Ice Lab has opened with a Big Bang (pun unintended) specialising in Bingsu (more), churros (more more) and toast. It took over House of Robert Timms at Orchard Shopping Centre,
This Ice Lab is opened by none other than Korean Comedian Shin Jung-Hwan – famous for his comic dance and silly acts. This marks his first venture overseas.
Doesn’t matter Shin-who, the café is filled with video clips of Korean celebrities such as Running Man cast Haha, Gary and Kim Jong Kook, and 15 opening bouquets with Korean congratulatory messages written on them – enough to send non-Shin fans for a look.
We were impressed with the 1.5 storeys high, 80 seating capacity, snow making machine that created falling snow in the middle of a round table, 6 bingsu making machines to make 6 different flavours of bingsu (each machine is a 5 figure sum) and a clean, white and spacious interior.
Jinjja extravagant, and jinjja white.
Korean Bingsu competition will be stiff with Nunsaram at Orchard Central, O’ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe at 313 Somerset, and Ice Lab at Orchard Shopping Centre, all 3 buildings right next to one another.
As for churros, there are Churros Factory at Orchard Central, ‘Better Than Boyfriend’ Churro101 at 313@Somerset and Ice Lab at Orchard Shopping Centre.
Same same, close proximity, tough fight.
The menu features 6 flavours of Bingsu in 2 sizes – Small ($15.30 – $19.30) and Large at an additional $4.
Churros are available at $4.30 with 6 different sauce dips ($1.20) – choco, white choc, honey, cream cheese, caramel, blueberry jam.
Something different will be the Korean Toast ($8.50) and Matang ($13.30) with sweet potato drenched in honey and nuts.
Our favourite was the Green Tea Bingsoo ($17.20 for small, $21.20 for large) with fine shaved milk topped with a scoop of green tea ice cream, azuki beans, sunflower seeds and cashew nuts.
To increase efficiency, each Bingsu machine produced one Bingsu flavour with a specific proportion mixture for the shavings, so each snowflake is slightly different from one another.
The snowflake shavings were refined, rich, milky, slightly on the sweeter side which could overpower the green tea taste at times. Liked the contrast in texture from the nuts and seeds though.
Being the most expensive Bingsu on the list, the Mango Bingsoo ($19.30 for small, $23.30 for large) could be a tad costly compared to other cafes. The milk shavings were less milky and melted rather quickly.
Toppings were generous with large chunks of sweet mango, kiwi and a scoop of mango ice cream with a refreshing take on the usual milk bingsu.
Still, the mango syrup added was a tad sweet for our liking.
We enjoyed the Churros ($4.30) served in a cooking pan. Very crispy and golden brown on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with the right amount of sugar and cinnamon. Mashisoyo!
The ambience was young and hipster, with K-pop music playing in the background (fan girls at our neighbouring table screaming at each song) and handsome/ pretty service crews in white lab coats which kind of reminded me of the Running Man characters.
Except, there is no name tag pasted on it.
The execution of a lab wasn’t as distinct, except for the lab coats. But well… let the experiment begins! Hwaiting!
Ice Lab
Orchard Shopping Centre, 321 Orchard Road #01-01/02, Singapore 238866 (Somerset MRT)
Opening Hours: 9.30am – 10.30pm (Mon-Thu), 9.30am – 11pm (Fri), 10am – 11pm (Sat), 10am – 11pm (Sun), Closing timing at 1am everyday till 31 Jan 2016
Other Related Entries
34 Places To Get Korean Bingsu In Singapore
Churro101 (Bugis Plus)
O’ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe (313 Somerset)
Choo Choo Chicken (Orchard Cineleisure)
Nunsaram (Orchard Central)
* Written by Daniel’s Food Diary Cafe Correspondent Nicholas Tan @stormscape
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