Be.k: softer and better than real snow, the bingsu experience

Hi All,

Moi at Be.k

I’m pumped from my last article and ready to blog about what I ate during the Bchum Ben holiday. Thank you for the support! Please follow me 0=)

Do you have childhood memories of shaved ice? I certainly do.

In the summer days of many years past, I lived a carefree life playing all day and chasing ice cream trucks. Sometimes, I hear Mister honking the horn. HONK, HONK; honk, honk. I run down two flights of stairs to catch up with Mister. Mister sells shaved ice. Surrounded by grubby children hands, asking him to take their orders. He would hand shave from a large block of ice into a cone. Then, you can pick the sweet flavous to add on top. That’s a snowcone, folks.

I also remember the Asian shaved ice. It’s covered in siro, condensed milk, and toppings (like boba, fruits, red bean, etc.). Still my favorite on a hot day. I haven’t had one of these for awhile. By golly, the last time was April during the Cambodian New Year. We went to Angkor Wat to join the festivities. A few of the gals walked to the nearby temple to take photos. Another friend and I got shaved ice instead and just.stood.there eating. Then we walked like 10M => saw another shaved ice stand => and asked them to top us off. They were confused but did it for us anyway. Afterwards we were creepers that stared as people ate at the food stall with our shaved ice hahaha. It was just THAT hot.

And being hot works for bingsu. Bingsu is a popular shaved ice dessert from Korea that’s new in Cambodia. I was skeptical to try it….mainly for the price. Justifying to myself ice being worth X amount of dollars was a bit tough. Also, Cambodia had other shaved ice/ice cream (like the Taiwanese one) and I thought bingsu was like this to.

Taiwanese style

Actually, I was wrong. Bingsu is not just ice. It was like a delicate snowflake melting in my mouth. I literally have no clue how it became so soft and how they’d mixed the flavors into the bingsu. And really, I don’t care how it came about but it has BORN into my life! I love how finely shaved the ice was. I love how the flavors were all encompassing already without feeling that it’s a separate entity from one another. Condense milk, snow ice, fruits, cheesecake, etc. rolled onto my tongue like ecstasy candy. After that first bite, it justified the cost alright. Everything I knew about shaved ice changed.

sweet already, no need for extra milk

Scrolling through their FB, this caught my attention:

Be.k HAPPY U !!!

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy bingsu. And that’s kind of the same thing <3 <3

I accept the happiness you give me

Clap clap clap [my hands are clapping]

Facebook, why did you have to be so right?!? You’re always tempting me with delectable sweets. And now, I’m trying to convince people to eat there again on a rainy day.

choose your fave~

Space: Wow, airy 2 floors with high ceiling. I opted to sit on the 2^nd floor so I could enjoy the view. Felt like a tropical bird perched on a high tree (it’s woodsy upstairs and spacious downstairs).

Service: Acceptable; it’s new.

Taste: Enjoyed BUT I have to make a huge sidebar.

*Sidebar: Getting pumped from seeing their menu, I was upset when it arrived on our table. I ordered the mango cheesecake bingsu. #1 fault: the spacing between mango and cheesecake was too wide and not plentiful like the pictures. #2 fault: it wasn’t the ripe mango that’s supposed to go with binsu. It was [deathly] Cambodian green slightly sour mango. They attribute because they ran out. That’s never an excuse for me. It should have been informed to me earlier. Not delivering what’s shown is not acceptable to me. Especially if you’re a brand-name from overseas like Korea.

Parking: It’s ok, pretty decent. Didn’t have a problem when I went in the afternoon.

Upsetting: Browsing through the FB page I noticed they have a stamp card. I WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THIS. If they gave them freely to customers, I think they would attract more people to come back. Someone like me, wants to fill it up to get that free item.

Bonus round: Be.k is on the same street as (newly opened) Sushi Chef, Bonchon, BBQ Chicken [in that order!] and across the street is MoMo Paradise Steamboat and Dance Bakery. Seriously it’s a 4 in 1 win. Happy eating! May the odds be ever in your favor. [Did you catch my Hunger Game’s Effie Trinket persona?]

Bingsu enjoyed: Mango and Cheesecake bingsu – regular size

kamsamnida! [KR thank you]

Shared with 2 other friends, it’s a good dessert for 3. Split between us was $2 each. Not bad.

always fun with the gals

I wished it was the ripe sweet mango. If it was, I would be a happy camper. I’m not giving us on this place. I’ve heard the chocolate strawberry is good. I’ll let you know once I go there again.

Be.k also serves food such as toast, chicken wings, pasta, mini burgers, etc. I didn’t try them yet. Feel free to browse their FB page because they look cute.

Alas, my photographer wasn’t with me so please enjoy these phone photos.

My take: try, share, and selfie with the dessert

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bek.cambodia2016/?fref=ts

instagram it: https://www.instagram.com/be.k.cambodia/

Address: #16, St 306, BKK 1, Phnom Penh, Cambodia  

Specs: open until 10pm!

location is important

Let me know your thoughts. Shout it out in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

XoXo V

* Sunny Up with V *

If you would like me to visit your place, let me know! I’m more than happy to check out and eat your delicious food =)

it's calling you

NUK café: liquid nitrogen ice cream

 

 

Many think Cambodia as this developing country with nothing but political turmoil and unrest. It truly is a shocking experience stepping off the plane. Shocking because it’s everything you’ve imagined a developing country should be; - and shocking because of the first world countries amenities Cambodia has. The capital, Phnom Penh, is becoming a diverse foodie world popping up like mushrooms (which probably would be plucked and sautéed). And with the younger generation splashing cash like paper (although their parents are working hard to provide the luxuries for them), we’re seeing an uptake on cafes/coffee shops. The younger generation like to chat and mingle, do school work/close business deals, and sash-ay at the cafes. #firstworldissues are becoming the norm.

Not to be one tooooo behind on the times, I’m reviewing a recent experience of mines.

Nuk café has a few locations in Phnom Penh. I went to the one near Sorya shopping center, Lux cinema, and Norodom Blvd. It’s located between two grillers (grillers = barbequing seafood, meat, veggies washing it down with beer). The smell was so tantalizing but I stopped myself because I already had dinner. I was here on a mission, a mission to eat ice cream.

I personally prefer tea and don’t drink coffee. Sorry all you coffee lovers, you won’t read anything about coffee. Only in dire circumstances would I drink coffee. I once had 2 sips of coffee and didn’t sleep for 48 hours. At least I was productive and got a lot of work done. My poor colleague couldn’t keep up. I digress.

Nuk café is a totally different atmosphere from Blanc a l’aise that I blogged about last week. It’s all about BROWN. The instance you walk in, you’re subliminally told to order coffee. Instead, I ordered off their new menu.

What’s so special about the ice cream here? It’s the only Liquid Nitrogen ice-cream in Cambodia. Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen in a (obvious) liquid state at an extremely low temperate. Mixing that with the cream turns it to ICE CREAM =D

It’s not any different, just the presentational WOW factor. It was quick to make the ice cream saving Nuk Café money and time. Juussssttttt enough ice cream was made – no more no less. There’s no waste and easy to keep inventory count. Only wish they had more flavors because it’s a decent ice cream to munch on. Here’s a great link to show the process of making liquid-nitrogen ice cream. how to make liquid-nitrogen churned ice cream

Review 1: Choc-brownie ice cream.

Chocolate ice cream blended with brownie chunks on top of chocolate flakes cereal. Drizzle some chocolate syrup topped with chocolate wafer bite. ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE DREAM. I wish my choco-monster was there with me. She would have loved it. You know how the mug tells me this is the place to be? It definitely was. I wanted to put my whole mouth in that mug like a beast…pulling back up for air with chocolate dripping all over. That’s the dream. A dream that I kept to myself while I ate with friends. Please try this =)

Review 2: Potted plant mocha

Made from freshly made coffee, almond, and chocolate. It was in a cute little vase that made me vaguely remember the two plants I tried to nurture in the office. Let’s never speak about those plants, they’re tucked away in my cabinet – dirt and dried plants. Anyway, just don’t eat the flower on top. Everything else is edible and delectable. Mild mocha flavour that’s not overpowering. Try it!

 

Review 3: Chocolate due with cherries

Isn’t it just divine to look at!?!?!! Oui Oui.

By this point, I was just chocotoxicated. I wonder if there’s a word for ODing on chocolate. But there’s always a place in the tummy for chocolate.

It has a thin layer of chocolate cake, noir (chocolate) and blanc (milk) mousse with some cherries in the middle. In my mind, it’s like eating a hot chocolate mousse. I wish instead of milk foam mousse it was vanilla. Anyway, this nom nom went down.

Other items not reviewed or pictured: honey toast ice cream and green tea ice cream. I’ve had both before and both are equally good. If you go with friends, you can order every item on the menu. But, I wanted to dip my spoon in all their desserts AND eat all of mines.

Environment: They had books and games to enjoy. I didn’t play Jenga or Uno because I would get too competitive and scare everyone there. They also had an art exhibit which I haven’t checked out.

 

Ice cream is definitely better than Blanc’s. But Blanc still takes the cake.

My take: feeling suave while enjoying quiet time and quality ice cream.

 

Nuk Cafe's FB page

Let me know your thoughts. Have you been here? Did you enjoy the potted plants or ice cream in a cup more? Did you try their coffee and frappes? Shout it out in the comments below.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

XoXo V

* Sunny Up with V *

P.S. Behind the scenes photos and videos

power of elephant

 

cute WC directions

mixing mixing