Snowy Village — Restaurant in Portland

First off, the bingsoo is DELICIOUS and I have been back several times because of this!

I would love for this place to succeed and I want to offer some suggestions to the business owner that would overall improve the customer experience. Please ignore if these are things you are not able to do at the moment, but in my personal opinion, they did have an impact on the experience and I hope they can be of use.

(1) Please open and utilize both doors if possible, it feels much more intuitive than having one locked and slightly blocked by a chair.

(2) I recommend serving with silverware already on the tray included so the customer does not have to get up right when their food arrives to grab their own spoons and napkins.

(3) Providing wet wipes rather than dry napkins would help people feel cleaner when they are finished

(4) Might be too difficult to change, but the divide in between the outdoor tables is a bit strange and feels slightly awkward

(5) Serving the bingsoo in a lower, wider dish would help it be less messy. So much falls of the top because of how tall it is (but the portion sizes are impressive! a kids size is plenty). When bussing, it would be helpful to have a big sign over the " bussing zone" so it is clear where to go. Another small detail that makes the experience feel more seamle

(6) The staff are so hardworking, but it definitely feels like yall are understaffed. It doesn't seem like they get much time to breathe with how quick they're moving (and still, wait times are generally pretty long). I understand and respect that margins may be tight and this might not be something you can change, but maybe add another helping hand.

(7) Please consider atmosphere, including decor, lighting and music. The lights are too fluorescent and the vibe would feel so much better if it were less bright. Adding wood shelving, plants, and local art, for example, would be a way to warm the place up a lot. The chair right next to the bathroom feels awkward.

(8) A random bonus idea - it would be so cool if you sold bingsoo ingredients, trinkets and accessories, and may be a good extra source of income for the store.

I don't write this to dissuade anyone from going, rather, there's a reason I keep coming back. It's a texture and flavor like no other, and the delicious, rich flavors should satisfy every sweet tooth out there.

Truly love and respect yall and hope you take these things into consideration if they feel...

There are places along the western edge of this country where the sun kisses the ocean and life blooms in colors too rich to name. This is not one of them.

What I stepped into was not a store, nor a ice cream parlor, nor any place where joy might reside... but a sterile chapel of artificial cool, a bureaucratic shrine to melted dreams. I mistook it, at first, for a leasing office or a DMV mid-renovation. White. White. White. Walls like the void. Floors like bone. Tables, menus, even the framed photos: a monotony of nothingness. The only hint of humanity, if you could call it that, were the chaotic lines of HVAC tubing in red and blue, presumably from a drunken contractor who couldn't stand to be there anymore, hanging above the kitchen.

The staff? Ghosts. Gray specters moving without will or warmth, their interactions clipped, automatic, as if language itself had been taxed out of them. You speak; they nod. You gesture; they disappear. Who could blame them, entombed as they are in this soulless monolith for hours on end? Even their disdain feels automated, especially toward the Doordash couriers, who are treated not as people, but as barely tolerated parasites.

And then, the ice cream—if it can be called that—arrives in a bespoke bag that reeks of irony and overdesign. It is not a dessert. It is a eulogy for indulgence, carefully packaged in vanity.

This place is not bougie... it is a parody of bougie, a cruel satire made manifest. It teeters on the edge of self-parody so convincingly that I found myself spiraling into existential questions: Who imagined this place? Who approved it? Who stared into the abyss and decided it needed more white paint and less soul?

And more horrifying than anything—what sorrow sculpted their vision?

Would come back...

Had better bingsoo, specifically because of the texture. But this was all the way in ny. This was a little rougher, not smooth, not always melting in your mouth. But it was really good.

The space was a little small and crowded. But that may be because it's newer. I liked the screen used for ordering though!

Lately as of Aug 6 2023 though, I think something has been awry. The floors are incredibly dirty. The bathroom has been broken for months. I saw someone picking a hair out of their tayakai dough. I saw garbage being handled without gloves and immediately touching food items after. It also now just smells really bad, I almost threw up.

The benches outside were completely broken which sucks because seating is sparse to begin with.

We still love the place and want it to stay open forever but I have some sanitation concerns.

Strawberry ⭐⭐⭐⭐ this really needed the condensed milk, because the middle parts were a little flavorless the strawberries were really fresh though and went perfectly with the whipped cream

Mango ⭐⭐⭐ sweet, juicy mangos not a favorite

Espresso ⭐⭐⭐⭐ it comes with a shot and it's delicious

Pepperoni taiyaki ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ loved it. I wish it was trimmed, didn't enjoy the crust on the outside, but loved the filling, wish there was more filling would be a 5 with something spicy or less crust or...