Tam Tam • 북촌 탐탐

Tam Tam (탐탐) is small dessert shop near Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) neighborhood that specializes in handmade Korean desserts that are made daily using fresh ingredients. Their menu ranges from their best-selling rice cake, ice cream, cream pancake and lattes with traditional Korean flavors.

I visited this cafe during my last Seoul trip in May, four months after its opening. I was browsing for new places to try around Bukchon Hanok Village area and stumbled across this cafe’s listing and their interesting menu. If you don’t know already, I am a big fan of all things black sesame. And so when I saw that they have Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte on the menu, that became the sole reason for me to go visit this cafe.

Other than two other patrons in the cafe occupying one of the table on the first floor, me and my friend were the only ones there when we visited the place around 5:30 pm on a Monday. The weather was nice that day and they had the glass windows opened. So we opted to seat at one of the table on the first floor that’s perfect for people watching (or for people watching us too I guess since we’re right by the side of the street). 

Despite occupying a two-story building, the cafe is actually pretty small. There are three tables on the first floor and four tables on the second floor that accommodate seven people and twelve people respectively. The space is definitely pretty tight in-between tables, but I guess on the upside, if you come here during colder days, it’ll be warm and cozy.

Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte (흑임자 경단 라떼) ₩6,000 | 9/10

Black sesame latte served with rice cake ball with red bean paste filling.

Of course the first thing I ordered was the one thing I wanted to try since I first saw their menu online, the Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte. This drink was really good. The ground black sesame flavor was light and not too overwhelming, making the drink a little bit on the milkier side. On top of the black sesame latte was sweet and salty cream which paired really well with the latte. 

The rice cake balls on the skewers were soft and chewy. They were covered in ground black sesame seed and there’s actually red bean paste filling inside the rice cake balls. The filling wasn’t too sweet either and the amount was just right to compliment the rice cake. Overall, I really enjoyed both the latte and the rice cake balls. 

We also ordered the top three best sellers of their rice cake ball to try—the Black Sesame, Yakwa, and Dried Persimmon. Overall their rice cake balls were really good. The texture was nice and chewy (also, a little bit of a disclaimer if you never had rice cake before, the texture is not as soft as and different from mochi’s texture). It’s not too soft, but not too tough either. They had just the right amount of chewiness making eating these enjoyable. And everything we had was not too sweet with a hint of saltiness to the flavors.

Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball (흑임자) ₩3,500 | 9/10

Black Sesame Mousse & Fried Sesame Seeds
흑임자무스, 볶은통깨

The black sesame rice cake ball has black sesame filling and it had a nice earthy, nutty flavors. Since I’m a sucker for black sesame, I enjoyed this one the most.

Yakwa Rice Cake Ball (약과) ₩3,500 | 8/10

Sweet Rice Honey Yakgwa & Ricotta
찹쌀꿀약과, 리코타

The yakwa (a traditional Korean sweet pastry that is made with ginger and honey) was pretty good as well. The filling kind of reminded me of sweet potato for some reason. 

Dried Persimmon Rice Cake Ball (곶감) ₩3,500 | 5/10

Dried Persimmon, Mascarpone, Natural Honey
곶, 마스카포네, 천연꿀

This one was just okay for me. The rice cake ball was good but I didn’t really enjoy the filling (might also be because I’m just not too into dried persimmon in general). But it was definitely interesting and reminded me of Korean flavors.  

Other than the ones that we ordered, they also have other interesting menus such as Truffle Rice Cake Ball, Basil Rice Cake Ball, Citron Red Bean Paste Rice Cake Ball, Mugwort Rice Cake Ball Latte (쑥 경단라떼), Sikhye Bingsu (식혜빙수), and Egg Cream Espresso (에그 크림프레소). If you’re visiting or exploring Bukchon Hanok Village and want to have some great Korean traditional rice cakes (or Black Sesame Latte) instead of regular bread and pastries, would definitely recommend this place to try. 

 

Tam Tam (카페 탐탐)

Address: 서울 종로구 계동길 82 흰색건물
Telephone: 0507-1304-9165
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00-20:00 | Sat & Sun 11:00-21:30

Instagram: @tamtam_seoul

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Green Mile Coffee Bukchon • 그린마일커피 북촌점

Green Mile Coffee Bukchon (그린마일커피 북촌점) is a charming small coffee shop located near Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을). The company, Green Mile Coffee (그린마일커피), which started in 2009 believe that good coffee starts with a selection of good ingredients and it is based on that belief that the company was built upon.

There are two floors in this cafe. The first floor is where you place your order and where the coffee bar/kitchen is. Seeing the shelf on the wall containing small wooden rectangles reminded me of an old hotel concierge cabinet. I wasn’t sure what they were at first but after I placed my order, the barista pulled the leather holder of one of the wooden rectangle and handed it over to me along with my receipt. Turns out, there are numbers engraved on each of the wooden panels which served as your order number. Pretty cool concept.

Since there’s only a single bench available on the first floor, I headed up to the second floor to find a seat. The interior of the cafe seems to be Japanese style influenced. Covered in wooden surface, the placement of the furnitures give a sense of calmness and spaciousness, despite of the fact that the space is not too big to begin with. There are also windows that allow enough natural lighting to come through which I think contribute to that spacious feeling. I’m not sure if it’s because it was a weekday or it’s just how it usually is, but the cafe was pretty quiet. The type of place where people speaks in low volume or in hushed whispers (there were three other couples there and that’s exactly what they did).

When I was there, the rooftop access was closed. But since my visit, I’ve seen photos on their Instagram where people went up to sit on the rooftop area. It makes a pretty photo spot too since you can get the view of the traditional rooftops from the surrounding area as your background. If you’re visiting Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) and looking for a cafe to stop by, this place is worth a visit.

Here’s a video of the place:

Note: These photos and video were taken before the pandemic.

 

Green Mile Coffee Bukchon • 그린마일커피 북촌점

Address: 서울 종로구 북촌로 64 1층
Telephone: 가회동 11-49 2층
Hours: Weekdays 08:00-19:00 | Weekends 10:00-19:00

Instagram: @green_mile_coffee

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Bukchon at Sunset

I'm pretty sure for those of you who have visited Seoul or wanted to visit seoul or simply watch Korean dramas are familiar with this particular location, the Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을), which is probably one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. I've been here a couple of times during daytime, but this was my first experience spending sunset in this neighborhood. It was a cold winter day, and since the sun was setting down, there weren't that many people in the area. I guess Seoulites prefer to stay indoors on a cold weather day like today, as they should. The experience was totally different than spending time here during the daytime surrounded by groups of tourists trying to take their group shots or take as much selfies as they could. It's so serene, peaceful almost. Such a great way to end the day to just admire the view, watch the sun disappeared into the horizon and the city light started to lit up here and there. For those of you who are in the Eastern part of the globe, I bid you good night, and for the rest of you, good morning and happy weekend! :)

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Gahoedong Catholic Church • 가회동성당

On a cold sunny saturday morning, I stepped into this cathedral that combines both Korean Hanok and Western-style architecture. The place was quite. Peaceful almost. Lights coming in through the glass sliding doors on the sides of the Hanok. People quietly looking around the area admiring the structure of this complex. This is a perfect place to just be still and rest from all the hustle bustle of the city. 

I've passed by Gahoe-dong Catholic Church (가회동성당) in Bukchon Hanok Village numerous times before, but never once I entered the place. It's one of those places where you have to step inside to find out the charms of the building. The combination of east and west architecture definitely is very interesting. We also went to the rooftop and greeted with the view of rows of Hanok rooftops with the mountain on the background on one side, as well as the modern city skyline on the other side. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the history of the Catholic church, they have a history exhibition hall in the first floor of the building. 

And for those of you who are celebrating Chinese (Solnal) New Year this week, hope you have a good new year holiday! Spend some times with the loved ones, eat lots of good food, and hopefully get some rest as well. 새해 복 많이 받으세요~ :)

*Special thanks to Robin for showing us this place :)

Here are my photo walk buddies that day. Check out their blog/instagram for more awesome pictures:
@seoul_stateofmind, @ian_mckay, @happyboil, @inner.pastiche

The Hanok (더한옥)

Stumbled upon this place when I was exploring Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) area with my friends on one afternoon. I was just peeking through the front door, trying to get a glimpse of what's inside and that was when a lady came out and opened the door inviting us in. First we were reluctant to go in because we weren't sure if we wanna spend time at the cafe, but the lady was nice enough to say it's okay for us to just look around the place and we don't have to buy drinks. So we went in and did just that. Entering the cafe is just like entering an old time hanok house because of all the vintage furnishing that's around the cafe. The cafe's atmosphere is pretty cozy and quite overall and we decided to sit down and order some drinks. Nobody was there when we came in but a couple of couples came in not long after we did. They have different rooms inside the Hanok and an outdoor area so you can sit wherever you like. And oh, as it turned out, the lady who invited us in was the owner of the place. She was very friendly and kindly chatted with us for a while. If you're curious about the story behind the place, you should asked her because she'll gladly explain it to you :)