Popular Korean Chain Brings Creamy Milk Soft Serve to Chinatown

Milky Korean soft serve has popped up in Chinatown with the first New York City branch of Milkcow, a popular ice cream chain in Asia known for its raw honeycomb and cotton candy toppings.

Milkcow recently opened its first East Coast location at 69a Bayard St., near Mott Street, around the corner from fellow dessert destination Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Here, the shop sells whimsical ice cream combos loaded with toppings — like one with cotton candy, sea salt, and jelly beans and another with mango slices, cotton candy, and apple syrup. Those with cotton candy come topped with a giant ball of the pink stuff; see the menu below. The base is the same creamy milk-flavored soft serve.

The dessert bar was founded in South Korea in 2014 and now has 50 branches around the world, including in the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. It has a few locations in California’s Bay Area plus a new one in L.A., and aslo expanded to Houston, Texas last year.

It’s also been touted for sourcing its milk from free-range, Italian ryegrass-fed cows in California, and most recently expanded to Canada, where it’s become known for photo-ready sundaes and social media-friendly desserts, like a version of Dominique Ansel’s watermelon ice cream sandwich.

Milkcow opened in Chinatown on April 27. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and until 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Milkcow [Official Photo]