#ThirstyThursday: Wall’s Bingsu From 7-Eleven Review: You’re Better Off Sticking To Ice Kacang

Have you ever had the craving for something so bad, that instead of going to the nearest restaurant or stall that’s maybe 30 minutes away, you head to 7-11 instead?

Yeah, me neither. This kind of experiences usually ends up terrible, unless you are in Japan or maybe Taiwan. Once, I ate a fried fish sandwich from 7-11.

Once.

So the current challenger to this old wisdom that food from convenience stalls can’t taste good is Wall’s Bingsu; specifically the Mango and Red Bean flavours.

Nevertheless, we’ve got to give it a try because #ThirstyThursday

So How Does It Fare?

Well, it didn’t change my opinion.

The cream is perhaps the best parts of both Bingsus. Both had a good texture that is exactly like cream, which comes as a surprise as cream isn’t one of the listed ingredients.

The mango had a tang to it – alluding to the yoghurt flavour. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of actual yoghurt but the use of yoghurt powder.

Red bean did great on this aspect as well and had a balanced sweetness with the mellow starchy red bean flavour to go along with it. The sweet peanuts provided crunch and texture while adding a little more sweetness with its sugar coating.

But the praise ends here.

The Bad Parts

Cue *Dramatic Music*

The rest of both desserts are sickeningly sweet. Everything else, including the red bean paste, the shaved ice at the bottom, the mango and mango paste, all tasted too sweet and had an artificial flavour to it.

What started as a potential for a good dessert, with what looked like whole food ingredients from the top, dove off into being something that is probably more appreciated by hypoglycemics, at least in taste. 

The ingredient list didn’t do too much to convince me either.

Most of the ingredients are not whole foods, which is typical of mass-produced food products. The use of at least three sugars (Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Maltodextrin) explains the overpowering sweetness.

Wah… So bad. Must be cheap!

Price

As I was handed the two cups without any gauge of their pricing, I was shocked to learn that they were S$4.80 each (from 7-Eleven). That’s the full price of two ice kacangs that uses whole ingredients, which I can go to the nearest hawker to enjoy.

I might be willing to fork out S$2 and no more than that.

Even compared to the usually more expensive Bingsu, this wouldn’t quite satisfy the cravings with its overly sweet profile.

Just because it’s called Bingsu I don’t see a reason why I should fork out a green Yusof bin Ishak for this.

Stick to the real Bingsu or the local Bingsu aka Ice Kacang. If Bingsu cafes are too expensive, there’s always food court Bingsus that taste just as good.

Rating: 1.5/5