Outside of Asakusa Station and not far from the major temples is one of the oldest Japanese sweet shops in Tokyo, Funawa Cafe.
Established in 1902, the place is known for selling “imo yokan” (sweet potato paste), various an-mitsu offerings (red bean+ fruit or cream) and also special ice cream (note: in Japan, they call it soft cream).
But one of the difficulties that some people tend to have is if they go to Asakusa too early to catch the temples, Funawa is a cafe that doesn’t open early. In fact, it’s open from 10 am to 7:30 pm.
What I wanted to try is their offering of Imo Yokan Soft Cream.
For 350 yen, I absolutely loved the taste of this ice cream. Not too sweet, just about right and despite it being a freezing cold day in Asakusa, I just felt that the taste of sweet potato worked perfectly.
It kind of reminded me of my other favorite potato ice cream, ube ice cream (which you can buy at a Filipino grocery store) but of course, not purple and slight difference but still, quite delicious.
But for anyone visiting Asakusa, and you happen to be there after 10:00 a.m., definitely visit one of Japan’s oldest sweet shops, may it be for the imo yokan, anmitsu, coffee or anything offered at Funawa Cafe.
