Bingsooooo Good!

Who would have expected to find a Bingsu stall in a Kopitiam food court at Tiong Bahru Plaza? The Bingsu at Gangnam Bingsu comes pretty affordable; a $5.90 small portion that is almost the size of a usual Bingsu and a large portion $7.90(!) that comes filled to the brim — a fraction of what other places would offer. Flavour-wise it hits the price point well; milk ice was finely shaved and rather soft with a subtle flavour that gets a little more intense with every single scoop. Black Sesame flavour lightly perfumes the Bingsu and was evident through the entire bowl for a layer of of black sesame powder resides in between. Overall it's very good value for the price, with a decent quality although there are things I could pick on (the slightly hard Azuki red beans can be softer for a better texture; the condiments could be of better quality for a better overeat flavour that is stronger), but this has to be one of the most affordable Bingsu options out there that you don't have to sacrifice too much on quality for the sheer cheapness in terms of price.

This place seems to get all the right boxes for avid instagrammers; cute desserts? Check. Clean and minimalist interior? Check. The Bingsu here seems to be decent on the first few mouthfuls, carrying a light hint of matcha flavour with a subtle milkiness while coming with other goodies on the side such as Azuki red beans, Matcha KitKat wafers and matcha Pocky sticks. The "bear" seemed to be quite dense and creamy matcha custard, decorated with chocolate chip buttons. Personally though this was pretty decent if you are one who doesn't mind paying for Bingsu, though the Matcha KitKat seemed to be rather bland in contrast to the Bingsu (perhaps it's flavour just got overwhelmed) and the some parts of the Azuki Red Bean can be a little softer for a better bite.

Usually Bingsoo features bowls of milk-shaved ice but it's quite unheard of for them to use soy milk in their Bingsoo. The flavour of soy milk wasn't particularly prominent in this one, though you could probably taste a faint flavour of it from the shaved ice. Shaved ice wasn't too fine as compared to the ones served by other Bingsoo shops within its vicinity, and I don't particularly fancy the nuts that they put in for they seemed to have spoilt the smoothness of the Bingsoo. Service is a little nervous and haphazard here and there, and they are having quite a substantial amount of sold out for they are getting slammed quite badly with unexpected crowd on the weekend. Perhaps better to visit once everything stabilizes and when the crowd is not as bad.

One of the more unique flavour of Bingsu they have, coming with grapes and a grape-flavoured Popsicle and a small jug of honey for sweetness. Shaved ice was smooth and fluffy, though could work with more milk content for more flavour. Sliced grape pieces were aplenty and generous, and added a light, subtle sweetness that was juicy and refreshing alongside the sweet honey which they could perhaps provide more for it wasn't really enough for the Bingsu. Grape Popsicle does help add a little more artificial sweetness to the Bingsu, but felt a little out of place and odd especially if shared by two; I eventually let my hungry friend have it because it was just weird to share.

Coming with toasted almond flakes and rice cakes, the Bingsu here had pretty smooth, fluffy shaved ice though it probably be better if they could make the ice taste a tad more milkier for more flavour. Rice cake is of smaller cubes here, and more chewy leaning closer to the texture of Mochi; definitely helped to make it feel less filling. The inside of the Bingsu felt a tad bare, especially since there is only a middle layer of soy powder which was rather thin; would work better if they could spread out the toppings to the sides. Comes with a small jug of milk if you fancy in sweeter.

Wasn't the most exciting Bingsu out there and definitely not the most sexy of the three flavours they have, but certainly good for the after-meal dessert. Would have loved it if the mochi didn't come with the soapy flavour, and that the snow flakes could be more milkier and Azuki beans could definitely do with less sweetness.

This wasn't really up to my tastebuds. Despite the finely shaved milk, the massive amount of ingredients on the Bingsu made the dish feel like a mess; a splash of flavours that definitely does not become revolting but rather clashing to the tastebuds by overpowering one another. No doubt a showstopper in its right in terms of aesthetic and instagrammability, but the regular Chocolate Bingsu that we had also tried wins in terms of flavour and practicality.

Finally trying another variant of their Bingsu. Served with the same smooth and fine snowflake ice that is milky in flavour, the milkiness seemed to have been overwhelmed by chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, brownies, bananas and Oreo bits speckled atop the ice. Despite so, it is not overwhelmingly sweet, and we requested for a jug of evaporated milk to sweeten the ice a little so as bring out the flavours of the snowflake ice more (the staff said this bingsu does not come with evaporated milk because it is "sweet enough"). Not too shabby, but I would prefer their Matcha one any day.

Bingsu is usually served in portions meant to be shared so the Petit version definitely works for cravings that one wants to settle alone. Coming in four flavours (Injeolmi, Pat Red Bean, Oreo and Mango), the smooth and fine snowflake ice seems a tad sweeter and milkier than the large variants possibly due to the lack of evaporated milk served at the side. Their Injeolmi variant features a good amount of soy powder which gives it a rather Horlicks-like flavour, though it seems to come with significantly lesser rice cakes (about one to three pieces?). Still, the portion size is probably a winner especially when the competition is still serving large bingsus that has to be shared with a few people.

Yet another place to solve the Bingsu cravings in this hot weather. Milk shaved ice was actually pretty smooth and fine, covered with Green Tea powder at the sides which gave it a tasteful bitter flavour. Topped off with sweet Azuki beans, Green Tea ice-cream, it added different dimensions of sweetness to the shaved ice, and the chopped nuts does give it a nice crunchiness. One of the better Bingsu I have had of the late.

Bing Go Jung is a new Korean Dessert House by Ju Shin Jung, and takes up a separated area that used to be a dining area for the Korean BBQ restaurant. The Injeolmi Bingsu is their specialty, which is finely shaved ice with milk, soya bean powder and rice cakes inside, served with condensed milk at the side for those who want a bigger degree of sweetness to their dessert. Think of it as a Korean version of our Ice Kachang, which is delightful on a hot sunny day. Should serve two pretty well.

What's more fun than having Patbingsu? Patbingsu in an ice beaker of course! Each Patbingsu I have had seemed to have different ingredients; this one has raisins, cornflakes, milk, ice-cream, Azuki beans and Soy Bean powder. Combine everything together; the sweetness ain't too cloying for a cold dessert which makes it refreshing. The lack of rice cakes also makes this seemingly more manageable in portion-size, but it would still help if you bring a partner or two.