Taste Seasonal Japanese Ice Creams At Japanese Ice Ouca In Ebisu!

The Top 3 flavors Recommended by Shop Staff

They have so many flavors and it might be hard to choose, so let's see the top three flavors recommended by the shop staff. Please remember though that they might not be all be available when you visit as they may depend on the season.

1. Matcha, Milk, and Strawberry Sorbet

The combination of matcha ice cream made of green tea from Uji, an area near Kyoto which is famous for its green tea production, rich milk ice cream, and seasonal limited strawberry sorbet, only available from March to June, is the top recommendation. Strawberry sorbet is made of whole strawberries, so you can enjoy the texture of the seeds too. In the summer, sorbet made of summer fruits such as watermelon, melon, and peach are part of the lineup.

The monaka, or wafer that comes with your ice cream is for when the ice cream feels too cold in your mouth. This is another part of their hospitality and probably one of the reasons why they have been loved by customers for so long.

They serve shiokonbu, or salty seaweed with their ice cream as part of their hospitality as well. Shiokonbu is a traditional Japanese food, which is a flavorful seaweed coated by salt. They serve it as a palate cleanser so that you can fully enjoy the three different flavors.

2. Mitarashi Dango Ice Cream

Having an impressive presentation, mitarashi dango ice cream comes with mitarashi dango (*1) and ice cream on top. The texture of cold ice cream and warm dango mixed together in your mouth is special. It is possible to choose any ice cream flavor you like, but their recommendation is milk ice cream.

In addition to mitarashi dango, they have several types of dango ice cream: cream dango ice cream (430 yen with tax) with custard cream and limited seasonal kusa dango ice cream (400 yen with tax) with kusa dango (*2), red bean paste, and ice cream on top.

The dango ice cream is a limited seasonal item, so they have Kuma-san kakigori, or bear shaved ice in the summer season from June to September instead. Please check with them to see which items they have and when.

*2 Mitarashi dango: Japanese sweets made of rice cake balls skewered, covered in a sugar and soy sauce syrup. The combination of sweet sugar and salty sauce results in a unique taste.
*3 Kusa-dango: rice cake balls mixed with young felon herb.

3. Matcha Milk Shake

Mixing matcha ice cream and milk and putting a good-sized dollop of whipped cream on top, the matcha shake (520 yen with tax) is popular too. The milk dilutes the bitterness of the matcha, making the flavor very mild. This is a popular item on the menu all year round.

Have Your Order to Go With a Lucky Cat Package

The brown sugar dorayaki (180 yen with tax) package has a lucky cat printed on the front. On each package there is a different blessing such as "knowledge" or "new world" with nine different designs available. A set of five costs 960 yen while a set of eight costs 1600 yen. They put these in a box just the right size so you can choose your favorite lucky cat as a souvenir.

You can also take out a small sized ice cream for 400 yen. When you have your ice cream to go, you can take one flavor in a cup so if you can't decide what to eat while you're at the shop, why not take out a different flavor?

Eat Inside the Bright Atmosphere of the Shop

The interior of the shop has a simple, bright and very open atmosphere. There are nine counter seats for those eating inside.

There is also a self-serve roasted tea (*4) available, which is served hot or cold depending on the temperature outside. After eating sweet ice cream it's great to refresh your taste buds with a houji tea.

At Japanese Ice Ouca, they proudly sell ice cream saying "our ice cream is tasty!" You can feel the Japanese spirit from their seasonal ingredients and Japanese hospitality. How about trying their ice cream when you visit Ebisu?

As of December 2018, Japanese Ice Ouca is closed for business due to building renovations. It is scheduled to be reopened in spring 2020.

*4 Roasted tea: A very flavorful brown tea made after roasting green tea leaves giving a less bitter and tangy taste.

Interview courtesy of Winwin Associa, inc.