Cheevit Cheeva Cafe is a dessert restaurant specializing in Korean bingsu with a local tweak. They have several locations; I visited the flagship shop in Nimman.
The visit
The cafe occupies a house in a backstreet in Nimman area.
In March 2020, they brought in a sister property: the bakery and cafe called Groon that now occupies half of the space.
The main dining room has high ceiling.
This was my favorite spot. You have to order at the cashier and pay, then they will bring you the order.
Their claim to fame is the bingsu that comes with Korean and Thai toppings (such as mango and sticky rice). Their bingsu is not made out of shaved ice; rather they use pure milk.
I did not have the bingsu (too big), but they had some “affogato” made with the same shaved milk. I had the chocolate version. The shaved milk was refreshing and a very interesting take on the bingsu.
On another visit I had their Nutella cake, that was quite good.
They had a selection of flavored coffee cold brews. I tried one and I was happy with the drink.
The check
The affogato (really a mini bingsu) was reasonably priced at 95 THB (around 3 USD).
The cake was only marginally more expensive: drink and cake cost me 210 THB (6.50 USD). Prices were reasonable.
Where in Chiang Mai: 6 soi 7 Sirimangkhalajarn Rd., Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai. Website: https://cheevitcheevacafe.com/ Other locations in Chiang Mai: Nim City Daily Shopping Mall, Star Avenue Lifestyle Mall, and Jampha Shopping Mall Lamphun. There is even a franchisee in Taipei.
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-
Bingsu (or bingsoo) is a dessert originated in Korea. It is a combination of shaved ice and other sweet ingredients. In the past, the accompanying ingredient was usually red bean paste (potbingsu), but now it can go almost with everything. Mango bingsu is one of the most popular. While this dessert has been around for decades, in recent years it has become popular outside South Korea and can be found in many Asian metropolis.
The visit
I tried my first bingsu in Seoul in an outlet of the all-popular Sulbing 설빙 Korean Dessert Cafe. There are outlets all over South Korea.
I chose their bingsu tiramisu that came in a huge bowl topped with a large piece of tiramisu cake and along with a shot of espresso coffee. The shot was provided to be added to the bowl (similarly, I noticed that the green tea bingu came with a shot of green tea… not sure if this applied to all of the available flavors).
I was extremely skeptical about this dessert. But after digging into the mountain of shaved ice covered with cacao powder I changed my mind. It was actually quite good. Nothing comparable to artisan ice cream, but a very refreshing dessert.
Below the mountain of shaved ice there was also a good amount of jelly cubes (in this case chocolate flavored).
I could not finish it all by myself.
The check
This bingsu cost 10,900 WON (9.65 USD). This is pretty much the standard price for a premium bowl. More traditional flavors can cost a little bit less. It should be noted that the bowl could be easily shared between two people and the cafe offered comfortable seating, so overall it was not a bad deal.
