so I’ve heard Korean dessert is pretty good so I was wondering if anyone has any good suggestions.

I'm looking for something like a strawberry dessert cafe, or something fruity-sweet dessert cafe. You get the idea.

I don't intend to search up on google, because I know the results are going to be all those popular and overrated places that people keep recommending and are probably always crowded and noisy.

Any recommendations from you guys for any lowkey strawberry dessert cafes? If your recommendation is also part of those overrated ones I also don't mind, I might actually go and try it out as well. No hate to overrated stuff.

Sorry for the weird inputs... I'm that kind of person who refrains from going overrated places, or places where it's gonna be bustling with tourists. I just want to go somewhere calm and chill in a cafe with locals, not tourists.

I am trying to create an illustration series for a few cities around the world that features a typical dessert/sweet for all of those places, like NY Cheesecake for New York, or Tokyo Banana for Tokyo. This can be a traditional dessert or something moden (as per the examples) but it should be something that a local would immediately recognize as something typical for their city. I have been able to ask people from the respective city for most places but I don't know anyone from Seoul - what would be the equivalent that is typical for the city, not for the country ideally? All I found was traditional desserts like Tteok, Hwajeon, Gangjeon, Hwangnam Bread, Kkwabaegi and also Dalgona Candy, but I'm not convinced any of them are typical for Seoul - is there anything famous and well known that springs to mind?

Thanks!

I really enjoyed the desserts from this cafe and would definitely recommend people to try it! It's called Cafe Cordialement (in Korean, 카페 꼬르지엘모), and it's located near Gyeongbokgung Palace!

I actually didn’t look at any reviews or find this place on purpose. I was walking around the Hanok Village area and got tired! I just needed a place to rest and grab something to eat. I went in and the cafe was pretty full!

The cafe itself looked pretty average (still nice, but not outstanding for me). Since the day was hot, I ordered pistachio and vanilla flavored gelato ice cream and a tiramisu! This was actually the first place I saw selling tiramisu that resembled Italian style (correct me if I'm wrong..), like using those ladyfinger ones! And it tasted great!! I genuinely enjoyed both. They also sprinkled crushed pistachio on top of the gelatos.

The price for tiramisu was 6500 krw and the gelato was 5800 krw.

Btw I didn’t get any drinks, so I don’t know if drinks are good or not! But honestly, the taste of these two desserts was next level compared to the typical ones I’ve had at many cafes!

Address: 50 Yulgok-ro 1-gil, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea 서울 종로구 율곡로1길 50 1층

I’m planning a solo trip to Korea — likely hitting Seoul, Gyeongju, and Busan.

I’m putting together a food map and trying to go beyond the typical café desserts (like cakes, cookies, etc).

I’ve already looked into hotteok, snowflake bingsu, rice cakes, and yugwa, but I’m wondering if there are other desserts locals actually eat — something seasonal, traditional, or even trending lately.

I keep seeing the term “K-dessert” on Instagram, but it’s hard to tell what’s legit and what’s just curated for photos.

Would love any suggestions — especially if there’s a dessert tied to a specific region or with a bit of cultural background.

Thanks in advance!

Hey food lovers!

My husband and I are traveling to South Korea in April, and while we’re super excited to try the local food, we have some dietary restrictions. We don’t eat beef, mutton, or pork, but we do eat chicken, fish, and prawns. We’re also open to vegan/vegetarian options when needed!

What We’re Looking For

✔ Best Fried Chicken – Korean fried chicken is a must! Any top places? ✔ Seafood Delights – Any must-try fish or prawn dishes? We’re open to everything from street food to proper restaurants. ✔ Vegan-Friendly Korean Food – We know a lot of dishes have hidden meat, so where can we find good vegetarian/vegan-friendly places? ✔ Street Food Markets – What’s the best market for trying a mix of all of this? Myeongdong, Gwangjang, or somewhere else? ✔ Desserts & Sweets – We both have a major sweet tooth! Any must-try desserts, bakeries, or cafes in Seoul?

Would love some local recommendations! Thanks in advance for any suggestions ☺️

1. banchan , 2) Yuza tea ( you can have it hot or cold ) , 3) dolsot bibimbap and 4) Gimbap !!! Food therapy !!!

One week: Seoul and Sokcho (first Korea visit)

Focus: hiking, food, tours

I loved reading other people's trip reports and found it helpful for planning our trip so I thought I'd through our experience in.

Day One: Arrived in Seoul-stayed in Myeongdong. We went to Myeongdong Kyo Ja for dinner, we would highly recommend, we had a chicken broth soup and a tray of dumplings. You will line up to order, once you reach the server they will ask you to pick the items you would like, there are about four menu options. Pick what you'd like and pay in advance. They are very quick about rotating people through the restaurant so the line will go fast.

Day Two: A very long day, we hit up Seoul Tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace/Folk Museum, Bukchon Hanok Village, and Namdaemun Market. We also tried Myeongdong Croquettes, a cute little bakery with great croquettes, try the red bean one.

Day Three: DMZ tour-we booked through Klook and it was worth it as we hadn't been to Korea before. On the tour we got to try soybean icecream, we enjoyed it a lot more than we thought we would. It almost has a peanut butter-esqe flavor. We also walked through Myeongdong Night Market. We preferred Namdaemun over Myeongdong. Myeongdong was very busy and it was hard to look at each stall. Namdaemun also has clothing, jewelry, kitchenware, etc. so you can look through that between bites of hotteok and tteokbokki.

Day Four: Trip to Sokcho, we caught the express bus from Seoul. We caught the local bus Seoraksan National Park and hiked to Biryong falls/observatory. We ended up doing the hike quite late, but that worked out for us because we were some of the last people leaving the park. We spotted a raccoon-dog just as we were leaving (this is a huge win for us, we wanted to see one while hiking in Japan and few years back but couldn't find any). We also tried marinated crab. I'm not sure if it was because it was the off season but restaurants were closing up around 8pm, so plan accordingly, Naver and google maps didn't always have accurate hours for places.

Day Five: Back to Seoraksan, we hiked Ulsanbawi Rock-be prepared for stairs! Afterwards we went to the fish market, you'll see locals wandering around with white boxes of chicken-follow them! Other stalls will try to distract you with other chicken, don't give in, you need to try the original. There are two stalls at the market, they are white with a red chicken head logo-it's called Mansuk Dak Gangjeong. Try their fried chicken, they will hand you a box, it will be cold but don't be alarmed, it is fantastic. The sauce has a bit of spice with some peppers but is also sweet and sour.

Day Six: Back to Seoul. Before we left Sokcho we stopped at Chungchodam for coffee. We had a phenomenal sesame latte. The cafe is very trendy and the latte was great, highly recommend. We did a pub crawl through Hongdae, we booked it through Klook. This was not exactly what we expected, the bars we went to were clearly set aside for tourists and didn't give an authentic experience. The plus side was meeting some other lovely folks who were travelling and sharing some tips. The downside hit us the next morning; soju will give you one hell of a hangover.

Day Seven: It was a rainy day so we tried to find indoor activities. We went to the war and women's rights museum, it was interesting to learn more about the comfort women system. We also went to Lotte mall and got a new pair of glasses + free eye exam from Davich Opitical. We also wandered around Lotte world and checked out the cherry blossoms. Luckily our lovely hotel host gave us umbrellas or this day would have been a bit of a wash.

Day Eight: We walked through Hongdae shopping street. I like to collect cute art/earrings from different places we travel to. We went to Object and found a few post cards and stickers. Then we caught our flight home!

Overall it was a fun trip, probably too brief to fully experience Korea but we enjoyed our time. If you are planning to go, download Naver and Papago beforehand as google isn't totally reliable there.