The best shaved ice desserts in Hong Kong

Popular Thai dessert chain After You Dessert Cafe whips up generous portions of their signature kakigori, or Japanese shaved ice. The Thai cafe chain keeps customers coming back with flavours like Milo volcano, as well as Thai-inspired flavours like mango sticky rice and Thai tea. If you can't hack their generous portions, the dessert cafe also serves their fluffy shaved ice in baby-sized portions, which are more manageable but just as delicious. 

Popular Taiwanese dessert chain Pahshih Mesona is best known for its grass jelly, which is made by boiling aged dried mesona leaves for eight hours, then chilling until the liquid is gelatinised. If you're in the mood for something icy, this dessert chain also offers mountain-high piles of shaved grass jelly ice which can be paired with toppings like ice cream, chopped mango, red beans, and a generous drizzle of either milk, taro, or hojicha sauce.

While Thai restaurant Chachawan is best known for serving authentic dishes from the Northeastern region of Isaan, this spot also offers a delightful Thai Milk Tea shaved ice on their dessert menu. Dig into their mountainous pile of milk tea-flavoured shaved ice, that's generously topped with Thai milk tea and chewy tapioca pearls, which is sure to be a perfect end after savouring your hearty meal.

Sososo Kakigori is a Sheung Wan-based dessert spot that specialises in kakigori, or Japanese shaved ice. Here, you can find mountain-high piles of shaved ice that get doused in flavoured syrups like strawberry, kiwi, and watermelon, as well as some unique flavours like shikuawasa, a Japanese citrus fruit native to Okinawa. In addition to their Japanese shaved ices, Sososo Kakigori offers some refreshing fruit teas, sodas, cold brew coffee, and delightfully chewy warabi mochi. 

This beloved Chinese dessert establishment has been serving up traditional Asian-style sweet soup and fruity desserts for over 20 years at their numerous branches. Though well-known for classics like sweet tofu pudding, sesame soup and mango pomelo sago soup, their shaved ice desserts shouldn’t be overlooked. Choose from the tall pyramids of ice with mixed fruits embellished with mango syrup and sweetened milk, or go simple with the mango or lychee kakigori. You can even get a little adventurous by combining flavours like yakult with mango. It’s refreshing and satisfying, with an undeniably smooth melt-in-your-mouth quality at modest prices.

Nun Desserts Cafe is one of the best spots in Hong Kong when it comes to bingsu (Korean shaved ice). Try their best-selling honeydew melon sherbet with a scoop of melon ice cream atop a mountain of fresh melon, all resting on a bed of soft ice flakes and condensed milk. Alternatively, opt for the lychee smoothie with vanilla ice cream for a refreshing cooler, featuring an ocean-blue soda that brings visions of clear seas and the summer breeze.

Taiwanese dessert joint Meet Fresh has branches all around Hong Kong including Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsuen Wan, Hung Hom, Ma On Shan, Tai Po, and Tuen Mun. Featuring a menu that highlights fresh, natural and healthy ingredients, this restaurant and its worldwide outlets are known for its deliciously chewy, soft taro balls and herbal jelly. Sample a range of their other toppings by ordering their Q Mochi Milk Shaved Ice, which comes with Q mochi, mini taro, sweet potato balls with taro paste, winter melon jelly and ice cream that sit on top of everything.

In typical Japanese fashion, both of Shari Shari’s small branches in Causeway Bay and Central are aesthetically minimal spaces. The menu serves up a range of desserts, including kakigori made from Japanese imported ice. The superior quality of the water makes for clean tasting and silky smooth ice – perfect for their generous toppings of cream, syrup, fruits, and mochi. Our favourite hojicha and kinako cream kakigori is fresh, rich, and creamy, while the matcha cream special features a strong tea flavour as well as a hidden surprise of crushed cookies buried within.

Aside from classic Japanese teas and lattes, Sweet Craft also offers a range ice flakes which come in a large variety of flavours like peach nectar, and velvety tiramisu. Their signature flavour is sea salt caramel ice flake; which has a rich crème brûlée base and is topped with homemade brown sugar rocks, cream cheese and flavored popcorn, as well as a generous drizzle of caramel sauce. Sweet Craft's ice flakes are pilled high inside a cup, which will come in handy if ever feel like eating your ice flakes on the go.