1 review

1. Shanell Rundle  

   on January 1, 2016
   

   First, some administrative issues: Cafe 157 used to have a different listing on Yelp with an incorrect Flushing address; however, that listing ended up changing to a North Carolina establishment. So if you see those reviews, they make absolutely no sense. Now that that's out of the way, onto my review.

   I visited Café 157 last night because my brother, sister in law and their friends have been raving about it for the last several weeks. You'll see the place right away because the signage is night and bright, so don't worry about getting lost.

   My girlfriend and I walked in and immediately found a two-person table, which was fortuitous because after we ordered, people kept coming in and having to wait for tables to open up.

   I ordered the strawberry snowflake bingsu while she opted for the matcha green tea bubble tea frappucino. We'll discuss the latter first. I was figuratively smacked in the face with matcha, which was a nice surprise because I've had similar products elsewhere that were barely green tea-ish. Matcha for days and not overbearingly sweet, this was a great choice–one that we'll make again and again.

   Now on to the star: the snowflake bingsu. So for anyone who doesn't know, bingsu is a traditional Korean dessert much like Thai shaved ice is. There's fresh fruit, ice cream, condensed milk, mochi pieces and a red bean mochi cake all showered in almonds. I need to tell you guys about the ice cream and the ice.

   Like, I've had great ice cream before. I've stood in lines filled with self-declared foodies such as myself and obnoxiously-dressed hipsters just to have great ice cream. This is some goooood ice cream. The strawberry bingsu comes with a nice heaping scoop of strawberry ice cream, but we were both taken aback by how non-artificial it tasted. Very very creamy and sweet, it is just an indispensable component of the dessert.

   Now the ice. If you've been to older bingsu places like Korean bakeries, you undoubtedly have seen the employees crank by hand to shave the ice. Café 157 has this fancy shmancy stainless steel machine where you pour the flavored liquid base (that's right, the ice is flavored so there's no artificial syrup on plain ice here) and out comes pouring out some snowflakes. Ridiculously light and delicate, it's understated, yet still flavorful by itself.

   I'm definitely going to become a regular here. Don't let the $12 price scare you: the portion is as huge as Drumpf would want it to be, so you can (and should) split it with a friend. Or two.

   Swing by! You'll see me here just eating my emotions away one spoonful at a time.

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