10 of The Best Cafés and Dessert Spots in Banpo-dong Seoul (2016)

When people talk about Banpo-dong (盤浦洞) and the Express Bus Terminal station, most often than not, the talks would be surrounding its underground shopping streets, shopping malls (such as Famille Street) and perhaps the Banpo-dong Bridge Rainbow Fountain. But the fact that the area also houses Seorae Village, Seoul's "Little France", has made it an unbelievably popular landing spot for European influenced cafés and dessert spots. Here is a list of our favorite cafés and dessert spots that should make your trip to Banpo-dong worthwhile.





(1) Gontran Cherrier
With all the success Gontran Cherrier had in Tokyo, it was just a matter of time before the famed French baker expands to the rest of the Asian mega-cities. He made the right call picking Seoul to be his next destination as the city is slowly and gradually growing into a gourmet capital. Situated in the heart of Seorae Village, Gontran Cherrier is the place where you will find some of the best French bread and pastries in Seoul including its opera cakes and cream puffs.

Address: 25 Seorae-ro, Vision Tower G/F, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-599-0225
Website: http://gontrancherrier.kr/






(2) Beverly Hills Cheesecakes
Don't let the name fool you coz Beverly Hills Cheesecakes has more to offer than just your typical New York cheesecakes. Apart from their American-style sliced cakes, the café also offers a number of Korean desserts for anyone interested in a blend of American and Korean sweet flavors.

Address: 91-10 Banpo 4(sa)-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: N/A 





(3) Napoleon Bakery Café 1968
Napoleon Bakery Café is a luxury French bakery and dessert café that started back in 1968. The premium bakery brand has a number of branches in Seoul and is known for its list of exquisite (and expensive) French pastries which include my personal favorite ganache bouche (7,000 won) and mont blanc cake.

Address: 797-18 Bangbaebon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-536-5546
Website: www.inapoleon.co.kr






(4) Queens Park
Located just next door to Napoleon Bakery Café 1968 on Bangbaebon-dong, Queens Park is a cake shop and casual diner all under one roof. Personally, I have always enjoyed their desserts far more than their savory food with the fig tarts and carrot cheese cakes highlighting one of the most exciting dessert menu in Banpo-dong.

Address: 797-13 Bangbaebon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 2534-4054





(5) Patisserie Kim Young Mo
Home grown French pastry shops (patisserie) are tough to come by in Seoul and out of the very limited options, the eponymous patisserie by awarding-winning Korean patissier Kim Young Mo is considered one of the top five in the business. Hidden inside a residential area in Sinbanpo, Patisserie Kim Young Mo offers some of the best French influenced pastries in town with its chiffon cakes, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes and tiramisu leading the charge. Plan your visit to this place early coz their bread and cakes do go fast and furious.

Address: Shop 111, 10 Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-3481-2004
Website: www.k-bread.com





(6) Boutikery Mielle (Coffee and Dessert Café)
Boutikery Mielle may not win you over with its small selection of homemade cakes but its all-wood interior and rustic European design will. Stepping through those doors at Mielle allows you to travel back in time to Medieval Europe for a relaxing culinary journey.

Address: 93 Donggwang-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-522-3464




(7) FIKA Swedish Coffee Break
FIKA is primarily a Scandinavian style coffee shop but it also chips in as a serviceable dessert spot offering traditional Swedish beverages (think Scandinavian Ade, Swedish herb smoothie etc.), dessert and bakery ranging from savory cinnamon buns to special Swedish style cakes. For an authentic Swedish dessert experience, try their Gramu cheese tart, Swedish carrot cake and red velvet cake.

Address: Central City 1 Basement, 19-3 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-6013-2402
Website: www.fika.kr





(8) Paris Croissant Café
Like its famous sister chain Paris Baguette, Paris Croissant has been an instant hit ever since its first opening in 1986. These days, they have more than 20 branches spread all over Seoul and the one in Banpo-dong was housed in a 2-storey building with the bakery shop on the ground floor and café on the first floor. Their selection of cakes is largely limited to cream puffs and fromage cakes only but most recently, they have included a series of éclairs in their repertoire. This is a place where you can easily spend a relaxed afternoon chilling out.

Address: 95-9 Banpo 4(sa)-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-3478-9139
Website: www.pariscroissant.co.kr






(9) Gelati Gelati
The number of artisanal gelateria is growing rapidly in Seoul but in Banpo-dong, I still pretty much rely on Gelati Gelati to provide me some of the freshest homemade gelato. Their selection of gelato might not be as exciting or funky as those from places like Fell+Cole but their quality is among the best in the field. 

Address: Shop 11, Famille Station, Express Bus Terminal, Seoul, South Korea





(10) Billy Angel Cake Company
Of course, I would never leave one of my favorite cake shops, Billy Angel Cake Company, in the dark. Located in the food hall of Shinsegae Department Store at the Express Bus Terminal, Billy Angel Cake Company offers some of the best chiffon cakes the city has to offer. But if you're into crepe cakes like me, you should be all over their rainbow crepe cakes.

Address: Food Hall, Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam Branch, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 02-3479-6040
Website: www.billyangel.co.kr





Other travel tips in Seoul:

(Also see: 10 of The Best Cafés and Dessert Spots in Hongdae Seoul)

(Also see: 10 of The Best Cafés and Dessert Spots in Sinsa Seoul)

(Also see: 10 of The Best Cafés and Dessert Spots in Itaewon Seoul)


How to get there:
Take Subway Line 3, 7 or 9 to Express Bus Terminal Station or Line 9 to Sinbanpo Station.

Elephant Grounds Coffee + Kitchen Causeway Bay (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

For the longest time, Elephant Grounds has been one of the best kept secrets in town. It manages to fly under the radar screen of most people except for those who are passionate about coffee. Oh let's not forget about their ice-cream sandwiches too. But ever since they started expanding their territories to Admiralty (as a pop-up at the Upperhouse) and Causeway Bay, it's no longer a hidden gem or diamond in the rough. 



You gotta love a place like this where one can enjoy a warm cup of coffee and spend an entire afternoon with the best of your friends talking over nothing important.



Every year, I have about 5 cups of coffee but I would happily use up one of my quota here with this salted caramel expresso. Not bad although the caramel flavor could have been a little bit stronger. 



Of course, it would be odd not to have one of their ice-cream sandwiches especially when I saw everyone grabbing one of those in their hands left and right. Unfortunately, only the "Peanut Gallery" flavor was left but no way would I be leaving this place without having one in my belly. 

Here we have gooey chocolate chip cookies with the evil peanut butter ice-cream, strawberry jam and candied peanuts in the middle. That was heaven!



I was still feeling a little hungry partly because I had a very light lunch in the afternoon so I followed things up with something from the snack menu - Ebi Mayo. These shrimp tempura were seriously good stuff. Each piece was nicely dipped with a special ebi mayo and crab roes. 

This was a pleasant surprise from the kitchen. Didn't really think that they have more to offer other than the coffee and ice-cream sandwich so they've got me there.



I've got to be back sometime soon to catch their popular rosewater lychee ice-cream sandwich!

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop C, G/F, 42-28 Paterson Street Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 2562-8688
Website: http://elephantgrounds.com/

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My foodie friend Hello Kitty from Vancouver was in town for 3 days and since we haven't seen each other for a while now, I decided to invite her to catch up over a quick lunch this afternoon. Living semi-retirement life and fresh off a culinary trip to 3-star Michelin temples like El Celler de Can Roca and Azurmendi in Spain, I knew she has some seriously spoiled taste buds to tame today and that's precisely why I decided to turn things up a notch and offered her a number of high-end places to choose from. And at the end of the day, it was L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon at Landmark getting her nod.



I can't recall exactly when I last dined here but early signs indicates that everything has remained pretty much the same, well except for the prices which has skyrocketed quite a bit over the last couple of years. 

After deciding on the wine, we turned our attention to the food menu. Neither one of us looked impressed with the set menu so we decided to explore the a la carte menu with small tasting portions instead.



I was so concentrated on my conversation with Hello Kitty that I actually managed to totally miss the description on our amuse bouche. I vaguely remembered it was a foie gras custard with a certain flavored foam along with a deep fried risotto ball. I hope I got most things right.



Both of us decided to have 5 small plates and starting with none other than the restaurant's most coveted dish - sea urchin in a lobster jelly, topped with cauliflower cream ($270). Somehow, I could never resist this gem for all the good reasons.



This ranks right up there with Amber's sea urchin dish if not actually better. The sweetness of lobster, prawn and sea urchin had my palates bursting with joy.



Continuing with the theme of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon's signature dishes, I went with their crispy langoustine papillote with basil ($290) while Hello Kitty enjoyed the fresh caviar. This tasted a little like the tiger prawn shiso roll with yuzu-kosho pesto I had at Mercedes Me last year but of course, the crispy langoustine was a lot more meaty. Not bad.



Next came my Hokkaido scallop with green curry and coriander sauce topped with a squid ink farfalle ($220). This was pretty nice. The scallop didn't have the typical size of a Hokkaido scallop but the green curry and coriander sauce did well to bring out the best of the scallop.



The next two dishes I had the pleasure of enjoying a few times since day one when the restaurant first landed in Hong Kong. Free-range caramelized quail with foie gras ($250) has always been one of my favorites here and it's nice to see that it's not faded over the years. The truffles and evil mash were both nice complements to the quail and foie gras. The second best dish of the afternoon right behind the sea urchin without a question.



I was looking for a little more meat and went hunting for it with this milk fed lamb cutlets with fresh thyme ($280). The lamb cutlets were grilled to perfection and I thought the fresh thyme did a wonderful job balancing the rich lamb flavors.



I was running a little late for my next appointment so instead of dessert, we had the petite fours to wrap things up.



I had a nice time catching up with Hello Kitty and the meal itself was absolutely flawless. I had a pretty packed schedule in the afternoon so the crew was instructed to deliver this lunch in less than 90 minutes and despite the time constraint, they did a fabulous job delivering the meal with just the right pace. If this were my first time here, I would have been in cloud nine but while they've managed to keep the same consistency through all these years, I thought there was a bit of complacency in breathing new life into their food menu. Most of the items on the small portion food menu have been around for 7-8 years which was slightly disappointing. 

To sum it up, I believe the Michelin God has really smiled on this particular branch of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon by granting it 3 stars but let's be honest about it, this is not a 3-star establishment (if you compare it with the 3-star establishments in Europe). I told Hello Kitty it's more like one and a half!



Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$$$

Address: Shop 315 & 401, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2166-9000
Website: www.robuchon.hk
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 17th (2015)