About Heybings

In early April 2024, Heybings was established in Costa Mesa, later expanding its reach by opening another location in Irvine. It specializes in bingsoos and cafe desserts, offering an immersive dessert experience for residents and those visiting their locations.

Takeaways + Connection to Project

Overall, this dessert place did not feel authentically Korean. 

When I was around five years old, I went to Haemi Eupseong in South Korea with my grandfather. That day was filled with flying a purple kite – which later got stuck in a tree – and eating ice-cold, flakes of milk melting in our mouths. That scrumptious dessert was 팥빙수 / patbingsu (Korean shaved ice dessert). The "pat" is sweetened adzuki red beans, and bingsu is the name of the dessert, therefore essentially being a red bean shaved ice dessert. From then on, I associated patbinsu with the countryside of South Korea and my grandfather, until bingsu locations – such as Heybings – established themselves in Southern California.

Rooted in its name, classic patbingsu typically features solely red beans or another flavor called 인절미 / injeolmi (a traditional type of Korean rice cake). Out of the 10 bingsu options, Heybings featured one traditional bingsu called "Classic injeolmi." Its wide variety of bingsu appeared to cater to American audiences. Bingsus like "Matcha Cloud" or "Matcha romance" are unlikely to be found in places like Haemi Eupseong. Knowing the flavor of classic patbingsu, I tried the "Caramel & Biscuff" bingsu, because that felt as far from traditional in my view since Lotus (the biscuff company) was not established until 1990.

The interior design coupled, with the menu options, Heybings did not feel authentically Korean and appeared to cater to American audiences.