Tamaya Saint-Honoré: Imabari’s Famously Fluffy Kakigori and Signature Milkshake Ice
If Imabari has a kakigori royalty, Tamaya Saint-Honoré wears the crown for texture. A long-established confectionery famous well beyond Ehime, it is one of the city’s two great shaved-ice shops — and the place to go for a bowl so light and fluffy it barely feels like ice. In the humid heat of an Imabari summer, near the Shikoku end of the Shimanami Kaido, it is a genuinely memorable stop.
A long-established sweets shop, famous for fluffy ice
Tamaya Saint-Honoré is a confectionery with a long history — a family business now in its fourth generation, which began as a Japanese sweets shop and became a Western-style patisserie under the current owner. Its kakigori is known nationwide, and the reason is its remarkable, cloud-like fluffiness. That texture has drawn celebrities and magazine features from all over Japan; step inside and you will see photos and signed boards on the walls from famous visitors.
The name is a nod to Saint-Honoré, the patron saint of pastry chefs (and a classic French cake) — a fitting choice for a shop that is, at heart, a patisserie. That also means it is not only a summer stop: alongside the ice you can pick up Western-style cakes and confections, and in the colder half of the year sweets take over from kakigori entirely.
The signature: milkshake ice
The shop’s most famous bowl is its milkshake (miruku sēki) kakigori — a rich, creamy classic. It comes in several sizes, from small up to an extra-large that is easily big enough to share, so it is a fun one to order for a group. Alongside it, the menu is wide: there are said to be five or six kinds of strawberry alone, each with its own playful name, plus favourites like uji matcha milk, milk kintoki (sweet red beans), and iyokan wasanbon (local citrus with refined Japanese sugar). Part of the fun is simply seeing what is on the board when you arrive.
Good to know before you go
When can you get kakigori? As a confectioner, Tamaya serves shaved ice mainly in the warmer months (roughly late April to September) and shifts to Western sweets in the colder half of the year, so check ahead if you are visiting outside summer.
How big are the portions? Generous — the milkshake ice in particular comes in sizes up to extra-large, so order to your appetite and share if you like.
Popular flavours sell out. With so many varieties, some can run out on busy days; going earlier improves your odds.
Ordering without Japanese. It is a friendly neighbourhood sweets shop; the display and photo menu make choosing easy even without Japanese.
How to enjoy it. This fluffy style of ice melts fast, so eat at a steady pace rather than letting it sit — and if the cold gives you a quick “brain freeze,” just pause a moment before the next spoonful.
Why kakigori in Imabari?
Imabari sits on the Seto Inland Sea, where summers turn hot and humid. The local answer has long been kakigori, and the city takes it seriously enough to support two shops known across Japan. For a visitor that means an inexpensive, deeply cooling, very local treat — made with real craft rather than pulled from a freezer — is always close at hand.
Make it a two-shop kakigori crawl
Imabari’s two celebrated kakigori shops each have their own character, so the summer treat is to try both. Tamaya Saint-Honoré is all about that signature fluffy texture and its milkshake ice; Tousendo is beloved for intensely flavoured fruit and tea syrups, from a legendary strawberry to roasted-tea milk. Add a bowl of the city’s famous yakibuta tamago meshi or a soak at the hot spring by the station, and you have a perfect summer day around the Shikoku end of the Shimanami Kaido.
Getting there from JR Imabari Station
On foot: about a 10-minute walk (roughly 700 m) from JR Imabari Station, in the Kyoei-cho area of central Imabari.
Map: Open in Google Maps (2-2-54 Kyoei-cho, Imabari)
For cyclists: an easy stop in central Imabari — a fluffy bowl of kakigori makes a fine reward after the bridges.
Shop information
Tamaya Saint-Honoré (玉屋サントノーレ)
Address: 2-2-54 Kyoei-cho, Imabari City, Ehime
Tel: 0898-22-2076
Hours: 10:30–19:00 (in summer, 10:30–21:00)
Closed: irregular holidays (open every day in July and August)
Kakigori is seasonal; please check the latest information before visiting.
(Note: there is also a separate Matsuyama branch — this article is about the Imabari main shop.)
Original article in Japanese: 「玉屋サントノーレ」かき氷は芸能人も絶賛のふんわり食感
