Bao Bing is a quaint little window in Fulton Market, just around the corner from Duck Duck Goat. As another Stephanie Izard creation, I had high expectations and was excited to try the place out. Plus, Taiwanese shaved ice is one of my favorite Asian desserts! And that's what Bao Bing directly translates to. Except... a quick glance at Yelp told me that this was really more a soft serve and Asian snack spot than a shaved ice joint. There was SOME shaved ice, if you count a largely decorative sprinkle on a mound of soft serve. The dessert flavor descriptions seemed pretty wild, and I'm all about trying weird stuff-- if it works, that is. I ventured for their seasonal watermelon flavor, with the description touting a unique sprinkle of lime salt and some sort of chocolate shaving. For almost $9, you get a decent serving of soft serve, your choice of regular, sweet corn (weird!), or a swirl. Due to my try-everything mentality, I of course opted for the swirl. This was topped with some refreshing watermelon shaved ice, and generously sprinkled with that salt and some chocolate. The presentation was lacking though, and looked nothing like the menu images where the toppings were piled beyond the edges of the cup. Either way though, it was still a lot of dessert. The soft serve was good, but nothing impressive. We also got a kids' size soft serve with sprinkles in the regular flavor and I couldn't tell the regular from the swirl with the sweet corn flavor. The watermelon shaved ice was the star-- refreshing and well-balanced, but was more of an afterthought garnish than the main attraction. Note that it was also just regular flavored shaved ice (more like a raspado or italian ice), and not the Taiwanese version which is creamy and shaved into ribbons. The lime salt just tasted like regular margarita salt was far too overbearing, especially in the quantity that was added. We tried to pick it off the top of the watermelon shaved ice, but they looked pretty similar in the dim street lighting at 9pm. The chocolate nibs were barely noticeable. Although the soft serve itself was fine, the quantity was unnecessary and the flavor got boring after awhile. I don't regret trying Bao Bing because it was just something different, but it wasn't worth the price. I would rate it barely above Costco soft serve, which I'm pretty sure is closer to $1 and doesn't have weird salt all over it. Also, minus one point for false advertising with the name. The location is on point though, and props for adverturing into more unique flavor combinations. There's potential here, so I'd come back if something sounded enticing. For now though, I'd say the menu is pretty average and if you're looking for a legit dessert, there are many much better options in the area. read more