The reaction of Italian Michelin chefs encountering Korea’s ultra-expensive dessert has become a hot topic. After tasting mango bingsu priced at a staggering 130,000 won, they focused not on the price, but on the flavor of the ingredients and the texture of the ice, pouring out continuous admiration. For them, the mango bingsu was not just a simple dessert, but a special memory of experiencing Korean culinary culture.
On the 7th, an unreleased video titled ‘130,000 Won Shilla Hotel Mango Bingsu, What is the Reaction of the Italian Michelin Chefs?’ was released on the YouTube Channel ‘Welcome, First Time in Korea?’.
Italian Michelin chefs Lere, Matteo, and Danielle Marsh, who visited Korea at the invitation of Chef Fabri, faced mango bingsu, which is considered a representative luxury dessert in Korea.
The bingsu that appeared on the table looked quite different from typical patbingsu (red bean shaved ice). The chefs could not hide their surprise at the overwhelming visual of large mango chunks paired with finely shaved ice. As soon as the food arrived, they showed their curiosity by taking out their cameras to snap photos.
However, their true reaction came after taking a single bite.
After tasting the bingsu, Lere nodded deeply and exclaimed, “It’s truly delicious. The mango is really sweet.” It wasn’t just an evaluation of intense sweetness, but a reaction that seemed to savor the flavor of the mango itself.
Danielle Marsh also focused on the texture of the ice.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a dessert with ice shaved this finely.”
It turned out that the familiar food known as bingsu presented itself to the Italian chefs as a dessert with unfamiliar textures and preparation methods. In particular, the fact that the ice was used not just as a cold ingredient, but as a core element constituting the dessert’s essential texture, caught their attention.
This was also the reason why Fabri went out of his way to treat them to the expensive mango bingsu.
Fabri explained the reason he gifted the mango bingsu to his invited fellow chefs, saying, “I really wanted to make you try this. Because you are experts who make such desserts so well.”
He added, “And good things are meant to be eaten together. I wanted to give this to you as a final gift. It’s like a luxurious memory.”
In this scene, the mango bingsu holds a meaning beyond just a ‘130,000 won dessert.’ To a gourmet, food is not merely a means to satisfy hunger, but a kind of language that connects unfamiliar cultures and people. What Fabri handed to his colleagues was a bowl of bingsu, but simultaneously, it was a memory of sharing the Korean culinary culture that he had experienced and come to love.
In fact, the Italian chefs did not view their experience in Korea as mere sightseeing.
Danielle Marsh said, “I think I will be returning with very good memories. I want to try incorporating this experience, even just a little, into my restaurant.”
She saw that the food and dining culture encountered in Korea could provide new inspiration for her own cooking.
Matteo offered an even deeper sentiment.
“I feel like certain parts of my life have definitely changed. I feel like I’ve come to see my life with a slightly broader perspective.”
This means the gourmet journey did not end with simply tasting new food, but became an experience that expanded his world.
Lere also expressed his desire to visit Korea again, saying, “I want to share everything, from the beautiful things you showed me this time to the things you showed me last time, with my family.”
Ultimately, the 130,000 won price tag was not everything about the mango bingsu that day. Rather, the important thing was the fact that different culinary cultures met through a single bowl of dessert.
While mango bingsu was an unfamiliar dessert to the Italian Michelin chefs, instead of keeping their distance because it was unfamiliar, they accepted the ingredients, texture, and cooking method itself as a new culinary language. And Fabri gifted that experience under the name of a ‘luxurious memory.’
A bowl of bingsu decorated the end of the trip, but it wasn’t just cold ice and sweet mango that the chefs took away. It was the strangeness, curiosity, and new inspiration that is born when different food cultures meet.
