If you’re looking for a particularly strange reason to travel around Korea, the various Korean ice cream flavors are surprisingly delicious and leave strong memories.
If you need a theme for your next trip to Korea, consider crafting one revolving around ice cream! For most of these, you’ll need to travel quite far – and none of them are served anywhere!
Tofu – Korean Ice Cream Flavours
Gangneung’s tofu village has capitalized on more than its traditional savory uses. The ice cream is actually quite good, and since it doesn’t have much of a flavor this one comes in a bunch of varieties. Think of it like the Asian version of gelato – the texture is smoother and silkier.
The black sesame one is a great pairing if you want to try another traditional Korean flavor at the same time.
Bamboo
This is the holy grail of randomly flavored ice creams. This stuff is so good I still crave it. You can find it in Damyang in the museum that’s inside the bamboo forest. Even though it was winter and snow was literally on the ground, I devoured not only my cup – but my friend’s who had been having a stomach ache all day (sad for her, great for me!).
Green Tea
Ok, not that unusual – but we are traveling around Korea just for the ice cream. And no ice cream itinerary would be complete without a visit to Boseong.
Boseong is known for its gorgeous tea fields, and the ice cream stands are everywhere. If you’ve had matcha ice cream before, it’s the same. It’s refreshingly bitter, with just enough sweetness – plus some caffeine to keep your day going!
Plum Blossom
This is definitely lower on my list of favorite ice cream flavors, but it is certainly unique. I think it will depend on whether or not you find the smell of plum blossom trees to be pleasant. A lot of people find the smell slightly off-putting.
But, when you’re at the Plum Blossom festival in Gwangyang, it makes sense to go all out and try it anyway! After all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on completing your Korean Ice Cream bingo card.
Yuja
One of the most traditional Korean flavors for tea, cake, and ice cream. It’s an incredibly refreshing, slightly tart, and perfect for a hot day. It’s like a cross between an orange and lemon flavor. You may also know it by the name “yuzu.”
This ice cream can be found on the southern island of Namhae, one of the best road trip destinations in Korea.
Strawberry
Ok, this is definitely not the most unique flavor in Korea – but Korean strawberries are a little bit special. And let’s be real – that color! This ice cream can be found in coastal town of Yeosu.
Korean strawberries are generally so much better than American strawberries – they’re have more natural sweetness and flavor, like they’ve been dunked in honey. And this ice cream is a wonderful creation with them.
Squid Ink – Crazy Korean Ice Cream Flavors
Found in Ulleungdo, you’ll have to take a bus from Seoul to Pohang for four hours, and then a three hour ferry across the ocean to reach the island where this ice cream is found.
Ulleungdo is known for its squid, so it’s no surprise that they’ve decided to make it into ice cream. What is odd is that they chose squid, and not pumpkin, for which they are equally well-known. The most exotic of the ice cream flavors on this list, it’s like a spicy, tangy chocolate.
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