Shave Ice

So Gary insisted we stop for shave ice at this place he knew (having lived on Oahu from '97 to 2000). I was game because it's polite to be enthusiastic about things that the person who invited you to Hawaii is excited about. But really, a snow cone? We took a detour off the main highway to Haleiwa town so we could stop at M. Matsumoto. The traffic was terrible and it was tough to find a place to park and I almost wondered aloud if we should skip it. Because...really... we were going a long ways for a snow cone.

I don't know how I'd missed shave ice on all my prior trips to the islands because it's a staple like poi and spam (maybe that's why). Little did I know.


Shave ice (and that's shave not shaved) is smooth and soft, not granular like a snow cone, and the flavorings (Matsumoto's has 40) are intense without being terribly sweet. We got one with mango, guava, and lilikoi which is sorta like passion fruit, and we ordered it wrapped around a ball of vanilla ice cream. Words can't do justice to the icy, sweet, refreshing, light, addictive, melty, wonderful goodness that is shave ice. You'll have to trust me on this one, it's not a damn snow cone, that's for sure.