Cacao Boom • 카카오봄

I visited Cacao Boom (카카오봄) with Soo Zee last spring after one of our usual catch up dinner. This place is apparently one of her favorite gelato place in Hongdae (홍대) and since I don't drink coffee and never been here before, she thought this would be a prefect place for us to get dessert. The weather outside was a little bit chilly for me so I ordered their hot chocolate. It was delicious. Not too sweet, perfect temperature and it even came with side of a leaf-shaped chocolate bites. Soo Zee on the other hand, despite of the chilly weather outside, already had her heart set on ordering their chocolate gelato even before we reached this place. And so she did and according to her review, it tasted really good. Don't believe me? Watch the clip here or go try their gelato and see for yourself ;)

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By the way, if you haven't already known, my friends Soo Zee and Leigh, who make videos on Youtube for their channel DoStuff, actually also have a food account called TasteStuff on Instagram that is filled with awesome food spots. They've taken me to so many different places that have tasty and excellent food and some of those places have become my favorite spots too. If you're looking for some legit places to eat in Seoul (and sometimes outside Seoul), go give this account a follow!

p.s: They also just recently post their thoughts on Cacao Boom's chocolate gelato. 

 

Cacao Boom (카카오봄)

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로27길 6
Telephone: 02-3141-4663
Hours: 11:00 - 22:00

Instagram: @cacaoboom

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Tokyo Bingsu • 도쿄빙수

Bingsu is probably my favorite Korean dessert, especially during summer. A bowl of this fine ice shavings on a hot day could make the hot and humid summer days in Seoul more bearable. Tokyo Bingsu (도쿄빙수) is one of the new bingsu places I tried when I was wondering around Mangwon-dong with my friend, Jesselyn. Although they are well-known for their Tomato Bingsu (토마토 빙수), we opted for their Oreo Bingsu (오레오 빙수) since we weren't sure if we would like the Tomato ones and kinda felt like eating something sweet. The bingsu was great. The snow-like ice shavings were covered in condensed milk and top it off with the oreo crumbs, it made a perfect combo. And it's not too sweet either. I found out later that they have multiple locations in Seoul. Not a lot like those chain stores, but you got different options. Next time I visit, maybe I'll be brave and try their Tomato Bingsu.

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Tokyo Bingsu (도쿄빙수)

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 포은로8길 9
Tel: 02-6409-5692
Hours: 12:00 - 22:00

Instagram: @tokyobingsu

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Amorino • 아모리노

I went to Garosu-gil (가로수길) for a Sunday afternoon stroll after church last week and passed by this gelato place called Amorino (아모리노). Wasn't really planning on getting a gelato or anything, but that rose-shaped gelato on a cone looked interesting. Plus I was sweating from all the walking around and could actually feel that my face was burning. So, taking a break at a gelato place sounded perfect. Ordered hazelnut and vanilla on a cone and it did came out like the pictures they have on the banners in front and on the counter of the store (just minus the macaron in the middle, cos I didn't order one, but it looked exactly like a flower). The gelato has good texture and tasted nyum. The only downside was I had to somewhat quickly finished it cos the weather made it melts pretty fast. Anyways, hope everybody have a good weekend!

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Baobab • 바오밥

After we finished our photowalk (see my previous post here), we went to Baobab (바오밥) in Sinchon (신촌) to get dinner. The place is fairly new, I think, cos last time I was here, they just had their grand opening. Never been to this place before but the menu looks good, the food looks good, so I thought I should give it a try (and dragged Yais with me too this time). Their menu is not particularly extensive, which is usually a good sign for a Korean restaurant since they have to cook those few menus real good, otherwise people won't come back after their first visit. There are 4 main menus to choose from and some sides too if you feel like you need to order more food to add to your mains.

When it comes to food, I'm a fairly easy eater. Doesn't matter if the food is simple, as long as it tastes good, I'm a happy camper. Simple delicious foods are the best sometimes and that was exactly what I got from this meal. We ordered one pan of the galbi (소갈비한판)—which comes with rice and banchan—and the steamed egg with cheese and shrimp (치즈새우계란찜). Everything tasted good, seasoned well, and the portion was just right for two people to share. It was a solid meal, especially after all those walking around we did earlier that day.

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After dinner, we decided to go to Homilbat (호밀밭) to get some bingsu (빙수). This is probably one of my fav milky bingsu spots up to date, so I thought it'd be a good idea for Yais to try it too before he leaves. We ordered the summer special—the watermelon bingsu (수박빙수)—and it was really good. Ending a hot summer day with bingsu is never a bad idea, really. So that was my Saturday. And oh, I did a post before about Homilbat which you can check out here. That's it for now.

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Chocolate Snowflake Bingsu

Patmiok's (팥미옥) version of chocolate snowflake bingsu (초코 눈꽃빙수) is my favorite chocolate bingsu that I've tasted so far. The thing about it is that it's not overly too sweet and those really crunchy chocolate toppings are just delicious. They also offer two different serving sizes for your order that you can choose from—1 person or 2 persons (1인/2인) serving. This location that I visited is the one located in Sinchon (신촌) area, but they have multiple locations all over Seoul so you can find them in different neighborhoods as well. I would definitely recommend this bingsu, especially if you are a fan of chocolate.

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