Cafe Seolhwa Bingsu Korean Desserts in Forum BGC

Seolhwa Cafe is a Korean dessert restaurant specializing in bing su (with ice). I’ve been eyeing Seolhwa Cafe in Forum BGC ever since I saw it during a visit to Tipple and Slaw in The Forum BGC. We finally got a chance yesterday after having lunch nearby.

The place is cozy and well designed with lots of interesting elements to take photos of. There’s the winter mural with a pair of giant snow shoes, broom and a snowman standee so you can go build your snowman. Seats are comfortable with good sized tables.

They offer a total of 9 snow ice desserts with different toppings. With the scorching weather outside, we each decided to get one order each. They offer single (1) and large (2-3) sizes for all the bing su. Aside from the bing su, they also serve fusion toasts, sandwiches, pancakes and coffee and tea concoctions.

I was debating on getting the strawberry or the green tea bingsu but the tempting pic won me over. The Green Tea Bingsu (P210/singe,P290/large) is a thing of beauty. Green tea milk snow topped with soybean powder, rice cake, jujube chips and a side of sweetened red bean. My first spoonful of green tea snow was a thing of clumsiness as I managed to spill it on the table and it looked like bits of snow. They serve the red bean on the side so it won’t collapse the bingsu because it is denser and you can also control how much you want.

The best way to eat it is to spoon the snow and toppings together and not mix it up so you can feel the texture. It is different from any ice dessert I’ve had before, the snow looks and tastes a bit like small grains of rice instead of the sheets in Taiwanese desserts. They also use a special technique to keep the snow ice from melting for 30 minutes and we can attest to this. The only parts that were melted were the bottom and the edges. You might be thinking that there’s only a small amount of toppings but as you eat away at your dessert you’ll be surprised to find another layer of toppings.

Irene got the classic Pat Bing Su (P190/single, P260/large) with red bean, soybean powder, rice cake, jujube chips on top of milk snow ice. We’ve had this before in Yoree and Sariwon but Seolhwa just blows them all away, can’t compare with a specialist. Irene and I both loved the freeze dried jujube chips that adds a nice contrasting crunch as you eat away.

Lauren got the Choco Brownie Bing Su (P250/single, P360/large). A behemoth served in their frozen bronze bing su container. This has a choco milk snow base, topped with choco brownie pieces, choco ice cream, choco crunch cereals and nuts. This one was the heaviest because of all the brownies. This is major chocolate overload so if you want it a bit simpler go for the Choco Bing Su but this one is mighty tempting.

A photo posted by Tales From The Tummy (@talesfromthetummy) on May 24, 2015 at 12:44am PDT

We’ve been back a few times and I’ve ordered the Strawberry Bingsu (P240/single) twice. I’m hoping they will offer this permanently but you never know with seasonal fruit based desserts. I love this strawberries and this had a heaping lot of them.

We left Cafe Seolhwa Bingsu with minds filled with wonder on what we were going to order on our next visit in spite of our tummies being filled to the brim. I’m not a bingsu expert but the tables filled with Koreans should be sign that Seolhwa makes some exemplary Korean desserts.