Low-sugar bingsu in Gangnam, Seoul: The Snow topping set

A great spot for low-sugar bingsu The Snow Daechi Main Branch

What is The Snow?🍧 It’s a bingsu specialist that keeps things lighter with low sugar, house-made toppings, and organic ingredients! They pay such close attention to the ingredients that even dogs and cats can eat them, so there’s separate bingsu for pets too🐶🐱 The Snow has three branches in total: the Daechi main branch, Nonhyeon branch, and a Hanoi, Vietnam branch!

I seriously love bingsu, and I heard there was a place in Daechi-dong that uses just a little stevia instead of condensed milk or sugar, so off I went. It’d be amazing to enjoy something delicious and gain less weight, right? >< It was genuinely so good that my mom and I polished off a whole bowl, so let me tell you about The Snow Daechi Main Branch!

A look around this lovely space first

We arrived at The Snow Daechi Main Branch! It’s on the first floor, with big floor-to-ceiling windows, so you can see right into the café from outside. There was also a separate takeaway area on one side, which looked handy for taking things to go! There was a menu board out front too, so I had a little peek before heading in haha.

As I was about to go inside… the entrance already felt kind of upscale lol. Is this really a bingsu shop..?

Once inside, it felt even more spacious than it looked from outdoors! The white furniture and soft lighting made it bright and cozy overall 🤍 It photographs surprisingly well in here too haha.

And aren’t all the seats so pretty too? haha. Each seat has a cushion, so it was comfortable to sit for ages over bingsu and a chat. There are tables for groups as well, so it seemed like a nice place to come with several people!

The ordering area was spotless too! You can see the preparation area farther inside, and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a café keep one this clean… Just seeing it, I could tell how meticulously the owner takes care of things. Seriously impressive 👏🏻

The display case beside it held fruit and fruit preserves for the drinks and desserts. The owner makes the fruit preserves too, and every piece of fruit looked so fresh! 🍅🍋

There was a neatly organized self-service station on one side too. You know how after bingsu, you sometimes feel thirsty or want to rinse your mouth? lol. Free water was available, so it was nice that you didn’t have to order a drink separately!

There were lots of cute little objects around the café, all arranged so nicely, which made it fun just to look around haha. There was even a notebook you could freely write in like a guestbook, and I read through some of the notes other visitors had left lol. Lots to see, right? There were drawings everywhere too, and I looked over all the little phrases written underneath them.

Life is like a flower.

It speaks for my inner thoughts… lol.

It turns out the owner has even won an award at a world dessert competition! Apparently it’s one of the officially recognized competitions in the dessert world—what is this owner’s résumé… lol. There was also a note about how The Snow began: they started it to share healthier bingsu and intend to keep carrying that mission forward. Reading that somehow made it feel extra cool 👏🏻

From ordering to the full bingsu set 🍧

You can order from the kiosk! There are bingsu, cakes, tteok (Korean rice cakes), and drinks, but there were especially so many kinds of bingsu. From injeolmi (roasted soybean powder rice cake) and black sesame to fruit bingsu, plus single-serving cup bingsu that’s great when you’re on your own! We wanted to try several flavors, so we ordered The Snow Bingsu Topping Set.

And here came The Snow Bingsu Topping Set! Seriously, wasn’t it so pretty the moment it arrived? haha. The bingsu was piled high, with a whole spread of toppings alongside it… 🤍 Mango, grapefruit, and basil-tomato fruit preserves, plus red bean, injeolmi tteok, injeolmi kataifi, and matcha! You can pick whatever you want and add a little at a time.

Tasting the house-made toppings

But here’s another amazing thing: they make everything from the fruit preserves to the red bean and matcha themselves! The red bean is made low-sugar with whole Korean beans, while the fruit preserves are made with organic raw sugar and honey. And it’s not just any matcha—they use organic matcha too 🍵 Maybe that’s why the sweetness was gentle overall and the natural flavors of the ingredients really came through!

I tried them one by one over the bingsu! The red bean and injeolmi were nutty, while the matcha was seriously rich—totally my kind of thing… ✨ Especially when you sprinkle kataifi and injeolmi powder over the red bean or matcha, it’s such a perfect combo! The bingsu base was interesting too: it has lactose-free milk and only a little stevia, so it didn’t get watery even by the time we finished it all lol.

They say this bingsu is made with enough care over the ingredients that dogs and cats can eat it too 🐶🐱 They also sell separate bingsu for pups and kitties, so it seems like a great place to visit with your pet haha.

I tried each fruit preserve over the bingsu too, and none was overly sweet, so they were easy to enjoy without feeling heavy! The grapefruit was especially refreshing because you could still bite into the pulp, and basil tomato with bingsu was a combination I’d never tried before, but it had its own charm! Overall, the toppings weren’t too sweet and the ingredients’ flavors came through beautifully, so I never got tired of it. Thanks to that, we finished every last bit haha.

Overall, I could taste the care that went into every ingredient! Usually after bingsu, you can feel a little coated in sweetness or thirsty, but my mouth felt clean even afterward here. It didn’t have that icy, watered-down feeling either, so I think it would be easy to enjoy even in autumn and winter! I personally really liked this place, so I’m planning to come back to try another bingsu next time haha. If you love bingsu, you have to visit! 🍧