Matsumoto Shave Ice.

For my whole life I’ve wanted to go to Hawaii.  It was such a lucky trip thanks to generous people in my husband’s family.  We needed a little break from our woes for a few days.  (Still no job.  Boo.)

When I e-mailed Damaris and Hannah about places to eat while we were in Oahu, both of them mentioned the shave ice on the North Shore.  Of course, unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard of shave ice.  This is special shave ice, mind you.  It’s not a snow cone.  No.  It’s different and BETTER.  Matsumoto is the place to go for shave ice.  Don’t worry though, I’m on a mission to find good shave ice locally because I’ve heard there is some to be found.

There is always a line.  A long line.  But it moves quickly and is worth the wait.  Besides, you need a lot of time to decide what flavors to get.  Even then, you might change your mind as you order.

This guy was happy to be getting some shave ice while the anesthetic wore off from his minor procedure.  Three stitches.

(These are tourists.  Can you tell?)

I really like Haliewa, the historic town where you’ll find Matsumoto Shave Ice.  By the way, it’ s prounounced hahlay-eva.  It is a super busy, yet quaint little town.  Most of the cars going down the main drag have surfboards on top of them.  There are shrimp trucks everywhere.  A certain someone wouldn’t stop so I could have some of the famous North Shore shrimp.  Not that I’m holding a grudge or anything.  Everyone seems to be wearing flip-flips and sunglasses.  And you’ll see more skin than in a Victoria’s Secret catalog.  You might also see more tattoos than you’ve ever seen in your life.

This inside is fun too.  It used to be more of a grocery store, but as it became more popular food stuffs were pushed out in favor of t-shirts and memorabilia.

This guy would write down our order on the paper cone in shorthand and then we’d take it up to the counter and watch them make it.

Make sure you pay the extra $0.25 for the holder.  It’s worth it.  And make sure you try it at least once with the adzuki beans and ice cream.  It was sooooo good.

They use large columns of ice and the machine pushes them down against whatever it is that shaves it.  (I love it when I can find the words to describe technical things!)  The girl was fast.  I don’t know how many shave ices they churn out every few minutes, but it’s a lot.

Look how happy this guy is.  Don’t you love his shirt?  A special from Old Navy I bought for him 9 years ago as a joke.  It turned out that he really loved the shirt and it’s been in his closet ever since.  Though I’m sure he never thought he’d be wearing in Hawaii some day.  Ah, memories.

Until the next time!

(So, after I ate that gigantic shave ice, we drove down the road a little way to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and I ate a bowl of pineapple ice cream.  You know, just because.  More about that later.  Also, my desktop PC got a virus the other day, so I’m without my photos.  Lucky for you I have so many Hawaii posts waiting in queue!  Ha.  I hope they can fix my computer.  Until then, I’m using a laptop we scored for a super deal.)

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13 Comments

  1. We’re actually heading to Oahu’s North Shore in a couple weeks so these Hawaii posts have been perfect. I look forward to each one. Thanks!

  2. Thank you for calling it “Shave Ice.”

    ;)

    I hope you tried Melona. Yum!

    And the Dole pineapple floats are TO DIE FOR.

    I am so glad you has a good time!!

  3. Your posts are making me want to go to Hawaii so bad. I would love to to live there.

    We loved the shave ice too.

    Ps there was a shave ice stand in Orem that was pretty good. Ill have to remember the name for you.

  4. Hi, visiting from Food Blogs! This post makes me want to cry- we just moved from Hawaii 2 months ago. I miss it so much. We lived in Kailua next to another fab shaved ice place called Island Snow. Anyway, glad you got to go. It’s a magical place.

  5. HI Lindsey, I’ve not been around lately….but soooo HAPPY to pop back over here and read this. YOu look sooooo gorgeous in that pic. Radiant!!!!!!! I’m so glad you were able to take the trip to Hawaii! wow. Awesome~

    JennyKy

  6. Matsumoto Shave Ice is heaven! I went to BYU-H but was just a poor college student that couldn’t afford to go there very often. Still, there is no other place that has better shave ice than Matsuomoto’s!

    Love your blog, by the way. I’m a first-time visitor sent here by my very good friend Shaina from Food for My Family. She loves me. I love her (who doesn’t?!). She loves YOU and feels we’d get along famously, so who am I to argue with that kind of logic? So into my blog reader you go!! Can’t wait to read more of your archives and future posts. :)

    And thanks for the trip down memory lane with the Hawaii pics. Once you fall in love with that place, the love and longing to be back there will never go away (so sayeth I who have not had a chance to go back in 11 years).

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