Frostcity (Hawaii, US)

After posting shaved ice photos on a social media site, we were recommended to try Frostcity. On our last night in Hawaii, we did just that.

Frostcity isn't far from the Waikiki area, but it is a bit of a drive. It's a small establishment on the first floor of what looked like an apartment complex of some sort. They have quite a bit of seating inside and several parking spaces right outside their door.

Their prices are moderately high, even for their Small size, but you do get quite a bit of 'frost'. They serve Taiwanese style (based on what I read) shaved flavored ice. Basically, imagine freezing juice and then shaving that. So the flavors are available in limited quantities by their stock. Some of the flavours that we wanted weren't available, so we had to pick others. In the end, we ordered 3 Small plates of the following: durian, Nutella, and mango.

Durian

The texture was similar to soft serve ice cream when it's made with yogurt instead of milk. It was very soft, but cold (LOL) and had a slightly frosty texture to it. The flavoring was good for the first few minutes, but as my mouth got colder, the taste became very subtle. Even with a Small, I started to get tired of the singular taste as I finished it. In terms of mixing flavours, they have some set combinations that you can choose from, but you can't make your own.

Nutella

They must realize the taste and texture monotony of eating a small mountain of singularly flavored ice, so they include some garnishing on the side of each plate consisting of passion fruit gel balls, mochi, coconut jelly, and honeydew pieces.

It's not easy to directly compare shaved ice to the flavored ice that Frostcity serves. They are made differently and therefore taste different as well. In the end, it comes down to preference. I prefer the flavour and texture variety of shaved ice with toppings over the shaved flavored ice.

Mango

Overall, Frostcity ice plates are great to share if you're inclined to do so, or if you really like eating a lot of one flavour.

Summary
Food: Very good. The flavored ice is very fine and you get a good portion even for a Small plate.

Service: Average. You go up to order, sit down, and they bring you your dessert. They also remind you not to steal their spoons.

Setting: Average. They have quite a few tables and probably expanded to a neighboring store as it looked like 2 separate sit-down areas.

Value: Good. Prices are high compared to shaved ice, but keep in mind that you're not eating ice.