A taste of Korea in Winnipeg
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This article was published 29/07/2019 (2335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Bingsu is the latest fad on social media, and all the youngsters are posting their dessert on Instagram. But if you don’t know about the Korean dessert, don’t worry — The Icing Castle has you covered.
The new dessert shop brings this exquisite shaved iced milk treat topped with red bean paste, condensed milk and chopped fruit to Winnipeg’s Waterford Green.
Eumi De Jesus and Amelia Co-Ping opened The Icing Castle on July 8 and have successfully served their bingsu creations to hundreds of people. The flavours include Halo Halo, a mix of Filipino and Korean tastes, and different weekly specials.
“At around 6 p.m., we have huge lineups. We thought we would have about 10 people here for our soft opening, but we were full. We already had to buy our third bingsu machine, that we import from Korea,” De Jesus said. She explained that the bingsu machine flash-freezes the milk and instantly shaves it.
Every bingsu is made to order and delivers a fluffy texture from the iced milk that, according to De Jesus, is unlike any other.
Aside from the flagship dessert, The Icing Castle also serves Asian-flavoured ice cream, meringues, pastries, and DeLuca’s coffee.
“We try to cater to the different preferences, especially in this area, is a mix (of culture),” Co-Ping added.
De Jesus, who is a Red River College culinary arts graduate, built the shop’s concept around what the kids on social media are posting. The shop is beautifully designed to attract Instagram enthusiasts who are welcome take a photo on their selfie wall that features the art of a castle on colourful clouds.
The Icing Castle is one of the few dessert shops in the northern neighbourhoods of the city, said the Amber Trails residents. De Jesus grew up in the area and said that when she was younger, she didn’t have a place to go for ice cream or a cold drink in the summer that was close to home. Now, most of the people that come into her shop are teenagers who leave their bikes outside and hang out while having bingsu or ice cream.
“Once the teenagers start to hang out, they come out in groups, and we get super busy. Having that selfie wall is so worth it,” Co-Ping said.
The Waterford Green Village Centre seemed like the perfect location for the dessert café. With the completion of new housing development, a massive amount of families moved to houses and condos around Dr. Jose Rizal Way and Waterford Green Common.
“The closest mall that (residents) can go to is the one on Keewatin where there’s the McDonald’s and Safeway. And then Iumi thought of the dessert, the closets one would be Dairy Queen further down. If you’re in this area, you’d like to walk to have something cold. We already have Dominos here, so we thought this would be a good spot.” Co-Ping, who takes care of the businesses finances, said.
The Icing Castle (D1-55 Waterford Green Common) is open Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m.