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The word “halmaennial,” which is a compound word of “halmae(grandma)” and “millennial,” is becoming a trendy expression among Korean millennials and GenZs. Along with this word, the retro boom is sweeping the K-dessert world. The term “yakketing,” which means “yakgwa(Korean honey pastry)” and “ticketing,” is trending online, and we’re seeing more and more fusion snacks popping up. The desserts that only used to be available at cafes are now offered as PB products and can be easily found in convenience stores. Enjoying K-dessert is becoming a way of hanging out for the young generations. 

Yakgwa is a premium traditional Korean snack, meaning “a snack that can be as effective as a medicine.” It’s been handed down as a unique snack that takes painstaking effort to make among the snacks made in the Joseon Era. It’s a must-serve food for holidays, festivals, and important family events in Korea. In this edition, we introduce Golden Piece, which is very popular for how the place has turned the signature K-dessert yakgwa into an even more premium and elegant version. 

Golden Piece is a premium yakgwa brand that captured attention when it appeared at the launching party of Kwondo, a collaboration collection of G Dragon and Nike. Golden Piece, which means “ggeumjjok” or a piece of gold in Korean, refers to something precious and valuable like gold. Golden Piece was created with the hope that yakgwa, a snack as valuable as medicine, would be a gift-like food to share with loved ones. 

The Golden Piece store located in Hannam-dong exudes a luxurious vibe overall, with the interior comprising a gold tone throughout the entire store, a sculpture-like object that reminds you of yakgwa, and traditional Korean aesthetics. The yakgwa packages at Golden Piece are the Gaeseong Jooak Set and Glutinous Rice Yakgwa Set, or you can enjoy both kinds with the Yakgwa Combination Set. On Fridays, Golden Piece opens its quantity available for reservations for the following Monday to Sunday. You can buy up to five units for each type of snack, and reservations are available at CATCHTABLE. There’s also a reservation website for foreigners (https://creatrip.com/en/spot/13389). You can visit the store and buy the snacks on-site without making a reservation (walk-in purchase), but bear in mind that these snacks are so popular that they are highly likely to be sold out. 

The shape of yakgwa is so pretty that it’s almost hard to take a bite, and the taste is just sweet enough for everyone to enjoy it. The luxurious package comprised of a tin case with an Asian painting on it is perfect for a gift or a souvenir. With Golden Piece’s yakgwa, let’s experience the elegant beauty of K-dessert.

• ○Address: 25, Hannam-daero 27-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul

• ○Business Hours: Daily 12:00 - 18:00

• ○Phone Number: 0507-1346-7250

• ○Instagram: @goldenpiece_korea

Black is the simplest yet one of the most modern and sophisticated colors. When it stands alone or is matched with other colors, the color black retains its uniqueness while creating something new. TIFFF Café, located near Hapjeong Station, is just like the color black. The café’s black tone catches our attention and exudes a sophisticated and modern vibe. What’s unique about this café with a chic atmosphere is that it sells Korean desserts. The harmony of coffee’s black and colorful K-desserts presents fun and something new at the same time.

At TIFFF Café, there’s the glutinous rice cake, the traditional Korean snack well-known as one of the favorite snacks that SEVENTEEN’s Seungkwan Boo and IVE members enjoy. A variety of traditional rice cakes and baked yakgwa are also available, including injeolmi and rice cakes made with different flavors and ingredients such as strawberries, peanuts, cheese, black sesame, and sweet pumpkin. Its mugwort latte, made of 100% Korean mugwort, is also a popular menu. How milk and mugwort spreads like a gradation is so aesthetically pleasing that it feels like you’re looking at a piece of art. You can learn more about each menu in detail through the tablet placed on the counter, and foreign visitors and first-time visitors can also order easily thanks to the samples of K-desserts available.

At TIFFF Café, the chic black tables that go perfectly well with the pastel-toned, nicely-shaped desserts, you will find yourselves unconsciously triggering your cameras. Come and enjoy K-desserts crafted with the unique colors of TIFFF.

• ○Address: 64, Yanghwa-ro 11-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul

• ○Business Hours: Daily 12:00 - 21:00

• ○Phone Number: 0507-1336-7491

• ○Instagram: @official_tifff

Grace and elegance are common aspects of beauty in traditional Korean architecture or clothing. Let’s learn about Kimssibooin, a special place where you can appreciate desserts that taste a bit different each season while enjoying traditional Korean aesthetics that exude elegance.

Kimssibooin is a Korean dessert café in Seorae Village, an exotic neighborhood in Seoul. Kimssibooin is famous for its colorful single-person menu served on a traditional Korean table called “soban.” The single-person menu comprises Gaeseong jooak, provided throughout all seasons, jeungpyeon rice cake in the summer, and shingwabyeong & dried persimmon roll in the winter. Gaeseong jooak, Kimssibooin’s signature menu, is a K-dessert that even idol group members, including SF9 and TEEN TOP, have displayed interest in. Round-shaped like a doughnut, Gaeseong jooak is served when welcoming important visitors or at big festivals. This carefully made rice cake, made of glutinous rice, flour, and makgeoli (rice wine) for the dough and then grilled with oil, is a Korean-native dessert and snack.

Kimssibooin’s interior features a modern atmosphere, but the small and cute traditional Korean props add a friendly, warm feeling. At Kimssibooin, you can elegantly enjoy Korea’s classic desserts. The K-desserts here are well-known for their excellent quality as they are made with proper recipe and dedication. They taste different from Western desserts because of the sweet flavor originating from natural ingredients. Along with its signature menu, “soban meal,” Kimssibooin offers a wide range of dessert menus, including Baekjahap, a porcelain gujeolpan (dish for nine different ingredients or delicacies) served with Gaeseong juuak, dasik(tea confectionery), jeonggwa (traditional snacks) and Ah-dam and Dadam, menus served in moon-shaped dishes, as well as tea, coffee, and traditional Korean beverages such as schizandra berry fruit punch, dates tea, and ginger tea.

Join us in appreciating and enjoying Korea's traditional taste and style with Korean desserts at Kimssibooin, which fully captures the four seasons and times.

• ○Address: 26-6, Sapyeong-daero 26-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul

• ○Business Hours: 13:00 - 19:00 (Closed Sundays)

• ○Phone Number: 02-542-5327

• ○Instagram: @kimssibooin_korean_dessert

One of the reasons why K-desserts are so popular is the fusing and unlimited transformation of desserts. Ddoongcaron, yakgwa financier, pastry boong-uh ppang, and the list goes on. There’s no bias or limit for the taste and shape of K-desserts. All you have to do is enjoy the newest taste and shape. Tongtonge is also a unique dessert café for relishing the sweet rendezvous of Korean and Western desserts.

The cue and lovely-sounding Tongtonge is a well-known dessert place that always makes it on the “must-visit bakeries” list among dessert lovers. The café has various desserts, including its best menu, “salt bread,” “seed hotteok financier,” and “canelé,” as well as beverages such as its signature yellow cheese latte, coffee, tea, and ades. Yakgwa Cookie is a special menu you can find only at Tongtonge. Yakgwa Cookie is known to be the dessert often enjoyed by singer Jaehwan Kim, a previous member of Wanna One. Yakgwa Cookie is a dessert with the perfect combination; a cookie – the Western dessert – is topped with the traditional Korean dessert yakgwa, resulting in that perfect mix of a moist, soft cookie and the sweet and sticky yakgwa. Another unique K-dessert you can taste at Tongtonge is the “seed hotteok financier.” “Seed hotteok” is a famous street food that originated in Busan, and it is combined with financier as rice cakes and nuts are placed inside the financier as if it is a real hotteok. This collaboration of ingredients presents a crispy and chewy texture when eating.

When you step into Tongtonge, which has a calm, wood-toned interior, you should reserve a seat inside before making orders outside. Since it’s a popular spot, there’s a high possibility that you will have to wait in line. You can order without waiting for take-out. Menus will likely be sold out if you visit in the late afternoon, so we recommend you visit early if possible. 

The yakgwa cookie at Tongtonge became so popular that it was even released as a convenience store product. Those of you who can’t make the time to go to the brick-and-mortar store can taste Tongtonge’s yakgwa cookie at convenience stores. So, do not miss the opportunity to experience K-desserts. 

• ○Address: 19, Seolleung-ro 161-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

• ○Business Hours: 10:00 - 21:30 

• ○Phone Number: 0507-1313-9286

• ○Instagram: @tongtonge_

 Rice cake can be considered a meal and a dessert in Korea. Rice cakes made with care and effort are one of the most beloved menus in Korea as must-serve food for significant life events. SIROO Cake is a sensible dessert café that transformed traditional Korean rice cakes into Western cakes even before the K-dessert boom.

SIROO CAKE, located in Sangsu-dong behind Hongdae Street, which symbolizes being young and hip, sells handmade cakes with only gluten-free Korean rice. SIROO CAKE was introduced on famous food shows such as Panka Road, Wednesday Foodtalk, and mukbang YouTuber Haetnim. SIROO CAKE is renowned for being a fantastic cake bakery made with rice cakes. Inside the cake made with rice cake that looks very classy and elegant, there are sticky and savory rice cakes. Some famous cakes include the sweet pumpkin crumble seolgi(white rice cake) cake, black sesame roll cake, and blueberry seolgi cake, all made with local Korean ingredients. Aside from cakes, you can also order the “pave rice cake chocolate,” which is only available through reservation. Coffee, tea, and beverages are also on the menu, including dates latte made with Korean dates, Jeju matcha latte, and teas made with handmade fruit syrups. The desserts here are closer to bread than rice cake, so even foreigners unfamiliar with rice cakes can conveniently enjoy the desserts. At SIROO CAKE, those who are into healthy food made with healthy ingredients can enjoy desserts, too. Whole cake orders can be made through Naver Reservation, and SIROO CAKE is closed on Sundays. 

Enjoy the texture and flavor of elegant and savory cakes made with rice cake at the warm and cozy SIROO CAKE.

• ○Address: 18, Eoulmadang-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul

• ○Business Hours: 11:00 - 20:00 

• ○Phone Number: 070-4177-7700

• ○Instagram: @siroocake