Taiwanese dream: shaved snow at Class 302
Mango Strawberry Shaved Snow at Class 302
Class 302, a little Taiwanese cafe in a Rowland Heights strip mall, offers some of the best Asian dessert I’ve ever had. While there’s also a savory food menu, the star here is the shaved snow. Yes, shaved snow, not shaved ice. Where traditional Chinese shaved ice comes in tiny chips with all the flavors piled on top, Taiwanese shaved snow comes in big sheets with flavor already frozen in the ice. Sure, you can still get all kinds of goodies on top, such as the mango, strawberry and condensed milk shown above, but you’ll also get milk frozen in the ice. This makes for a creamy texture not normally found in shaved ice. It’s really unique.
I recently tried a bunch of shaved snow combinations at Class 302 with a group of foodies, including Esther of estarLA, Danny of Kung Food Panda and Josh of Food GPS, and my favorites were the Mango Shaved Snow with mango-flavored ice topped with mango, mochi and condensed milk, and the Green Tea Red Bean Shaved snow with green tea-flavored ice topped with red beans, mochi and condensed milk. The flavors were so rich yet not too heavy. They were perfect for a hot day.
Mango Shaved Snow at Class 302
Green Tea Red Bean Shaved Snow at Class 302
On a weekend afternoon, you may have to wait a while — we waited about an hour — for a table. And like many Chinese restaurants, Class 302 takes only cash. But these desserts are totally worth it.
