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This is going to be my favorite post for Taiwan. We had some awesome food, but the desserts in Taiwan are insane! One is more epic than the other.. haha.
Ice Monster
This was highly highly recommended by a friend. And we just happen to walk by one day! We had to go in. The specialize in snow ice, which is this super fine shaved ice, in different flavors with different toppings. I believe the original snow ice place was in the Shilin nightmarket. But Ice Monster took it to another level. The snow ice was even more fluffy and delicate than I remembered. We went there twice during our 2 week trip.
Pearl Milk Tea Snow Ice NT$180~
Freaking humongous. And freaking amazing. It's like a deconstructed pearl milk tea. The ice was the tea, the white pudding looking thing was the milk, and pearls came on the side in a bowl of syrup. Eat everything together and it tastes like a frozen pearl milk tea. The ice is so ridiculously fluffy. We had this both times we went. Definitely a winner.
Strawberry Snow Ice NT$280~
2nd time we went, we also got the strawberry one. Strawberry overload!! Strawberry ice, sorbet, diced strawberries, and milk pudding on the side. It was good, but easily trumped by the Pearl Milk Tea ice.
Jamling Cafe
My parents had discovered this place and wanted to take us there. My mom says their pancakes are so airy and light. For someone who doesn't eat dessert/sweets, that was a big deal coming from her. So we decided to take them there to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The specialize in pancakes, but in Mandarin, it translates to "waffle". I thought that was a little weird. It's a small place, super cute decor.
We decided to try a variety of things. They had sweet and savory pancakes. The savory ones sound interesting.. I didn't know what to expect with those.
Chocolate Strawberries (chocolate cream, strawberry sauce, vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries) NT$260~ This was a featured special. 2 fluffy pancakes loaded with chocolate cream and strawberries, topped with ice cream. Pretty epic eh? The chocolate was awesome, semi-sweet so it wasn't overwhelming.
Jamling (crunchy honey butter) NT$180~ This is the "original" and probably the best sweet one because it was the most fluffy of all and not excessive. The other sweet ones were much denser because it was loaded with a bunch of stuff. It was almost like a souffle pancake. My fiance didn't like it as much though because he thought it tasted more egg-y. I'd agree, but I love eggs in any way so it make me like it even more!
Apple Cinnamon (apple, cinnamon, vanilla ice cream, slicedalmonds) NT$220~ My fiance's favorite. Also very good.
Okonomiyaki (bacon, cabbage, egg, bonito flakes) NT$240~ I was hesitant on the savory ones but this one turned out to be my favorite. The flavors and textures with the pancake worked beautifully. And they had a nice thick slice of bacon on there. Makes everything better!
We also got some drinks. Can't be afternoon tea without some tea! (and coffee.) hehe. Plus if you get a drink and pancake, it becomes a set and you get a discount for the combo.
Cafe Americano (hot) NT$110~
Japanese Green Tea Latte (hot) NT$150~
Earl Grey Tea (hot) NT$120~
18 Cafe. This was another recommendation from a friend. She said their cakes were so light. Afternoon tea set: 1 cake plus a drink for NT$250~
I got the Hazelnut Chiffon Cake.
With the Taiwanese Green Tea.This is the one my friend recommended. Initially I didn't see it in the display so I almost missed it! It was awesome. Super light and so fragrant.
He got the Black Tea Cheesecake.
With the Taiwanese Black Tea. The black tea cheesecake couldn't compete with the hazelnut chiffon, but it was still good. You can actually taste the black tea flavor which made it interesting.
Now for the grand finale!
This was one of the highlights of the trip. I took my fiance to the Dazzling Cafe. I had gone 2 years ago and it was epic!! So we skipped dinner to go here. I thought we were going to order one dessert and share but he wanted 2! Ambitious! And we flew all this way to Taipei... why not!
Caramel Honey Toast (topped with whipped cream, ice cream, white chocolate, peanut brittle, caramel sauce, and honey to drizzle on top) NT$240~
Just look at it!! Did your jaw drop?? haha. It's basically half a loaf of bread. :P The presentation is amazing here. And the waitress comes to your table and carves this for you. (I will post the video on my CHOMP! facebook page if you want to watch some food porn. hehe) So she carves the sides and rearranges everything. And it's not a simple block of bread, every piece inside is individually toasted squares. Wow. Quite labor intensive it seems. We got additional honey to drizzle on it. So good!
Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast (with hazelnut spread, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries) NT$290~
I've had this before and it's awesome. Not only are the pieces individually toasted, they also inject chocolate sauce into it. This one isn't carved tableside though since it comes in stacked slices. My fiance loved it. And we made it through 1 and a half, which I thought was very impressive! :P
I got a pot of Darjeeling Tea NT$160~
My fiance got the White Chocolate Matcha Latte NT$150~ We were surprised when we tasted coffee, since most matcha lattes are just matcha and milk. But this was so good. I don't even drink coffee and I loved it!
I love this place, I will go back in the future cuz I saw some waffle dish that also looked really good! ha!
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I came across this place on Yelp while researching for places to eat in Houston. Snow ice, a Taiwanese dessert that is basically shaved flavored ice. It creates these amazing ribbon-ish shapes and it's almost like eating ice cream. But... it's ice! And probably less fattening. :P
I have it in Taiwan whenever I go back to visit. And in the past few years, Dallas started getting a few places that sell this. However, nothing is as good as what you get in Taiwan.
Hippo Ice
3737 Hwy 6
Sugar Land, TX 77478
(832) 532-7562
Price: $
I was excited because this place was close to Sugar Land where they live. Normally you'd have to go into Houston (Bellaire) to get good Asian food, so the short drive is nice.
We went on the Sunday before Labor Day, the place looked closed when we arrived, I got worried. Luckily it wasn't! We took a look at the menu and my fiance told me he was getting his own. I asked "are you sure?" since they're usually piled pretty high and he said yes. So I guess we're all getting our own! Sharing is for the weak. hahahaha. :P
I got the Genmai Matcha (Brown Rice Green Tea) $4.75~ Plus Ghiradelli Chocolate drizzle and sliced almonds +$0.50~
I love how snow ice looks, so whimsical, beautiful and weird. haha. This was yummy. I liked the dark chocolate sauce paired with the green tea. My fiance said the chocolate overwhelmed the ice flavor. For me it didn't. And the almonds were a nice added texture. It was a huge bowl. He was pretty shocked when he saw this. The texture of the ice is pretty comparable to Taiwan, although I think the one's in Taiwan is even creamier and fluffier. But this is definitely better than any of the ones I've tried in Dallas.
Genmai Matcha (Brown Rice Green Tea) $4.75~ Plus Condensed milk and red bean +$0.50~
He also wanted green tea but with different sauce and toppings. Green tea and red bean are always a winning combo. The condensed milk added another level of richness. Also very delicious.
Almond $4.75~ Plus Tapioca (boba) +$0.50~
His sister chose the almond flavor. Which was my 2nd choice. The almond flavor was strong, yet the whole thing was light and refreshing. I think that was the winner, even though they were all good.
Watermelon Basil (to-go) $4.75~
His sister was meeting up with a friend after so she got this to go. So pretty. We got to try a bite. Very interesting. You can definitely taste the basil. And super refreshing. I'm just not sure how long it would last during transport. hehe. I hope her friend was able to enjoy the fluffiness of the snow ice.
My fiance and his sister both really enjoyed it. It was their first time trying snow ice. And guess what, none of us finished it... hahaha. Snow ice - 1, Us - 0.
This place is legit, for all you people in Sugar Land. No need to fight the traffic and drive to Bellaire! Now I only wish we can get this quality in Dallas...
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Saturday I went to the Asia World Food Court for some dinner. I also wanted to check out the shaved ice place. A friend of mine told me they also had the snow ice from Taiwan.
Big Bowl Shaving Ice
Central Legacy Plaza Food Court
240 Legacy Dr.
Plano, TX 75023
It's one of the many counters in the Food Court. They sell regular shaved ice, flavored snow ice and many other drinks. Keep in mind most of the places in the food court are cash only! This place included.
They only had 2 snow ice flavors: green tea and milk. We opted for the Matcha Snow Ice with Red Bean (green tea flavor snow ice, red bean, condensed milk, red bean ice cream) $6.75~
The price is pretty similar to Sweet Mix in Richardson and the portion seemed just a tad bit bigger since it has a scoop of ice cream on top. The snow ice had a very light green tea flavor and wasn't that sweet. It was also icier than the ones you get in Taiwan. I'm not sure why they can't get the same creaminess here as in Taiwan. The ice cream, condensed milk and red bean definitely helped it sweeten up and provided that creaminess. I liked the red bean, snow ice and ice cream combo...the textures all worked for me.
I would say at Sweet Mix, it's more Americanized with the fresh fruite toppings and Big Bowl caters more towards Asian flavors with red bean and such. Personally I liked Big Bowl just a teensy bit more...mainly because I liked the green tea/red bean flavor profile plus the snow ice texture was a tad better. But if you wanted a lighter/healthier dessert, I would suggest Sweet Mix. However, neither places were able to capture the true texture of the snow ice in Taiwan.. :(
It's definitely something different though if you've never had snow ice before. I would recommend at least trying it.
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EDIT --
I just found out that Sweet Mix has only been open for a little over 2 weeks so I wanted to correct this on my post. I'm quite impressed with the ordering process and thought the wait time was fine given they've only been open for a short while. Also, they are still doing a soft-opening. Their Grand Opening is projected to be around mid-September so mark it on your calendars! :)
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Sweet Mix
1811 N Greenville Ave., Ste 300
Richardson, TX 75081
(972) 231-6117
http://www.thesweetmix.com/
Price: $
I recently found out about this place. It's only been open for a few months I believe. But they've got some snacks I've only seen in Asia...and now it's in Richardson!!
The place is really cute. Bright, colorful designs on the walls with a touch of elegance with the chandelier. I thought it worked really well. You order and pick up at the counter. The guy at the register was really friendly and helped to explain certain things on the menu.
Initially I was only going to try their waffle sandwiches. When I was in Korea earlier this year, I noticed that waffle sandwiches and desserts were uber popular. (See Korea Trip) Just about every cafe had them. There were also street vendors that sold them. I was very excited to see it being done in Dallas.
We got the Romeo + Juliet Waffle Sandwich (strawberries, bananas, nutella, maple syrup, fresh whipped cream) Half order $4.75? 
I got it without the maple syrup because I didn't want it to be too sweet. They make the waffle on the spot so it comes out warm and perfumes the entire store. The fruits were all fresh and sliced to order. 
The lady ended up making a full one and just gave it to us. Cool! It looked really tasty and nice. However, it needs some tweaking. The waffle was too soft...it needed to be way more crispy on the outside. Also, the batter for the waffle could be a little sweeter. I guess without the maple syrup it wasn't sweet enough! haha. But I think with the syrup, the waffle would've soaked it up and been even more soft. I suggest sweetening up the batter and put a bit more nutella in there. And maybe cook the waffle a little longer so the outside can crisp up. Then it would be fantastic. I did like the freshness of it all and it was easy to hold like a sandwich and eat. That made it really convenient.
Now, before I went I looked up some pictures and reviews on the place and I noticed they had "snow ice" just like Taiwan!! (See Taiwan Post) OMG!! This is definitely the first of it's kind in Dallas that I know of. How exciting!! It's basically a big block of flavored ice/milk and shaved into thin strips/slices. It's suppose to taste similar to ice cream, just lighter. At least that's how it was in Taiwan.
Of course we had to get one to try!!
Strawberry Flavored Snow (choice of 3 fruits: blueberries, kiwi, strawberries; drizzled with condensed milk) Regular $7~ 
Compared to Taiwan this is definitely pricey... It was really colorful and pretty though. They topped the snow with condensed milk and fruits. The snow itself wasn't sweet or creamy enough. You get a hint of strawberry flavor but that's it. The condensed milk is really what made it sweeter. In Taiwan it was milkier and shaved finer. So I wonder if they need to tweak their recipe to make the snow ice block. The regular bowl is quite big so it's definitely shareable.
So I'm still pretty excited about this place and I think it has a lot of potential. Hopefully they just tweak some of their recipes and it will be even better! The guys that work there are really friendly and checked on us after we finished. Oh! And they also have crepes that totally looked yummy. It's a cool place to chill so I'm sure I'll be back in the near future to try more things. :)
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