By Joseph Nian
As the blazing hot days of summer approach, the desire for a nice cold treat approaches too. Most gravitate toward the usual dishes like ice cream, sundaes, and popsicles. However, one cold dessert that is often overlooked is shaved ice. As someone who thought shaved ice would be a disappointing dish because the melted ice would just dilute any flavors of the shaved ice,I can safely say that shaved ice is totally worth the try. This time I wanted to particularly highlight this korean shaved ice place named Sulbing.
To be more specific, this place doesn’t serve the traditional shaved ice you think of. It isn’t a mountain of ice shavings that are splashed with artificial flavoring. Instead, Sulbing serves bingsu, which usually consists of shaved ice that is flavored with milk or condensed milk (this is key!) and topped with sweet ingredients such as fruit, mochi, etc. My friends and I shared mango and strawberry bingsus and the mango one was definitely the better tasting one in my opinion. Even after yapping with friends for more than half an hour, the shaved ice had barely melted. The parts that were melted were still surprisingly delicious because of the milk flavored ice, giving it a nice and refreshing taste. Let’s not forget the delicious and sweet mango, cheesecake, and frozen yogurt that topped the shaved ice, elevating the dish even higher.
If you’re near the Koreatown area near Santa Clara this summer, Sulbing is definitely a place I would recommend.