Vancouver: Korean Desserts Obsession

After returning home from Korea, we have been longing for some good Korean desserts. Our opportunity has finally arrived once we set foot in Vancouver.

My favourite place for Korean desserts would have to be Snowy Village. There are multiple locations in Greater Vancouver: Vancouver, Richmond and Coquitlam. They must be doing well because they are planning to open stores in Langley as well as Surrey. For those who have never tried Korean shaved ice AKA bingsoo, let me introduce you to this lovely, super light and fluffy dessert. North American snow cones, Taiwanese shaved ice, Chinese red bean ice, Vietnamese che ba mau and Malaysian ABC cannot compare to this amazingly tasty dessert. In the aforementioned shaved ice, it is literally shaved ice pieces. The ice itself has no taste. It relies entirely on the syrups and toppings to give it flavour. Once you eat all the toppings, the ice is not that appetizing. The chunks of ice can sometimes been so big and hard, that the experience can be quite unpleasant at times. Here, the bingsoo is not only made with frozen milk. It is so finely shaved, that it feels like you’re eating creamy snow. The closest thing I’ve ever had to it was the shaved ice we had at Lot 10 Hu Tong in Kuala Lumpar . As for toppings, you can choose anything from mango to green tea, oreos to the traditional red bean. The serving size even for a regular is quite impressive, so I would recommend sharing one between 2 people. I’ve tried both the green tea and mango and I would have to say my preference is towards the mango one. The downtown location can get quite busy, so you can always get the bingsoo to-go, as they package the dessert in an insulated bag which keeps the dessert frozen for 45 minutes! Haven’t tested this out for myself though since I usually couldn’t wait to consume it right away.

Not only is Snowy Village well-known for its bingsoo, it is also known for its croissant taiyaki or bungeo-ppang (in Korean), which is apparently not available at all locations. It is definitely available at the downtown location. Those who have followed me on my Asia adventures, would recognize this dessert. Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped dessert most commonly filled with red bean paste. The pastry itself has the texture of waffles. Now imagine that the pastry is transformed into a flaky croissant crust. And voila – the croissant taiyaki! Unlike some of the street vendors in Korea and Japan, these are made to order so they are fresh and hot which makes them even more delicious. The pricing is quite reasonable and you can even get 3 for the price of $10.

For those to live in the Hastings-Sunrise area, My. Frosty¹ recently opened with pretty comparable bingsoo right close to home! We actually had this the day after we had Snowy Village (for science…), which allowed us to compare the two more easily. I prefer Snowy Village for its taste but for the days/nights that you do not feel like venturing downtown or to the burbs, this is a great alternative in Vancouver East.

Hope you enjoy these sweet delights!

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1. N.B. Many people, including myself, have mistakenly called this shop Mr. Frosty, which I have decided is actually a better name, so I will continue to call it as such. However, for the sake of accuracy, so you can actually find it, I will reluctantly call it My. Frosty here.