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Back in 2012 I wrote a post about Asian Treats that could be found around Sacramento. In the last year there has been an explosion of new Asian frozen treat places.
Often it seems like Sacramento is one of the last to the party in terms of some food trends. In this case, we are the leader and these Asian treats will become more in the mainstream market - not just a favorite with Asians, but with anyone with a sweet tooth. Asian snack food chains Quickly and Lollicup have been spreading, so it's easy to imagine that more of these Asian snack trends will as well.
The first one was Vampire Penquin, which opened in Little Saigon and quickly became popular as word spread of their new treats. VP was not shaving ice and flavoring it, but instead making flavored ice milks and then shaving those. The result is a shaved ice snow that they then topped with things like boba, pearls, jellies, beans, and fruit. After the success of the first location, they are already opening four others and will surely conquer the rest of the State in quick order.
Next on the scene was Chelo, located in the Filipino mall at 611 Mack Road. This is a Filipino eatery which features silog meals (meat/rice/egg plates) and a large variety of halo halo. Halo halo means "mix mix" and is the Filipino frozen treat where a parfait is made with crushed ice, ice cream, evaporated milk, beans, fruits, etc. It's served in a tall glass in layers and then you take a long spoon to mix mix the whole concoction together before eating. At Chelo they serve a variety of halo halos instead of just one standard.
Two more frozen treat places are Snowbee Tea Station and Snobites. They serve boba teas, shave ice, and shave snow. They add Taiwanese milk toast as well.
I enjoyed one of the creations with the milk toast over at Snobites. You can order a single or double slice, or if you are really hungry or willing to share, get a "brick", which is about a half of loaf of milk bread that's been hallowed out and filled with ice cream and treats. I talked to the owner who told me that the milk bread is a sweet, dense bread that is eaten for dessert in Taiwan. They toast it, which adds some time to your order, so be patient. It is served with ice cream, fruit, toppings, and syrup. At Snobites they even add macarons.
That's quite a few frozen dessert places, all different, to open in the last year. I see this as a sign and won't be surprised to see more of these Asian frozen treats spreading across the country.
You might also like to read my post, Not all Hawaiian Shave Ice is Created Equal.
Often it seems like Sacramento is one of the last to the party in terms of some food trends. In this case, we are the leader and these Asian treats will become more in the mainstream market - not just a favorite with Asians, but with anyone with a sweet tooth. Asian snack food chains Quickly and Lollicup have been spreading, so it's easy to imagine that more of these Asian snack trends will as well.
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| courtesy of Vampire Penquin |
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| courtesy of Chelo |
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| courtesy of Snobites |
Two more frozen treat places are Snowbee Tea Station and Snobites. They serve boba teas, shave ice, and shave snow. They add Taiwanese milk toast as well.
I enjoyed one of the creations with the milk toast over at Snobites. You can order a single or double slice, or if you are really hungry or willing to share, get a "brick", which is about a half of loaf of milk bread that's been hallowed out and filled with ice cream and treats. I talked to the owner who told me that the milk bread is a sweet, dense bread that is eaten for dessert in Taiwan. They toast it, which adds some time to your order, so be patient. It is served with ice cream, fruit, toppings, and syrup. At Snobites they even add macarons.
That's quite a few frozen dessert places, all different, to open in the last year. I see this as a sign and won't be surprised to see more of these Asian frozen treats spreading across the country.
You might also like to read my post, Not all Hawaiian Shave Ice is Created Equal.
