawberries mixed well with the milk making it a really delicious and refreshing treat. The sweetness was just right and the ice cream added sinfulness to this cold treat.
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| Mango Kakigori (Regular) for 180Php |
This was okay. It's usually my favorite kind of Bingsu but this one didn't stand out. It had mango ice milk which had mango syrup that tasted more like Gina Mango Drink. It also had fresh mango cubes which were rather sour than sweet, nata de coco, cashews and a scoop of mango ice cream.
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| Kuromitsu Kakigoru (Regular) for 180Php |
This was okay too. We weren't really sure if we wanted to order this. We were kinda leaning towards the Chocolate one but the server said that it was a best seller so we went for it. It had milk ice, adzuki beans, Shiratama and Hojicha ice cream. It was also served with brown sugar syrup on the side. It was simple, with the taste of muscovado sugar evident because of the syrup. I liked the Shiratama though - they were like mochi. The Hojicha ice cream was good too. It had a strong and earthy tea flavor to it.
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| Matcha Kakigori (Regular) for 190Php |
I'm a Matcha Fanatic but didn't enjoy this much. The shaved ice with milk was drizzled with matcha syrup, topped with matcha ice cream, adzuki beans and matcha flavored shiratama. I would say that it's matcha overload but I didn't quite get that. It was also served with more matcha syrup. Maybe I had too much Kakigori that time and in case i would find myself in Tomas Morato again, I am very much willing to try this again.
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| Ikigai Kakigori Cafe details |
Overall, the experience was good. Though I have to say that the shaved ice wasn't as fine as that of the other Korean Bingsu that I've tried and the ice cream serving was a little shy. The ice also melts rather easily.
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| Ikigai Kakigori Cafe details |
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| Ikigai Kakigori Cafe details |
Anyhow, though the place was small I still loved the ambiance. It had simple interiors with Japanese trinkets here and there giving you an almost authentic feel of a Japanese restaurant. I loved that they have wood everywhere and that their lighting was warm. Hope they can come up with more flavors or improve those variants that they have right now.
4 out of 5 Stars for Ikigai Kakigori!
--- Ikigai Kakigori Cafe: Pos Bldg., Sct. Madriñan St. cor. Tomas Morato Ave., Tomas Morato, Quezon City
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