Mugiwarai

Obviously staffed by some seriously multi-talented folks, Minowa's finest bakery-come-café may be best known for its organic bread, made with 100 percent domestic wheat, but also serves up simple but wonderfully flavourful soups, homemade curry and voluminous sandwiches, not to mention the summer-only kakigori desserts. These heaping piles of natural shaved ice from Nikko are topped simply with only one flavour of fruit syrup each – we liked the Lemon, which gets an extra kick from the ample amounts of lemon peel hidden within the ice. All of the syrups here are 'enzyme' types, lightly fermented for an additional touch of subtle sweetness.