Jo Jo's Shave Ice (kauai)

jo jo's inside
Originally uploaded by illewminator.

for the best shave ice on kauai, you've got to go to Jo Jo's in Waimea. what distinguishes it from all the others is the wide range of flavors of syrup, ice cream, and toppings, so that you can make the ultimate hawaiian style shave ice.

in this picture, you can see the menu board lists some favorite combinations, but you are free to make your own combo (ala coldstone's ice cream).

to make the ultimate hawaiian shave ice, you first need to decide on your preferred ice cream flavor (or you could decide to go ice-cream-less, but why would you???). then choose your syrup flavor/s -- you can usually choose up to 3 flavors.

some of my favorite ice cream/shave ice flavor combos include:

- vanilla or coconut ice cream, coconut syrup, topped with azuki beans and condensed milk -- the japanese obon staple, but made even more deluxe with the ice cream and coconut syrup.

- macadamia nut ice cream topped with pineapple, guava, and mango shave ice.

- strawberry ice cream topped with strawberry shave ice.

- vanilla ice cream, root beer syrup -- like a slushy root beer float!

one of the more unusual choices offered at jo jo's was li hing mui flavored syrup. for those of you not in the know about li hing mui, it's a chinese dried plum that's sort of salty and sweet and the hawaiian people love the taste so much they put it on everything -- including shave ice. i didn't particularly enjoy this one...

big thumbs up for Jo Jo's. if you have a chance to go to kauai, check it out. it's on the main road in waimea, right across from the high school.