Shaved ice desserts have been popular for decades in Taiwan. They are called bào bīng (剉冰) and helped scores of Taiwanese to survive the heat of the summer. It took a man to revolutionize this traditional industry with Ice Monster.
The first Ice Monster shop was set up in the popular Yongkang street in Taipei. It was 1997. At the beginning, as told by the founder in an interview, people could not care less about his new dessert, an ice shaved mango “avalanche” (mangoes are grown in Taiwan). They wanted the traditional flavors like red beans and brown sugar. Initially he had to give away the mango desserts for free. And then the lines started to form. Soon it became a sensation.
There was a hiccup in 2010 when the flagship store had to close during a divorce dispute, but in 2012 it reopened in a new part of town: this was the store that I visited in April 2019. (In Yongkang street at the number 15 now there is a Smoothie House that is not connected with Ice Monster, but selling similar desserts.) Since its re-birth, Ice Monster has expanded in the US, Japan, and mainland China. In 2013 it was featured by CNN as one of the world’s best desserts. Lines continue to form.
The visit
The store is now located on Zhongxiao East Road in a busy shopping and entertainment district (Zara and Uniqlo have stores a couple of blocks away).
I had to endure some queue, but it moved quickly.
The store is large, but not enormous. It was pretty packed on an early Saturday afternoon.
Behind the counter, staff is constantly busy in “shaving ice” using the machines that were perfected by the founder working with a Taiwanese supplier. It took 15 minutes before I got my order (that was prepaid and placed when I stepped in the store before going to a table).
Since it was strawberry season, I had their “Strawberry Sensation” that technically is not really shaved ice, but more similar to Taiwanese snow ice, that is a variation were the base, using condensed milk, is infused in the ice (xue hua bing 雪花冰) . For the classic shaved ice you have to check the “Avalanche” items.
It came with a ball of strawberry sorbet (also available individually), a generous amount of panna cotta, strawberry pudding (including an extra glass). It was an immensely rich dessert that could satisfy two people.
The ice is incredibly soft and fluffy, with a very nice texture. It was better than the bingsu I had in Seoul, but the two are not directly comparable.
The check
This huge dessert was 260 NTD (8.5 USD). Considering that you can easily share it, it is still a steal (the price had been going up constantly though). As a comparison, in the Hawaii stores, the same dessert costs 15 USD.
House rule: minimum 100 NTD charge per person and maximum 1 hour stay. This means that most desserts, which cost more than 200 NTD, can be shared between two people, but if you have a third person in the party, you will need to order something else. Fair and square.
Where in Taipei:No.297, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei, Taiwan
In Chinese: 台北市忠孝東路四段297號 Tip: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Exit 1.
UPDATE: this shop ended operations on September 15, 2019.
List of other stores in Taiwan, China, Japan, and Hawaii: https://www.ice-monster.com/store-