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Ice Kirin Bar

An ice-cream bar serving Asian tea-infused scoops.

Lee Tran Lam

Ice Kirin mochi gelato.
1 / 5Ice Kirin mochi gelato.Supplied
Flavours include Uji Genmaicha and Hojicha & Kuromitsu.
2 / 5Flavours include Uji Genmaicha and Hojicha & Kuromitsu.Supplied
Mochi being stretched over the gelato.
3 / 5Mochi being stretched over the gelato.Supplied
Matcha daifuku mochi ice-cream at Ice Kirin.
4 / 5Matcha daifuku mochi ice-cream at Ice Kirin.Supplied
Mochi skin adds a chewy stretch to the gelato.
5 / 5Mochi skin adds a chewy stretch to the gelato. Supplied

Ice Kirin Bar Cabramatta

Japanese$

John Chan spotted Sydney’s craving for Asian tea blends well before the matcha latte trend took hold. By the time he opened Burwood’s Ice Kirin Bar in 2020, he was ready to fill his freezers with scoops like white peach oolong and Japanese genmaicha. Chan’s investment in the niche market worked out, and he now has four stores across Sydney. The latest opened in Cabramatta in August – a natural home for Ice Kirin Bar, Chan says, given the suburb’s connection to Vietnamese and other Asian communities.

The shop serves exclusive flavours, including passionfruit Calpis water and kuromitsu, sweetened with Japanese sugar syrup and jammy azuki beans, with plans to add tropical sorbets, such as sugarcane, and floral tea gelato (Chan is thinking gardenia). Enjoy your selection encased in a rice cake or wedged into a pineapple bun.

Scoop of choice: Passionfruit Calpis gelato.

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