Korean ice cream is creative, playful, and surprisingly different from what you find in a British freezer. From melon bars to fish-shaped treats, here are four worth seeking out.
Korean Ice Cream Culture
Korea takes its frozen treats seriously. Convenience stores (of which there are thousands) dedicate entire freezer sections to an ever-rotating selection of ice creams, lollies, and frozen novelties. The emphasis is on fun — playful shapes, unexpected flavours, and a sense of whimsy that British ice cream largely lacks. Several of the most iconic Korean ice creams are now available in the UK through Asian supermarkets and Amazon.
Melona
Binggrae's Melona bar is perhaps the most recognisable Korean ice cream internationally. It is a smooth, creamy melon-flavoured ice bar with an almost sorbet-like texture. The flavour is distinctly Korean-melon — not the cloying artificial melon of a Western sweet, but a clean, refreshing honeydew taste. It is the perfect summer treat and has developed a cult following well beyond Korea. Binggrae also makes Melona in banana and strawberry flavours, but the original melon is the one to try first.
Samanco
Samanco is an ice cream sandwich shaped like a carp (a reference to the traditional Korean street food bungeo-ppang, which is a fish-shaped waffle). The wafer shell is crispy and shaped into detailed fish scales, the interior is vanilla ice cream, and running through the middle is a vein of sweetened red bean paste. It should not work this well, but the combination of textures — crispy wafer, creamy ice cream, grainy sweet bean — is genuinely brilliant.
Bungeo-ppang Ice Cream
Lotte's version of the fish-shaped treat takes a slightly different approach — a chocolate-coated wafer fish filled with a combination of ice cream and red bean paste. It is smaller and more chocolate-forward than Samanco, and the wafer has a more biscuity crunch. Both fish ice creams are worth trying, and comparing the two is half the fun.
Jaws Bar
The Jaws Bar is a shark-shaped ice lolly in bright blue, and it is a piece of Korean childhood nostalgia. The flavour is a generic fruity-sweet that defies specific description, and the colour will stain everything it touches. It is not a sophisticated product, but it is charming and fun — the kind of ice lolly that makes you smile regardless of age. The shape genuinely looks like a shark, which is more than can be said for most novelty ice lollies.
K-Food → Listicle
Best Korean Ice Cream You Can Buy in the UK
Four Korean ice creams and ice lollies worth tracking down in Britain.
The Jaws Bar is a shark-shaped ice lolly in bright blue, and it is a piece of Korean childhood nostalgia. The flavour is a generic fruity-sweet that defies specific description, and the colour will stain everything it touches. It is not a sophisticated product, but it is charming and fun — the kind of ice lolly that makes you smile regardless of age. The shape genuinely looks like a shark, which is more than can be said for most novelty ice lollies.
Lotte's version of the fish-shaped treat takes a slightly different approach — a chocolate-coated wafer fish filled with a combination of ice cream and red bean paste. It is smaller and more chocolate-forward than Samanco, and the wafer has a more biscuity crunch. Both fish ice creams are worth trying, and comparing the two is half the fun.
03
Samanco
Samanco is an ice cream sandwich shaped like a carp (a reference to the traditional Korean street food bungeo-ppang, which is a fish-shaped waffle). The wafer shell is crispy and shaped into detailed fish scales, the interior is vanilla ice cream, and running through the middle is a vein of sweetened red bean paste. It should not work this well, but the combination of textures — crispy wafer, creamy ice cream, grainy sweet bean — is genuinely brilliant.
02
Melona
Binggrae's Melona bar is perhaps the most recognisable Korean ice cream internationally. It is a smooth, creamy melon-flavoured ice bar with an almost sorbet-like texture. The flavour is distinctly Korean-melon — not the cloying artificial melon of a Western sweet, but a clean, refreshing honeydew taste. It is the perfect summer treat and has developed a cult following well beyond Korea. Binggrae also makes Melona in banana and strawberry flavours, but the original melon is the one to try first.
01
Korean Ice Cream Culture
Korea takes its frozen treats seriously. Convenience stores (of which there are thousands) dedicate entire freezer sections to an ever-rotating selection of ice creams, lollies, and frozen novelties. The emphasis is on fun — playful shapes, unexpected flavours, and a sense of whimsy that British ice cream largely lacks. Several of the most iconic Korean ice creams are now available in the UK through Asian supermarkets and Amazon.