SnowBlock

There’s no other snow-​cones in the city than SnowBlock that are always a home-​run. However they shave their ice is second to none. It’s a smooth snow that they glaze with fruit flavors which is worthy to taste even during a blizzard. I didn’t have a dream that i was in an avalanche for three days and the snow was from SnowBlock and we ate our way out of it, but i want to.
Their ice cream is quite original in my opinion. i don’t know if its the flavors or the texture of the items but its a great combo either way.
It’s not the cleanest shoppe, and the parking lot is a bit annoying upon first visit, but your taste buds won’t mind a bit.

Ugh gawd soooo good. Delicious, light. They give you fruit with it so it feels healthy.

Delicious shaved ice! I recommend you to try the combinations that they suggest, I tried the Hawaiian Dream and they weren’t playing, it really was a dream. The girl working that day was friendly and helpful. It is an excellent place for groups, although I am not a big fan of their chairs. The place was almost empty when I went but somehow the seating area still looked unorganized and a little unclean. I guarantee you will enjoy your shaved ice, and so will your friends.

Such a cool place! The servers were quick to explain how to order and the different options of serving styles. Would absolutely go back again.
The Green Tea shaved ice cream is a must!

Great dessert place! Ordered the green tea with milk and strawberries — really delicious. Cute décor — family friendly and good place to lounge with friends.
I wish they had a coconut option.

This was my first time trying ribbon ice or fancy shaved ice, and it was fascinating! I was there with my sister-​in-​law and her boyfriend, who have been to SnowBlock before. We shared two combos: Caramel Apple Ribbon Ice, and Cherry Limeade. The ribbon texture is smooth like soft service, and the caramel flavor was pleasant. The cherry limeade had a great cherry oomph to it – very refreshing! The vanilla bean ice cream in the combo had lots of vanilla bean flecks and added a lot with a small taste.

Gluten-​Free Review
No adverse reactions here due to Snowblock while grubbing the Ribbon Taro ice, however I’m sure it’s high fructose corn syrup (GMO’s) ahh! But every now and then I have to take the pain to indulge in something I’ve never had.
Very bright on the inside, a few dirty tables, a high school aged kid asking what I want? I let him know it’s my first time and the menu looks super confusing and I have no idea what to do. He says well you can get any of this up here and then looks back at me like the lazy employee he is, I go ooooooooh kay I’ll try the taro ribbon ice and a few gummie’s that were circular not sure what they were called. He then proceeded to open a freezer, unwrap the taro, and then place it in a machine that spun it off in the cup which took about 5 minutes for me, oh I imagine if there was line!
Then I paid and I was off with my first ever ribbon ice which I thought was going to taste like a sno-​cone. I was wrong! The reason for 4 stars is the fact it actually tastes like ice cream and was excellent. The flavors and the topping mixed together well and surprisingly tasty and I’d love to go back soon for some more.

Walked in at 9:50pm on 8÷29÷2015. The floor was soapy wet walking in. 2 young adult employees were cleaning and serving at the same time. My daughter slipped and fell upon walking in. Pointed out the hazard of them cleaning up, one hour before closing, and got a condescending attitude from the goons/​employees telling us to be careful. We walked out before subjecting ourselves to more unsanitary conditions.

Once one of my favorite dessert stops, snowblock has rapidly declined since its opening. Yes, the airy layers of shaved ice are delicious and hit the spot when you want a refreshing pallet cleanser after a heavy meal. However, the establishment seems to be cutting corners, all while jacking up the prices.
Initially, the ribbon ice would be toppling over the plate. Now, it covers half the standard dish at best. Snow ice, albeit pleasantly icey and juicy, is topped with unpalatable frozen fruit that prove difficult to cut through with a knife, let alone your bare teeth. And when given a scoop of sorbet, a scoop is not what you receive. Instead, a hallow ball of sorbet is bestowed upon you. And at what cost? A whopping $ 6−8…
Unfortunately, snowblock has got it figured out in the business department because to get anything better, you’d have to travel to traffic-​ridden china town. The convenience of this location is the only thing that brings me back because although I see through snowblock’s ploys, I reluctantly visit to satiate the undeniable shaved ice cravings.

The small seating area is usually filled with kids, some happy and some not, and you’re going to wait about 5 – 15 minutes for your ice, but it’s all worth it!
I recommend the ribbon ice with fresh fruit and Mochi. I’ve had taro and honeydew ribbon ice and the ice is shaved finely and so soft. This is comparable to authentic Hawaiian shaved ice texture. If your with a friend that would rather be at a Ben and Jerry’s get them Hawaiian ice with salted caramel chip ice cream on top or a coke float Hawaiian ice.
I’m so glad I found this place. It’s as good or better than the shaved ice I’ve had at snow star teriyaki in Chinatown.

What a fun, unique dessert spot!
They have a couple of different options: snow ice, fruit crush ice, ribbon ice, block toast, and waffles!
I had never heard of ribbon ice before! It’s a Taiwanese dessert that involves shaving ice cream! They have about five or six flavors, I think, and they’ll let you taste them before you choose! Included in the price is a choice of a drizzle/​sauce and one or two toppings (one fresh fruit topping or two non-​fruit toppings).
I tried the green tea ribbon ice with a mango drizzle and blueberries! Delicious!
We also had to try the block toast (because I’d read about it in other Unilocalers’ reviews)! It’s an ENORMOUS piece of Texas toast that they soak in «secret batter» (definitely tastes like condensed milk to me) and bake in the oven. We got the regular, but they have toppings and drizzles for this, too! OMG. It’s insanely rich and delicious.
Place itself is pretty cute, and they have parking! Only major con? The service was pretty bad!
Definitely a fun and different place to grab dessert in Rice Village!

This is pretty good place! They have many options in the menu– shaved ice, fruit ice, ribbon ice. The ribbon ice is what caught my eye, and I got a strawberry with almonds, blackberries and condensed milk. The ribbon ice is really cool! Kind of airy and slightly crunchy and creamy. They have many combos that sound delicious. I saw many people eating many different things and they all looked awesome. The only hiccup was a pretty rude counter worker. But other than that, this is def a place to try!

I came in for the first time and tried the chocolate ribbon ice special. The was compromised of the chocolate ribbon ice, chocolate chunks, brownie pieces, and chocolate syrup. If you olé chocolate like I do, then this is the way to go! The ribbon ice had a nice taste, and after a few bites, I forgot I wasn’t eating ice cream which is say is a good thing. The only complaint I had was that the brownies were a bit hard and stale, but otherwise everything else tasted really good. The serving comes in a huge bowl, it is quite a lot for the price.

I read reviews on Facebook that made this place seem amazing! After working in an office with a broken a/​c when it was 100 degrees outside today, I needed a cold treat so my boyfriend and I decided to give SnowBlock a shot. I was pretty disappointed! We both got the the sno-​cone/​ice-​cream things (snow ice maybe… can’t remember the official name). My boyfriend got the root beer float flavor and I tried the Italian cream cake flavor. Mine tasted like Coca-​Cola which I HATE! It tastes NOTHING like cake! My boyfriend liked his but thought mine was nasty too. The caramel chip ice-​cream in mine was good but there are about 3 bites of ice-​cream then it’s mostly shaved ice which would be okay if the flavor was good. Maybe we’ll go back and try the ribbon ice (I’m curious) but I hope the flavor options are better than the last kind we tried!
Also, a downer was the place itself. It was SO hot in there which was disappointing being that this is Houston, Texas and the last pace anyone wants to be is a hot shop!
Finally, the tables were all disgusting! Covered in sticky, melted ice-​cream. I didn’t want to sit or touch anything! I get that it’s an ice-​cream place but c’mon…wipe a table now and then so people can leave and not need a bath!
The gross tables plus lack of cool air are the things that would prevent me from returning as I don’t live close to the store so I would have to make a point of driving across town and I don’t think it’s with the trip. I am curious about other things on the menu and would like to try more options since other people love it so much so maybe if I happen to be in the area again I might stop by!

this shit was great
It was Legitness tbh
And that 10% off comes in clutch w the check in.
Seriously.

I’m so glad we found this place. I usually go to Nu Ice but sometimes you just don’t want to have to drive all the way to Bellaire to get it. This place has a smaller selection of ribbon ice/​shaved ice cream but the three flavors that we tried were good. We had green tea, strawberry and honeydew. I would say I like them the most to least in that order although all were good. They do come with specific toppings although I’m sure if you wanted to switch them out it shouldn’t be a problem. We ordered them as is to try them out. There is also a variety of regular shaved ice and brick toast which we will be trying the next time we are in that area.

Even though you forgot our order, I still love you, Snowblock! Christine H. And I met up and enjoyed creamy ribbon ice (taro this time) that melts in your mouth with toppings, which included stuff that you see at Froyo places (mochi too!). The large is $ 8, and it’s VERY large– perfect for sharing ^^ I actually think Snowblock’s ice is better than Nu Café’s in Chinatown (gasp, how can that be???), since the snowy lavender mountain didn’t melt into a pile of mush by the time we were done taking our 283 872 selfies and obligatory food photos :)
So yeah, they totally forgot our order, so we chatted for 20 minutes before asking what happened, but they were really apologetic. Too bad we didn’t get a discount or something, haha: P You can’t combine fruit and non-​fruit toppings without paying extra, so I think that’s a bit silly~ They have tiny water cups to help wash down all the sugar and also serve honey block toast and waffles, so that’s for another dessert outing! :) definitely waiting to see Snowblock’s anticipated Dallas location (coming soon)!

If you’re looking to spend a little extra but on the not so spectacular then you’ve landed on the right page. My experience here was pretty mediocre, as the dessert didn’t necessarily hit the spot. The service was nice though they didn’t tell us our plate was ready to retrieve it so that was a bit odd. The flavor and topping selection were plenty, which is a plus. I’ve never tried ribbon ice before so it was cool to strike it off the list. However, the taste for the price was not so cool. Better luck heading around the corner over to Baskin Robbins for their wonderful ice cream, yum!

Um, I’m so confused??? The pictures of the block toast on Unilocal look amazing. But the one that we ordered a while ago was nothing like that. We got a speculoos toast with macadamia nut ice cream, and it was a sad piece of toast carelessly slathered with speculoos spread with a few slices of banana thrown in on the side.
I LOVEEE brick toast, so I was really disappointed with that and I thought I would just stick to the shaved ice at SnowBlock. Now that I’m seeing the pictures on Unilocal,I’m tempted to go back and try it again. But please, SnowBlock, try to be more consistent with your products. It’s not fair for people to pay the same price ($ 6 – 7) for VASTLY different things.

When it comes to Asian shaved ice desserts, this is my favorite — «this» being what Snow Block calls «ribbon ice». It’s literally like eating snow that’s been shaved off a flavored snow block (literally) and it melts in your mouth. I saw a friend of mine post a photo of this and it intrigued me. Mainly because I wouldn’t have to go all the way to China Town to get it.
The location’s not bad (in Rice Village) but it’s not in the more popular area. I visit Rice Village fairly regularly and I never saw it before until I was actively trying to find it. The neat thing: it boasts it’s own parking lot with the rest of the shopping strip it was in, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
We visited at around 3 pm on a Sunday and there was a large table of 4 adults and an equal amount of ridiculously noisy and active kids (let me tell you that when the door closes, the entire window store front shakes). Aside from the lack of ambiance, the place didn’t seem too clean either.
When we walked in, there was a young girl at the cash register (there was another girl but she returned to the back after she asked the question she needed to ask the cash register girl and a guy briefly appeared to clean a table before he disappeared) but we weren’t greeted. Or maybe she didn’t think it was worth the energy to talk over the loud kids. Once we got to the «bar», we sort of stood there looking through the menu and she didn’t explain anything or asked if we needed help. As a note though, you order first so look at your choices and remember them before going to the cash register. Or maybe that’s just how it worked with this employee in general. The prices are also a bit higher than China Town but I don’t blame them due to the location. However, the serving sizes were on the smaller side.
We ended up getting a large taro ribbon ice (taro-​flavored desserts always reminded me of cookies and cream but made from a root vegetable) with fresh blueberries and strawberries on the side (a large gave you the option of either 2 fresh sides or 3 perishable sides… I don’t know if you can combine them) and mango purée drizzle. It tasted good — not too sweet. Our only complaint: could’ve gotten more. We finished it within 5 minutes. It was like a good one-​flavor sampler. At the end, there was no one manning the cash register or bar.
Summary: the location’s good, value not so much, service and atmosphere could be much better, and it could have been cleaner. Some of the chairs were fraying around the corners. Nothing too bad or bothersome in particular, but something to note.