Yesterday, I went to Sno-Zen, which is a shaved snow place in Mountain View. Technically, I think this was my third or fourth visit, but first time reviewing it. It’s been open since last September and is housed in an apartment that’s converted into retail space.
Yelp user’s photo of the outside. Couldn’t find a bigger picture of the building exterior.
Sadly, this means that parking is pretty much non-existent, because you have to compete with the people who actually live in this residential neighborhood. Somehow, we managed to find a spot yesterday, but in the past, we just parked right by the store.
Its specialty is shaved snow, which is NOT the same as shaved ice. Oh no, it is so much better than shaved ice. It’s more creamy like ice cream, but it comes in flakes. And it actually tastes like its flavors. I’ve tried the mango and green tea shaved snow, which taste just like mango and green tea.
What I ordered: vanilla shaved snow with black sesame condensed milk and strawberries
Sadly, the picture doesn’t really do the shaved snow justice because you can’t really see the flakes, but like usual, it was good. Though I think my order got messed up. I asked for jasmine milk tea shaved snow, but they ran out, so I asked for peanut butter, but I think the server forgot and substituted it with vanilla, which I didn’t realize until long after I finished. Whoops.
The store has become much more popular since last time I visited in December or January. Partly because that was the winter, when no one really wants cold desserts anyways. Yesterday was the complete opposite. Barely anywhere to sit, when in previous visits, there were maybe at most 4 other customers in there. Since it’s in an apartment-like space, it’s not that big – maybe space for about 20 people or so.
Anyways, I highly highly recommend Sno-Zen. Hopefully its quality won’t go down as it expands into more locations and becomes more popular.
gybl travels 