Matsumoto Shave Ice

Small Sign, but Big Lineup

          After visiting Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, which is probably the second most famous eatery on the North Shore, we decided to visit the most famous one. Yes, Matsumoto Shave Ice which is located in a mall on the main strip of Haleiwa. The business was started in 1951, so they have been around for a while. I hear they have also done renovations too, because the interior looks very nice. We visited it, and the line was pretty darn long. Luckily, it was really fast, and I you could look at souvenirs and stuff like that during the 10 minute wait. The Shave Ice prices were a bit pricier than Waiola Shave Ice, but they use natural fruit flavours. The souvenirs were pretty weird, but I still got a shave ice postcard because where can you get a shave ice postcard?

Lots of Options

Guava, Passionfruit, Watermelon shave Ice
 with Condensed Milk $3.50

         We ordered a Large Shave Ice with Condensed Milk (Snow Cap) for $4, we got passionfruit, guava, and watermelon syrups. Sorry for the weird photo, as it just looked so good we started eating before taking the picture. I'll start this off by saying you have to get the snow cap. It was so freaking good, nice and sweet, with a nice dairy flavour like you would gte from ice cream. I would prefer this over ice cream, actually. The ice was very finely shaved, about the same as Waiola, with no irregular chunks. This was shave ice that straight up melted in our mouths, with the nice texture. The syrups were where this place really hit the money. You look at some brightly coloured ice and think: this isn't going to go well. You look at these flavours, and everyone wanted to try some because it looked like actual fruit. This tasted like actual fruit too, as the watermelon had lots of watermelon flavours and was just the right amount of sweetness. The passionfruit was a food flavour too, with just a hint of sourness making sure the syrup was just right. Thej guava was probably my least favourite flavour, probably because it didn't suit my sweet tooth with the tartness being a bit stronger than the passionfruit. I say it was my least favourite because of personal preference, but in reality all the flavours tasted like actual fruit. Still, it was a good tropical choice, and was a nice alternative from the sweetness. Said fruity syrups were poured in a good size, with it going down to the very bottom and soaking all of the ice. There was no syrup just sitting on the bottom though, which was good. The ice didn't really melt until when we were finished the shave ice, with just a bit of liquid that you could drink. The portion sizes are pretty good, and if you ate a full meal you probably want to share one between 2 or 3 people depending on how much of a sweet tooth the group has. This was the best shave cic experience we had in Hawaii, and deserving of a 5/5, no matter how much of a tourist attraction it is.

Bottom Line: Awesome Shave Ice
Tip: Condensed Milk (Snow Cap) is the best!
Overall: 5/5