Kōun, the new ice cream parlor in San Isidro that will make you feel like you are in a corner of Japan

The creator of this brand is César Rojas, who dedicated himself to pastry because of a very personal passion, which has characterized him since he was little. “Within the sector, the ice cream parlor always caught my attention and it was a dream of mine to create one as my first venture. I feel like I can be very creative and use what I know,” he explains.

After leaving his job at a well-known local pastry shop, César decided to create an ice cream parlor. The first thing was to define the type of frozen. “I decided to go for soft ice creams, because I felt that they were not given importance as they were usually associated with fast food restaurants. I wanted to give it a certain value, with quality ingredients, in a creative, different and beautiful way, so that people are surprised,” says Rojas.

Precisely, that is why it offers a special flavor of the week, which is not necessarily a completely new one, but the idea is to vary it so that diners can try something different. Some of the flavors that it has included in its proposal are Thai tea, ube, black sesame, mango, matcha and vanilla.

Another of the strong points of this proposal are the taiyakis, small waffles made to order that have the curious shape of a fish. “It is about the sea bream, a fish linked to luck in Japanese culture. It is on that side that we connect with the name, Kōun, which means “Good fortune,” says the creator of the brand.

The establishment, located in San Isidro, is a cozy space where diners can enjoy a good frozen, taiyakis and also delicious drinks. For example, we can find cappuccino, iced tea and Americano.

In the most curious options section we find the matcha latte, the cold brew or its version with orange juice, strawberry matcha, ube latte and chai tea.

Our experience

The week of our visit the special flavor was black sesame. Curiously, it is one of the ingredients that I don’t usually enjoy. Of course, until I tried it on a frozen and I changed my mind. It has a smooth, sweet and almost nutty flavor that attracts attention. In addition, the curious gray color makes it ‘instagrammable’.

The favorite flavor at Kōun is ube, a purple Asian tuber whose flavor flirts with vanilla. With great skill, César’s recipe achieves a creamy and dense ice cream, yet soft enough to play with the classic shapes created by the machine.

A lighter but no less powerful and well-made flavor is that of matcha, Japanese green tea. It has a very particular flavor and is the perfect balance between freshness and sweet.

Kōun It is one of those places that you return to more than once. Whether it’s for its interesting ice creams, the aesthetics of its establishment or the quality of its freshly made taiyakis, it is worth every visit.