Shirokuma Kakigoori @ Tenmonkan Mujaki, Tenmonkan, Kagoshima

 

There is a saying that there is always room for dessert. But when the said dessert is the size of your head, will you answer change? It did for me unfortunately, but I still somehow got some great enjoyment out of it. 

Tenmonkan in the summer. 

For starters, I am pretty surprised of the bevy of great dishes that Kagoshima actually has. As this is one of the more "off the radar" cities, and not usually visited by tourist, I was glad to see that there is so much food to try. Really hope that I can come back for a return to try even more stuff. But in the meantime, we here the present moment. And the present moment is pretty hot!

Cute!

As we are now closing into summer, with temperatures now touching 30 C on some days, some cold dessert can really spell great reprieve to one tired traveler like myself. And some shaved ice was in order. And on that note, my friend from Kagoshima again gave me an excellent recommendation : Tenmonkan Mujaki (天文館むじゃき 本). 

Huge!

This is the birthplace of the shirokuma  (白熊 or しろくま) kakigoori, which is shaved ice laced with candied milk and filled with a fruit based center and some red beans. With a history of at least 72 years, this establishment actually set the trend of this region-wide popular dessert and has been a feature of a lot of shops in the prefecture. Although often imitated, they are never intimidated as the best version is still the original. The go to dessert option is of course their classic shirokuma which stood for 750 yen. It was a bit pricey in my eyes when it comes to shaved ice, but as the heat was really revving up, any cold dessert will do. And once the bowl came, I can clearly see why. It was the size of my head! Although I was impressed with the size, it posed a problem as well : how do I eat this thing? 

Frosty! And creamy at the same time!

I eventually scoop from the corners and slowly made my way to the top. Each speck of ice was so loaded with candied milk, it was as though I was having some soft serve ice cream. It was pretty indulgent. But that was not all. The filling of fruit gave it a contrast of freshness and vibrancy. It was a summertime blast, as it had pickled cherries, watermelon and pineapple. 

Hidden treasure found

It was halfway through when I started to feel a bit full and underestimated the size and volume of this ice dessert. This was really something! Unfortunately, I was not able to finish it all and had to leave with some remaining. Oh the shame! 

A peek inside the chic dining area. 

Still, this was utterly refreshing and I had no regrets getting it. It is definitely one of the more interesting desserts I had in a long time and it was a great heat buster. As mentioned, there are several shops that sell the stuff., and Mujaki does have some branches around the prefecture. However, nothing will beat the original. So if you would like to try to tame the bear, then the address is as follows: 

 5-8 Sennichicho, Kagoshima, 892-0843

Front of the house. They really love their polar bears.