The Great Beijing Ice Cream Quest
Blessed be thee, o glorious summer. Greek mythology used to chalk the arrival of spring and summer to Persephone’s annual return from the Underworld, when her mother, Demeter, made the earth bloom and grow bountiful. Well, dear reader – I, too, grow bountiful in summer, if only because it typically involves stuffing myself silly with ice cream.
Proper ice cream is a bit of a recent development in Beijing’s food scene that's been growing over the past few years. We certainly didn’t have very many exciting options way back when, but I find things to be different nowadays! So I figured I could make a blog post to illustrate my findings. Ring-a-ling goes the ice cream van in this compendium of frozen desserts in Beijing, and while it’s true that the most delectable scoops remain on the pricier side, I’m also giving you affordable, decent options. Slather on some sunscreen and join me in this sweet, sticky mission. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream (groan)!
The Downtown Strip
In recent years, Taikoo Li has gained a string of hipster cafés and brands setting up their cutesy stalls along the pavement strip that runs parallel to a few of the embassies in the area and the old Sanlitun Bar Street. Most of them bustle daily with a motley crew of cool kids, tourists, nearby residents and office workers. Ice cream-wise, the party starts at Il Laboratorio del Gelato (冰淇淋实验室), a darling white and baby blue parlor that frequently adds special items to their regular menu. Their current star is the DuangDuang (RMB 58), which sees your chosen scoop atop the usual cone before the chirpy shop clerk will crown it with a generous dollop of frozen heavy cream and an edible cat figurine made of “coconut milk marshmallow.”
Not quite convinced? Just down the street, perhaps théATRE (茶聚场) will do the trick with a rather delicate quartet: Rose White Peony (玫瑰白牡丹茶), Earl Grey Hazelnut (棒果格雷伯爵茶), Mango Sorbet (浓情芒果雪芭) and a trendier Yuzu Lemongrass Rooibos (柚香路易波士). Each cup will set you back RMB 56, though the real ones know the price drops down to RMB 31 on Dianping. If you want to get proper artsy, look no further than Tang Suo (瑭所), with their Chinese Flowering Crabapple Ice Cream (RMB 38, 中式冰淇淋-海棠冰). Fancy name for a treat that inhabits the liminal space between ice cream and confectionery, thanks to the wafer in the shape of the Malus spectabilis.
We’re not done with the area yet! Also worth highlighting are Jiu Shi Ye (九十葉) and good ole Venchi. The former offers five varieties of matcha ice cream – the higher the number, the more intense the flavor. Following Aristotle’s golden mean, RMB 49 had me savoring their Matcha No. 3 (11.9 percent in the intensity range, the maximum being 25.9 percent), and their Goji-Mulberry Fusion (不老莓桑葚). Apparent good quality, refreshing combo of flavors, and the matcha hit just right. Would order again! But first, apologies to Venchi. You see, in my mind, they were that one place that could afford to be expensive years ago, when we didn’t have serious scoops in the 'Jing.
On my work bestie’s recommendation, I headed to the Taikoo Li branch of the Italian food company that Mr. Silviano Venchi founded in 1878 and found out that they stay relevant in the game. For RMB 59, a Mini Cup was the perfect lunchtime treat with two scoops of my choice, and you won’t be gambling here. The staff at Venchi handed me samples galore of every flavor that tickled my fancy before I committed to Mascarpone & Fermented Figs and an unforgettable Apricot and Brown Sugar. It’s new on the menu, and it better stay. Subtle notes in each spoonful and a sour touch to bind them all together without ever feeling the cloying fatigue of excessive sugar – what a thing of beauty.
If you’re not a fan of cones, you can still dip your cup in chocolate, hazelnut or raspberry grains for an extra RMB 15, but I don’t find it necessary. Not when you get a milk chocolate coin for free. Linger longer and contemplate whether you should indulge in any other item from the shop’s lavish selection. After all, Oscar Wilde did say that the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
The Hidden Bonus: The closest you get from straying off the beaten path in Sanlitun is PostPost, where you can feast on kakigori, the popular shaved ice dessert from Japan. Browse their treasure vault of zines, edgy magazines and unique records, and then choose from a trio of Pinky Matcha (RMB 62), Guava in Thai (RMB 58) and Oolong Mangoo (RMB 56). And if you’re equating kakigori to Korean bingsu, well, they’re alike yet not the same. Cultural fun fact of the day! Bingsu tends to be milk-based, usually featuring richer toppings – think red bean paste, ice cream and rice cakes. At PostPost, you’re getting kakigori, where it’s shaved ice only, thus somewhat lighter and fluffier and topped with simple fruit syrups or (again) matcha.
The Sure Bet
Too much fluff for you above? I hear you’re after a true, classic gelato experience? Well then, iGelato (意大利手工冰淇淋) makes itself abundantly clear in their moniker: They deal with artisan Italian gelato and have as many shops around Beijing as flavors in their menu. Just like their Venchi rivals, the staff will be happy to let you try them all, so don’t hesitate to stray from their (admittedly fantastic) chocolate. If Dianping is any indication, their pistachio and Sicilian blood orange sorbets are among the brand’s current hits. Expect around RMB 50 for your perfect pair of scoops and a whole lotta yum.
Ye Olde Wuyutai
Because if it ain’t broken, why would you want to fix it? Beijing tea retail chain Wuyutai (吴裕泰) was onto something many, many moons ago when they fitted their shops with tiny windows serving soft serve in two flavors: jasmine tea and green tea , which they differentiate from a trendier, more recent offering of matcha. It’s actually been a while since I last slurped on one of these simple, wholesome cones, so I had to check prices online. Lo and behold, they’re still RMB 9! And you wanna know what? They scratch the itch just fine. They bring memories to me, and in my humble opinion, it’s a very decent option for a steal. Not too sweet, to cater to the locals’ palate, which happens to align with modern preferences. Timeless and ubiquitous – what’s not to love?
The Novelty
What’s life without a little gaudiness? A big heap of ... yawns. And novelty is what Japanese konbini chain Lawson is serving this year with their hilarious trio of fast-food themed ice creams. One sultry night, on my way out of Celestial Bar, I dropped by the Lawson just downstairs for a cheap nightcap to close the party in style. To the reassurance of my liver, I was distracted by their Fried Chicken Drumstick Vanilla Ice Cream (支大鸡翅草味雪糕, RMB 9.5).
Oh, I hear your scornful snicker. Surely it was crap, right? Wrong. Small but surprisingly mighty treat this is, with some rather acceptable vanilla that escaped the yucky chemical echoes that tend to come with cheapo ice cream. The almond croquant that played the part of the fried chicken dredge? Just as passable. Now, if you ask me about their Beef Steak Ice Cream (牛排雪糕, RMB 8.9)? Oof. Average cream streak with some fairly dubious strawberry. I didn’t try the Hamburger (汉堡雪糕) one because a girl has her limits. But I might as well come back, because their Dubai chocolate stick was calling my name something fierce.
The King’s Offerings
And when I say king, I obviously mean King Mixue, of 米雪王 (Mixue Wang) fame. Forget about McDonalds, it’s time for you to act like a local and get your sundae from one of the (approximately) ten billion Mixue Wang shops all over Beijing. Their fresh, basic ice cream is a ridiculous RMB 3. Go a little fancier with their eponymous sundae for RMB 7, choosing from either strawberry, mango or Oreo crumble, and for just one more RMB, you get to bask on their crispy shell sundae (脆皮圣代), a chocolate dream. Miss me with any concerns about quality, please. It’s ice cream, for Pete’s sake; if you’re so concerned with health, go get a salad.
That’s it from yours truly, but it’s not necessarily all. Wag your finger at me in the comments for missing out on whatever must-try delicacy in Beijing! A good foodie quest, after all, should never truly come to an end.
READ: You Can Find WHAT on Meituan?
Images: Unsplash, Ana Padilla Fornieles, courtesy of iGELATO, Dianping
