Although I would say that I know more about Japanese cuisine than the average person, I can’t say that my knowledge extends to the rest of Asia. Toronto is filled with thousands of great ethnic restaurants, but I haven’t made much of an effort to explore them. Sure, I’ve gone out for late-night Chinese at several of the places along Spadina, but that’s not the same thing as really trying a new cuisine.
I think my biggest fear is that I’ll walk into some restaurant where no one is speaking the same language as me, and I’ll be “that girl” who doesn’t know what (or even how) to order. It’s an extremely awkward feeling to stare blankly at a menu filled with translations you know don’t do the dish any justice, wondering what the hell everyone else is eating and why what you ordered doesn’t look nearly as good.
I was the “gaijin” with red hair in Japan for long enough that I fought hard to be able to answer people properly in their native language and know what to order off the menus. I knew what I liked, I knew what tasted good, and I knew how to politely ask for a glass of tea with my meal.
I’ve really been enjoying Sophia’s recaps of her delicious meals out in Koreatown in LA, but her one post with a dessert called pat bing soo really caught my attention. Asian desserts (red bean – yes please!) have a special place in my heart, and her description of pat bing soo basically sounded like my ideal dessert.
I know that we have a Koreatown here in Toronto, and I was sure that it would have somewhere that sold pat bing soo. After some Google-searching, I turned up a bakery called BNC Cake House that apparently had the best pat bing soo in the city, and I figured that a small bakery would be the perfect stepping stone for someone intimidated by Koreatown.
(from sifu_renka)
The bakery was very cute on the inside, with a display of cakes and buns by the front door. Before I went I used the audio feature on Google translate so I would know how to say “patbingsoo” (I’m so lame, and it’s pronounced exactly how it’s spelled haha) but it turned out that was unnecessary because they just have it listed as “Shaved Ice”.
(from blogTO)
One red bean shaved ice, please!
A bed of shaved ice arrived topped with red bean paste, assorted fruits, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and condensed milk.
In my first few bites the ice seemed a little too crunchy, but as everything melted slightly, it formed the perfect texture with the ice cream and milk.
I really liked the addition of ice to the dessert. I thought that it would have made it taste like cheap ice cream (watery and freezerburned), but instead it just lightened it up without taking away any of the flavour.
Apparently pat bing soo is a dish best shared, but I ate the whole bowl to myself and didn’t get a stomachache, although I was shivering a bit by the end. I might be the only person ever who’s ordered pat bing soo in the winter, haha.
The girls running the bakery were very nice, and the pat bing soo was delicious. Even though this might not be the most winter-appropriate dish, I could definitely see myself coming back here in the summer with friends when I’m craving something cold!
This experience has made me realize that I need to get out and start exploring more of the places around town. Even if I get some funny looks or have to ask the server what to order, the result is well worth the initial awkwardness. I think this might be just the beginning of my own adventures in Koreatown.
Oh, and if you’re getting late-night Chinese along Spadina – order the eggplant. I’ve learned that much, at least 
