Injeolmi

The very next day, my family and I went to Hanbing again for their weekday set lunch that includes a mini bingsu. We ordered the Topokki (rice cake) set (MYR33++ or MYR38.50 nett) and had to make the following choices:

1. Topokki: classic, cheese or cream sauce

2. Fried boneless chicken: Honey, Spicy or Soy sauce

3. Bingsu: injeolmi (roasted soybean flour powder), matcha, oreo, add another MYR2 or 3 for mango or blueberry or strawberry bingsu.

We chose classic topokki (it is sweet, salty and a bit spicy), honey chicken - crunchy, not oily at all and injeolmi bingsu. The default drink in the set is iced peach tea (not sweet). As can be seen in the bento box above, there is a piece of deep fried seaweed roll and a piece of deep fried dumpling which is in the same compartment as the kimchi. The deep fried chicken is topped with tasty freshly roasted almond slices.

The mini Injeolmi bingsu is less than half the size of the usual bingsu. It is topped with red bean paste and rice cake. The soybean flour powder is really delicious with its deep roasted taste.

Underneath the roasted soybean flour powder lies the soft fine powdery milky ice which is not sweet but in between them is a thin layer of sweetened condensed milk.

The second lunch set is the kimchi soup set at the same price - MYR33++ (MYR38.50 nett). I selected mackerel kimchi soup, soy sauce chicken and mini matcha bingsu.

We upgraded the default iced peach tea for the second lunch set to a cup of hot citron tea (yuzu tea) by adding MYR5++ (MYR5.85 nett). There are yuzu peels in the drink.

The mini matcha bingsu is topped with red bean paste and rice cakes. The ice is matcha ice so the ice shavings are all green in colour and there is no milky taste for this bingsu, just a light green tea taste. Only slightly sweet. 

After tasting the Injeolmi and Matcha mini bingsu, we decided to order another usual sized bingsu for the 3 of us to share and we chose the Injeolmi (the option without the red bean paste) because of the soybean powder fragrant roasted taste.

Injeolmi Bingsu at MYR22++ (MYR25.65 nett). Have to be careful when eating this bingsu because if one accidentally suck the roasted soybean powder into the throat too fast, one would have a coughing fit.

The 4 of us were here for the bingsu so our objective was met. The other food items in the lunch sets were just to provide a savoury taste to the sweet bingsu taste. The mini bingsu portion is just right for me but unfortunately they do not sell it separately (without the lunch set) so I have to share the bingsu with my friends or family if I ever want to eat bingsu here again.

Hanbing

Top View - looks so pretty.

Bingsu (Korean ice shavings dessert) has been around for a few years and I just tried it this year at Caffe Bene, Jaya Mall but I don't like it at all. After reading PH's experience, I decided to give it another go so I read more reviews about bingsu that is available in the Klang valley and found this post about the best bingsu in KL (Villa Ju at Damansara Uptown).

But I could not get a blueberry cheese cake bingsu that I saw in an eatery (Hanbing) in IOI City Mall out of my mind so once I found that there is a Hanbing branch in Bangsar Baru, I went there on Sunday just to have another try. 

Instead of the blueberry cheese cake bingsu, I decided to go for the strawberry cheese cake bingsu instead because I think the sourish taste of the strawberry will give the bingsu taste a lift which turns out to be true.

Can you spot the cheese cake pieces embedded in the ice? The ice cream on top is just a normal vanilla ice cream.

The strawberry sauce and strawberry pieces were just what I expected - sweet and sourish. What I did not expect is that the ice shavings were like so fine and soft like powder! The texture is so very nice! The ice is not plain ice but milky ice. It is by itself not sweet. If you like to drink fresh unsweetened milk, you will recognise the taste when you eat this ice.

But the ice is covered with a thin layer of sweetened condensed milk which gives it a sweeter taste. The bottom part of the ice as can be seen in the photo above has more of this condensed milk but it is not very sweet, just sweeter than the top part. In between these two layers there is a layer of frozen strawberry pieces. As for the small pieces of cheese cake, you will know that they are cheese cakes from the taste of them, no doubt about it.

Another look at the soft, fine and powdery milky ice which is so tasty. I like to eat our local ABC but this bingsu is a different story, ABC I can eat everyday, this bingsu I will save it for a special occasion due to its delicate ice texture. The tangy strawberry breaks the monotonous taste of the milky ice so it was the right choice of bingsu. 

The portion is big enough for 3 persons and just too much for 1 person unless that 1 person is a super big eater who loves to eat bingsu. Two of us shared this strawberry bingsu and finished it with no difficulty at all. The sweetness level is just right, even with the condensed milk outer layer. Not for those who can't stand the taste of condensed milk. I like this bingsu so much that I visited it again the very next weekday with my family to try their set menu which is only available during weekday afternoon from 12 noon to 4 pm.

Hanbing at Telawi 3, Bangsar.

Strawberry bingsu at MYR28++ (10% service charge and 6% GST) making it a total of MYR32.65 nett just for one ice dessert. An occasional indulgence. This bingsu is a far cry from the one that I tried previously so I am glad I gave bingsu another chance.

The above are their other choices: roasted soybean flour powder (Injeolmi) with/without red beans, mango, orea, blueberry and matcha. There is a special Musang king edition at MYR33++ which I won't be trying as I am more interested in eating the Musang King fruit. I did try the Matcha and Injeolmi on my next visit which will be in my next post.