Japanese Ice-Cream Shop Kori To Open a “Grungy” Store in Windsor

At Japanese-inspired ice-cream shop Kori, you can get a cup or a choice of four cones – plain, red velvet, chocolate and black cocoa. Ice-cream flavours include three different takes on matcha, a milky number inspired by Japanese Peko-Chan lollies and some of the best fruity vegan sorbets around. They can be adorned with changing toppings (currently there are fortune cookies and a Labubu-shaped biscuit).

Co-founder and former Coda pastry chef Joane Yeoh develops more than 100 special Kori flavours per year.

But, “ice-cream is ice-cream,” says co-founder Bernard Chu. And, while we may disagree, Chu says that’s why the team leans heavily into store design.

Kori’s third store is expected to open at 143 Chapel Street, Windsor in early December. “We’re hoping to give customers a new experience every time they step into Kori,” says Chu.

The original coral-coloured Hawthorn location is about “perfection”, as Chu puts it. The car park-adjacent city shop has a stripped-back look with LED signage and lots of metal. This third store will have a music focus with a “bit of fashion”, taking inspiration from Japanese listening bars, daytime raves and “Windsor’s nightlife energy”. There’ll be a photo booth; a DJ deck for events and the occasional city pop (the Japanese pop style that emerged in the 1970s and ’80s) or hip-hop night; and lots of light wood and exposed brick to create a “grungy, not perfect” look.

The shop will be standing room only, saving space for freezers. There’ll be 24 available at any one time, including the occasional Windsor-exclusive because, “Joane’s ideas come non-stop – so out of control,” says Chu.

Kori Windsor is expected to open at 143 Chapel Street, Windsor in December.