Powder Black sesame Taiwanese shaved ice with mochi: During my childhood, my family would visit Taiwan every few years, spending several weeks in the scorching heat of the summer months. Once in a while, we would be treated with the best cure for a heatwave: baobing, or Taiwanese shaved ice served alongside a variety of toppings like peanut and red bean, all saturated with a sweet syrup that flavored the ice crystals. In anticipation, we would watch as a machine transformed a large block of ice into a heap of snow, spinning into a sharp rotar... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Iceskimo Shaved Snow: Located in La Jolla, Iceskimo is a self-proclaimed "artisan snow shavery" serving shaved ice inspired by those found in Taiwan and Hawaii. The shaved ice is a mix between ice cream and shaved ice - creamier than the shaved ice found on the streets of Taipei, shaved thinly into overlapping ribbons. They have many classic Asian flavors to chose from, from black sesame to matcha to Thai tea. I tried both the black sesame (pictured) as well as the Thai tea and found the Thai tea to be the mos... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Snowdays So Seoulful shaved ice: Snowdays is a shaved ice dessert chain in NYC. Over time, they've expanded their menu and also store concept; now, most also stock various Asian snacks in a convenience-store-like format alongside their shaved ice. I went to the shop in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, on the edge of Sunset Park and ordered their So Seoulful, a combination of black sesame shaved ice, a spoonful of red bean, segments of vanilla waffle cookie, and a drizzle of thick peanut syrup. The black sesame shaved ice was very light ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Blockheads Black sesame shaved ice with red bean, rice cakes, almond jelly, and condensed milk: Finally got to try this LA-based Taiwanese shaved ice chain. The black sesame ice cream had decent flavor but the texture was not as fluffy as I knew it could be given my recent experience at Powder in San Francisco. At Blockheads, they make their rice cakes in house, which are essentially tang yuan (the mochi-like glutinous rice dumplings that often accompany red bean soup). I expected their almond jelly to be almond jello, but it was more like the harder gelatin cubes often used in Asia... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Powder Matcha Shaved Ice: This Taiwanese shaved ice shop on Divisadero in San Francisco has a variety of Asian flavors like black sesame, matcha, and Vietnamese coffee. Having had their excellent black sesame on a previous trip, I opted for matcha, which was shaved into thin, overlapping ribbons. While I remembered the black sesame shaved ice being remarkably light, this one texturally was more dense, with the ice cream packing together less than 1/3 of the way through. The matcha flavor, though, is very good and ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Powder Ube shaved ice with mochi and condensed milk: This is the third flavor I've had from Powder, a Taiwanese shaved ice shop in San Francisco. The first, black sesame, was excellent, with a light texture but creamy flavor. The second, matcha, had a great green tea flavor but was more dense in texture. This last one was, unfortunately, the worst texturally, which is apparent from just the image itself - the starchy potato may have made it harder to achieve the same airy consistency that the black sesame ice had. Ube is a seasonal summer ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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