Fav: Injeolmi Snow Ice

5.5/10 plates emptied!

[Written by Carly]


韓國食品的潮流流行了好一陣子，例如之前排極都排不到的Schoolfood，老店新羅寶與名家，炸雞店最近一，兩年更加是越開越多，試不完的一張名單。終於都輪到韓式甜品，傳統用水造的雪花冰於2013年四月被革新改造，把奶預先加進冰，再把冰粒刨至極細的雪花質感，加上鋪滿面的甜點，例如紅豆，煉奶，生果，蛋糕，餅乾碎。Hanbing韓冰只是開張剛數月，已經有很多甜品愛好者湧至，要在晚飯時間找位子也不太容易呢。座落於海港城人流不多的角落，環境開揚，卻不會像Cova Express那樣被路過的人都瞄一瞄，自成一角也很不錯。

Literally everyone around in Hong Kong has been so into Korean cuisine from traditional barbeque beef, soju rice wine, soft serve with honeycomb, in color waffle cones, fish shaped cones..and the list goes on and on! Shoved away in one hidden corner of the bustling shopping malls of Tsim Sha Tsui, Hanbing specializes in Korean shaved ice desserts and some popular authentic snacks, not to mention a very modern collaboration of sweet-savory combo of deep fried gigantic cheeseballs. 

Korean shaved ice, traditionally known as Patbingsu (팥빙수) which is water shaved ice with red bean and fruit toppings. The newly invented/modified version of Korean shaved ice dessert has been gaining huge popularity throughout South Korea, since April 2013 in Bushan. By tradition, shaved ice desserts are from pure iced water so it tastes less sweet and rather simple. Now that milk and ice has been mixed together before shaving, shaved ice will contain both the natural milky and sweet flavoring, well-blended within and very enticing to munch on a hot summery day. 

【Injeolmi Snow Ice | 豆粉雪花冰 | HKD68】

豆粉一向都是韓式雪花冰的恩物，一小塊被切得細細的年糕，軟腍煙韌，淡淡甜蜜與豆味濃郁的滋味配上被刨至綿綿細膩的雪花冰，口感與味道上都是「無得輸」。問題是刨得幾細緻，會不會太快溶，做得夠不夠綿滑。第一口的雪花冰比台灣的綿綿冰好吃得多，因為刨完的冰不會急速溶化，細膩又帶點豐盈的口感，適當的甜度，吃得多甜度亦會被冰粒中和，奶香配上天然豆味，豆粉一放入口中就溶化，第一個雪花冰很快就被「殲滅」了。



Ddeok is a type of Korean traditional rice cake, made by steaming and pounding glutinous rice flour, chopped into small pieces, soft chewy in texture. Injeolmi is a type of dried beans powder that quickly dissolves on your palate. You can never go wrong with these two irresistible components added to the mildly milky sweet shaved ice, the intense bean aroma and smooth and silky texture of the ice dessert, complemented by soft bouncy delectable mochi-like rice cake, this dessert is worth returning for; not a lot of places in Hong Kong offer good quality desserts which are not overloaded with chocolate, ice-cream, or any types of syrup and sugar. At least this natural flavored dessert can lift up your mood in a less guilty and light heavenly way!

【Blueberry Cheese Snow Ice | 藍莓芝士雪花冰 | HKD78】

有一大粒，一大粒的藍莓，說不上很新鮮但最低限度不「hea」，藍莓醬比一般的果占醬稀釋一點，但算是頗甜，有點人造，沒有天然的果香。一塊塊芝士蛋糕被切成四方形，口感冰冰的，帶點厚實，不是鬆軟剛焗好的芝士蛋糕，芝士味不會過濃，配上若隱若現的椰香夾在每一口的雪花冰，定會讓一眾女士心花怒放。唯一欠缺誠意的，就是用上Haagen Dazs雲喱拿雪糕，卻不是自家制的雪糕叫人有點失望吧，雪糕本身太甜，甜味很快溶進雪花冰中，加上較重味的芝士蛋糕，天然的牛奶雪花冰的味道立刻被淹沒了，吃到最後會稍微過甜。

Blueberry and cheesecake combo is everyone’s favorite and with the colorful, bountiful shaved ice dessert served to the table, huge frozen blueberries, and fruity blueberry sauce dripping over the milky ice, topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Chunks of New York style cheesecake were a bit heavy and thick creamy compared to the mildly sweet milk shaved ice, Carly found the cheesecake to be too intense for her liking but some people may just find this right on the spot. More-than-what-your-stomach-can-fill shaved ice desserts are going to be the new hype as soon as the heat wave hits Hong Kong soon; it’s just going to be irresistible!

【Cheese Garlic Ball | 香蒜芝士脆脆波 | HKD58】

端上桌的時候，熱感十足，濃濃香噴噴的蒜香芝士味讓眾人引頸以待。大大個被炸得金黃的脆脆波，外表非常吸引。表面炸得不夠鬆脆，最奇怪的是芝士醬異常的甜，與本身蒜味極濃的內餡顯得格格不入。芝士醬只有顏色，香氣卻沒有味道，整體不算美味。更何況不是傳統的韓國食品，實屬花巧居多。

The huge garlic ball looked scrumptiously good when it was served piping hot to the table. Golden deep fried with the overpowering mouthwatering garlic and cheese aroma caught everyone’s attention, unfortunately, this did not taste too good as the garlic paste was strangely too sweet (close to an artificial flavor), lack of cheese flavor, doesn't taste that awesome nor the deep fried bread dough was crispy enough on the crust, it tasted rather heavy with an overwhelming sweetness from the garlic butter. Not impressive, but at least this looked photogenic. 

有待改善的是，小店需要客人自己找位子，但另外收取加一服務費。侍應只是把食物端去你前面，連落單也是自己去到櫃頭點的，真心不知道「服務」從何以來？

Carly與Lorling到韓國當地旅行時，吃過更加美味的甜品，普通一間雪花冰已經輕易超越Hanbing韓冰的水準。整體而言，豆粉雪花冰的味道，質感，配搭與甜度是最討人喜悅的。藍莓芝士蛋糕雪花冰配搭顏色豐富，有點太甜，但滿足感十足。脆脆波實是虛有其表，味道有點嚇人。夾著這股停不了的韓風，不知道韓冰能夠撐多久。作為甜品愛好者，在尖沙咀多了一個冰涼的選擇也算是不錯。

10% of service charge was charged yet interestingly, it is more like a walk-in setting where diners will have to fight over seats (no kidding if it is a weekend after dinner time). Desserts will be served to your table but then you are still required to order at the counter yourself, Carly thought that the service charge was unreasonable just for the level of service. Liked how the dessert place is located at a less crowded corner of the mall, so you won’t feel like pedestrians are staring at you when you are eating (compared to the location of Cova Express in Harbor City), the Gang indeed spent some chilled fun time at Hanbing after dinner. 

Both Carly and Lorling had better Korean treats in Seoul and couldn't help to think that the ones in Hong Kong are just newly opened to catch the quick train of fast money. Hanbing was alright in terms of food quality, service needs improvement, location-wise perfect for a group gathering. Let’s hope that these little dessert places survive as Hong Kong foodies can get easily forgetful sometimes. 


Hanbing 韓冰


Shop 4201K-4202K, 4/F, Gateway Arcade-Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui


尖沙咀海港城港威中心4樓4201K-4202K號舖