After your meal at Pioneer Saloon, you don’t have to walk far for dessert. Down a short alley beside the restaurant is Monsarrat Ave. Shave Ice, where Kenta Nagano is the answer to every parent’s prayers, serving the summertime treat topped with his homemade fruit and green tea syrups. It’s a healthier alternative to cups of sugar-laden juice and shave ice laced with artificially flavored syrups.

Nagano’s light, fluffy shave ice — at $4 for a small cup, $5 medium and $6 large — is so refreshing and satisfying, you’ll crave little else. The usual toppings — condensed milk, azuki beans and mochi balls — are here for 50 cents apiece but seem extraneous in light of the purity of the shave ice flavors. I made the mistake of adding a scoop of ice cream (50 cents) on my first visit, which I feel overpowered his cherry sauce, though others may appreciate the creamy blend from the melting of the two.

For those with a "supersize it" mentality, add $2 for the MK Special combination of toppings: kuromitsu (black sugar) syrup, azuki beans, vanilla ice cream, mochi balls and soybean powder.

Just be aware that popular flavors sell out fast, so it’s the early birds who are going to get a taste of yuzu, mango and acai.

Monsarrat Ave. Shave Ice is at 3046 Monsarrat Ave.