It was a hot sunny day in Ibaraki. I believe my area, Tsuchiura, was 34° that day. The wife couldn't take it anymore. She wanted something to cool her down, she wanted kakigori or shaved ice in English. She didn't want just any shaved ice, she wanted sweet potato shaved ice from a little place called Imoyasu.
Imoyasu
Imoyasu's original shop is located near Arakawoki station, across Route 6. There is another Imoyasu around Tokyo but this sweet potato haven started in Ibaraki. You can walk to Imoyasu from the station but it is quite a hike. I suggest coming by car, especially in summer.
The wife and I came on a late Tuesday afternoon. I suggested going on Saturday but she let me know that the place is packed on the weekend and it is almost impossible to get a table.
Inside
The inside of Imoyasu is quite homey. There is a counter area and a tatami room area for sitting. There were signs everywhere saying to please feel free to charge your phone battery. The AC was blasting and the place actually had some really good music playing in the background.
At Imoyasu, you have to go to the register and order your food, then pick up your food and bring back the trays when your done. It is all self service style. If the place is full, you can always do take out.
The Menu
Well, this is a sweet potato place so almost everything on the menu has sweet potatoes. You can order a whole sweet potato. I saw three different kinds of sweet potato and I have no idea what the difference is because my sweet potato knowledge is limited. Then you have all these different kinds of sweet potato dishes and sweets.
The menu had a sweet potato sandwich, creme brulee, sweet potato chunks in honey, vanilla ice cream with sweet potato, sweet potato chips, a sweet potato shake and way more sweet potato goodies. There is also a coffee section to the menu. I tried the ice cafe o lei and it was OK.
The bottom of the menu has the different kinds of shaved ice and sweet potato ice cream.
Sweet Potato Sandwich
The "Don't Think Feel" sweet potato sandwich didn't look to appetizing when I first looked at it, but the wife wanted to give it a try. I took a bite out of that sandwich and found that it wasn't bad at all. The sweet potato was nice and soft and it had some white cream filling behind it. The bread was pretty normal, nothing out of this world. This isn't a great sandwich but it isn't bad at all.
Sweet Potato Chips
Order these. I am telling you, you have to try Imoyasu's sweet potato chips. I have tried the same kind of chips at summer festivals and other places and I have usually been disappointed. Imoyasu's sweet potato chips are the chips I've been waiting for my whole life. The wife and I ordered the butter salt flavored chips and they were divine. You can choose from four different flavors: butter salt, chocolate, caramel or plain. I couldn't stop eating them, they were amazing. They were crunchy like they are supposed to be and the butter salt went really well with the chips. I even got more to take home. I took the plain flavored ones home and they were still great when I had them later that night. I do plan on ordering these chips whenever I hit up Imoyasu again. Possibly more than one order.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Sweet Potato
Sounds very simple right? Just put vanilla ice cream on top of hot sweet potatoes. This simple dish was amazing. The creamy vanilla ice cream with the soft and delicious sweet potatoes were a perfect combination. I really liked this dish and hope I can have it again. The wife loved this dish and wanted to order another one, but we still had more sweet potato goodies to try,
Sweet Potato Shake
A sweet potato shake!? This most be incredible, you might be thinking. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite item on the menu. Being in a sweet potato shop this might sound ridiculous, but the shake tastes way too much like sweet potatoes. It tastes like they just put a sweet potato in a blender and just made a shake. No ice cream, nothing else. It was incredibly thick and the taste of sweet potato just over powered my mouth. The wife wasn't a big fan either and we almost didn't finish it. We did though, and had a nice ginger ale to wash the sweet potato thickness down.
Sweet Potato Ice Cream
The sweet potato ice cream is an incredible improvement over the shake. They should just use this ice cream to make the shake. The ice cream was creamy and oh so delicious. There were small chunks of sweet potato in the ice cream which was a nice little surprise while we were digging in. It was nice and cool, perfect for that hot sunny weather we were experiencing that day. If I did have to choose between this ice cream and the vanilla ice cream with sweet potatoes, I would choose the latter. I liked the sweet potato ice cream but the vanilla ice cream with sweet potatoes was on another level.
Sweet Potato Shaved Ice
Last but not least, we come to the Sweet Potato Kakigori (shaved ice). You might be thinking "it really doesn't look that appetizing." I completely understand your reservations because I had them too. I told the wife I wasn't really sure about this particular kakigori. She told me to try it before her. I got a spoon full of that white sweet potato cream and shaved ice and gave it a try. By all the sweet potato gods, that first spoon full was delightful. The sweet potato cream was so creamy and it was amazing with the shaved ice. I could see why this place was packed during the weekend. The sweet potato shaved ice completely cooled me down. The wife loved it too and gave me a "see I told you so" face. We both completely devoured that shaved ice and felt really refreshed afterward.
We were both really full when we finished all that sweet potato goodness. I vowed to come back and potentially clean the place out of their sweet potato chips stock pile. Both of us really enjoyed our experience at Imoyasu and hope we can come back soon. Even if it is just for take out.
So if you are near Arakawaoki station and want to cool down from this terrible Japanese heat, why not try Imoyasu's sweet potato shaved ice. Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying all that sweet potato deliciousness while buying all the chips the store has.
Enjoy!
For more information on Imoyasu, check out their website:
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