It gets pretty hot in Taiwan for most of the year, but there’s no better way to escape the heat than to enjoy one of Taiwan’s most popular and refreshing treats – milk shaved ice!
If you haven’t tried it already, you really should. Shaved ice is a dessert consisting of very thin shavings of ice, or crushed ice, flavored with syrup or other sweet ingredients.
Many vendors around Taipei serve this icy treat, but if you’re looking for decent quality where it’s thick like ice cream and bursting with flavors, then you should visit Showa Ice.
Showa Ice is a Japanese-style café that provides not only 6 kinds of flavored milk shaved ice, but also other desserts and their signature whisky ice cream! 15% whisky + Valrhona chocolate + Taiwanese local peanuts – sounds great, right?
They’re located nearby Xinyi Anhe Station, just a 3-minute walk from exit 2. You’ll know when you’ve arrived at Showa Ice as it’s uniquely decorated to give a nostalgic Japanese pastime. It reminded us of our time at Koma Sake Bistro but much more retro.
The place is so beautifully photogenic that many passersby will commonly stop just to take photos and selfies for their Instagram.
| Table of Contents
1. About the Cafe |
It’s pretty cozy inside as we felt we could comfortably relax and enjoy the vintage environment no matter where we sat.
We visited Showa Ice on a Saturday, just after noon when they opened up. We were able to get a table, and although it did get busier around 2pm to 3pm, there was always seating available.
The place is quite big as they also have a second floor that’s mainly a bar space where you can order a wide range of alcoholic drinks.
The style upstairs is quite different than the first floor as it has a more western vibe.
We love being able to eat and drink outside, so we were pleased to find they have a leisurely outdoor seating area that’s under shelter.
It was at this point that we realized Showa Ice makes an ideal spot to chill and enjoy the views with a group of friends while enjoying our drinks and icy treats.
What We Ordered
Chocolate milk shaved ice with whisky ($250)
These desserts looked incredibly awesome which is why shaved ice is one of our favorite guilty treats in Taiwan. They do two types of milk-shaved ice here; the classic mango chunks on top of milk-shaved ice, and what we ordered (shown above); the chocolate-shaved ice with a shot of whisky.
There’s a serious amount of quality that goes into these delicious bowls. The flavored ice is very smooth and it isn’t watery like most typical cheap shaved ice vendors.
It also contained a decent mix of oats and peanuts which made the chocolate not taste too sweet. We were impressed with our big bowl of crunchy chocolate ice cream – we were in heaven!
The strong whiskey made a perfect combination – we typically drink whisky with ice so it was an obvious match, and the chocolate just really works!
Pudding ($120)
Since we still had room to try something else, we went for their signature handmade sauce pudding which is another of their signature (and most popular) treats in store.
The sauce, which we believe to be brown sugar sauce, had a slightly bittersweet caramel flavor to it. As for the pudding itself, it was a soft and mellow vanilla egg pudding with a deliciously deep creamy texture.
We enjoyed this pudding. We will even go as far as to say it’s currently one of the best we’ve tried since we started writing about our Taipei foodie experiences.
The Menu
 |
 |
 |
 |
Worth visiting?
For sure! If you like milk shaved Ice then we strongly recommend checking out Showa Ice. You also get to experience the nostalgia of the retro Japanese era for some impressive Instagram shots.
We feel you get what you pay for here. It’s not cheap, but considering the high quality of the desserts compared to the typical vendors – it’s well worth it.
Will we go back?
You can count on it. It’s our perfect idea of a refreshing treat that’s very easy to get to by the MRT (red line).
The other thing that’s on our minds is their second-floor bar area. We can’t wait to chill with friends in the outside area with beers and icy treats on a warm evening – absolutely perfect.
ShowaiceHours: Telephone: 02 2703 0789 Facebook: 昭和浪漫冰室 English address: 106, Taipei City, Da’an District, Wenchang St, 47號1F Chinese address: 106台北市大安區文昌街47號1F Closest MRTs: Xinyi Anhe, exit 2 |
Sponsored
🗓️ Updated: April 2021 – Taipei.Expats
