This is one of two metaphors I found in Hoban’s book which mix two senses.  Here visual overload leaves a sugary taste in the eye, while elsewhere he refers to sounds like the smell of old cooking.

‘Too much colour, leaving a taste of marzipan in the eye.’

Source: Russell Hoban, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz (London: Picador, 1979), p. 116

Photo credit: dzsoofi at pixabay.com