Even if you typically roll your eyes at people snapping food photos, it will take incredible restraint to leave your phone in your pocket when Sweet Moment’s over-the-top bingsoo arrives at your table.
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10 Great Shaved Ice Spots In NYC
If sweat is soaking through your tee in Rorschach-like blots, analysis says: you need some shaved ice. And while we love Italian ices and coco helado as much as anyone, nothing beats Asian-style frozen desserts for the sheer variety of flavors and toppings. Our guide includes styles from Korean bingsoo to Japanese kakigōri, versions with silky smooth or crunchy ice, and both personal servings and gigantic ones. It’s more hydrating than ice cream, right?
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This all-day Thai snack shop in Elmhurst has lots of outdoor seating and two frozen desserts that are worth going out of your way for.
The Japanese desserts at this Chinatown cafe look like pieces of pop art in a minimalist gallery.
Happy Salad is a modern Hong Kong-style cafe in Bensonhurst’s Chinatown, and they make a solid traditional shaved ice.
This Flushing cafe has excellent shaved ice in popular flavors like matcha, taro, and mango, but also a relatively uncommon chocolate one, with peanuts and cheese foam.
Lazy Sundaes on the LES specializes in bingsoo made with uber soft, oat milk-based snow that resembles very finely grated cheese.
It’s hard to beat Meet Fresh’s shaved ice for variety. At the Sunset Park location of this casual boba shop, you can get mountains of shaved ice with simple things like mango, strawberries, and condensed milk, or you can go for their over-the-top Q Mochi Milk option, which comes with four different kinds of chewy toppings and a scoop of ice cream for good measure.
Matcha usually plays the backup singer at most cafes, but it’s the headlining act at Matcha Cafe Maiko in Chinatown.
Don’t let the small counter at this dessert spot in Koreatown fool you. Peek around the corner, and you’ll see a humongous, semi-hidden room that looks like a high school cafeteria with high tops and picnic tables.
The bingsoo at Ariari is the most challenging one to access on this guide, simply because it’s rather difficult to score a table here.
