As many of you may know, bingsu is traditional Korean shaved ice dessert. It can have a variety of toppings ranging from traditional red bean , to chopped fruit, condensed milk, Oreo, or even a sunny side up egg made out of jelly!

Bibimbingsu is a play on the words bibimbap (비빔밥), which is a traditional Korean rice dish which originated from the royal table, and bingsu, the shaved ice dessert. Literally translated, bibimbap means “mixed rice.” In this case, I guess we translate bibimbingsu to “mixed bingsu!” To look like bibimbap, the bibimbingsu is served with the familiar sunny side egg on top, though this time it is sweet and made out of jelly! Additionally, instead of mixing veggies, you mix fruits and rice cakes! Yum!

To get your hands on some delicious bibimbingsu, you can go to the super popular restaurant called Nampodong Miseunapolli (남포동 미스나폴리) located in Busan, South Korea. It has a great location in Nampodong, and serves other delicious foods such as thin-crust pizza. This extra colourful bingsu has a variety of fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, halved green grapes, kiwi, dried berries, and a few different kinds of rice cakes. There is also “spicy sauce” to pour all over the bibimbingsu like you would on real bibimbap, though I am pretty sure it was actually strawberry sauce! Notice the bottle that looks like ketchup to the right in the photo! Oh right, and did I mention it ALSO comes with ice cream? Talk about the ultimate dessert.

My friends and I stumbled upon this restaurant when we travelled up to Busan from Seoul for a weekend. We saw the colourful sign outside the restaurant advertising the specialty bingsu, but we continued on with our exploring. Unable to forget about that delicious looking shaved ice dessert, we came back later that day to try it. And then we came back again the next day… It was too good!

Interestingly enough, the restaurant offers a pizza and bibimbingsu combo. It is called bibimbingsu set and costs 18,900 Korean Won. For some reason, it seemed like a strange combination to us but nevertheless we decided to order the combo on the second day. It is incredibly filling, so definitely make sure to come with a few of your friends!

This is definitely a special treat you don’t want to miss if you happen to be Busan!

P.s. I have studied as an exchange student at Yonsei University and also worked at a Korean company in Seoul, South Korea. I’d love to answer your questions if you have any. You may like to follow me on Instagram as I am often posting Korean-related things!