mahalo, i guess

ever since our first food truckfest, the girls and i have been obsessed with hawaiian shave ice.  well, it really stems from trips to hawaii, but with the ridiculous cost of airfare, i can't even talk about that right now for fear of bursting into tears.  heh.

chasing the two trucks that serve shave ice is fun, but sometimes the craving hits and we're dejected to find that neither of them are anywhere near us.  one afternoon while MIL was home, we did hop in the car right after picking up the girls from school and hightail it all the way out to eagle rock, just past pasadena, for the get shaved truck.  probably a 25-mile drive, but oh, did it hit the spot.  and they have an actual store - but that's even farther away from us. 

so when i heard via twitter that tropical shave ice, our second option, was opening a shop in nearby west covina, i was stoked.  and after a midweek mall run (during which we tried lee's sandwiches for the first time - and definitely not the last), we made our way over for a frosty treat.

we drove around the strip mall looking for the shop and finally found it, with no sign save a small banner draped outside with the truck logo on it.  no splash, no dazzle, but who cares - it's shave ice!

there really wasn't much to speak of on the inside, either.  it was just a run-down former fast-food joint with a few souvenir-store pieces of hawaiian "decor" and peeling paint.  there was a girl sitting behind the counter with a calculator and an order pad, and the menu was just like the one plastered on their truck.

although they'd decided to share the space with a fellow hawaiian-themed food truck that offers yummy shrimp and rice plates like on the north shore of o'ahu.  mmmm.  but as i was stuffed with that delicious baguette sandwich from lee's, it'll have to wait till next time.

seemed like the same girl who took our order went back to make our ices, because it took forever, but it was worth the wait.

or was it?  it seemed that although the guys on the truck are pretty generous with the goodies, here in the shop was a different story.  sure, it was just a $.50 upcharge - just like in the truck - but the tiny spoonful of ice cream at the bottom was a big disappointment.  like, it was such a small serving we barely tasted it.  and when we complained via twitter, they brushed it off with a "sorry about that, we serve gourmet ice cream at $.50 for a small scoop."  i answered back and told them that the charge was the same on the truck for a way bigger serving and that we'd be skipping the shop from now on.

that's such a lie.  heh.  but it sounded good.  in any case, it's nice to know that there's something available nearby for when we really, really need our shave ice fix.  it beats chasing trucks or driving out to the valley or freaking torrance, anyway.