Anyone who has visited Japan during the summer months knows how hot it gets - it's sticky and humid, and often the only reprieve comes from popping into an air-conditioned cafe or convenience store to grab a cold drink or icy treat. Convenience stores have an impressive number of choices to pick from, but if you want to up your summer icy treat game, Homibing is the place.
Homibing is all about Korean style shaved ice, known as bingsu. It's very similar to the Japanese shaved ice variant known as kakigori, where the flakes of ice are covered with various tasty toppings including chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, or red beans. The menu at Homibing includes fruity bingsu flavors like strawberry, melon, or mango (we tried strawberry and mango on two separate visits!), alongside some more indulgent offerings like chocolate brownie, Oreo tiramisu, and tapioca milk tea. The bingsu serving sizes are very big, so it's easily something you could split with a friend.
If you're visiting outside the summer months and would prefer a different kind of sweet treat, they have a range of fluffy pancakes to choose from as well. Although I haven't personally tried the pancakes, other cafe patrons were enjoying them and they looked amazing - a solid 10 out of 10 for presentation!
I visited the Omotesando store, but the cafe is part of a chain which also has a location in Shin-Okubo, often referred to as Tokyo's "Korea Town" district.
