I’d heard there was a decent cake shop near Gangnam-gu Office Station, so I went over on the weekend. It has a fun name: Ilpum Cake, spelled with a playful twist on the Korean word for cake.

Exterior

It’s near an apartment complex. I saw lots of families and kids around, which is probably why there were quite a few places selling healthy-looking, wellness-type food.

Display

The prices are so-so okay, and the cakes look so-so okay too. They say everything is made with organic, wellness-minded ingredients, which is probably why the cakes don’t look all that fancy.

Saza Lion..

This place is right next to Ilpum Cake, and at the time I had no idea what it was. Now it’s become very famous because of the Sewol ferry disaster. The entrance alone has a seriously imposing presence, and inside there were rows of LP records and antique furniture. I’d vaguely heard that their organic ice cream was famous, but why such an intimidating interior? They sold brunch made with organic ingredients too, but the prices were steep enough that I felt even less inclined to go in.

Ilpum cake

This is supposedly the menu item they’re proudest of, and it was nice: not sweet, with a soft cream full of nuts. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it healthy, but it’s surely healthier than a Paris Baguette cake. Still, hmm.. it wasn’t the kind of thing I’d want to go back for often. Recently, for the first time, I’ve found a place I want to become a regular at, and at this pace I should be able to post about it in about a month.

Blueberry cheesecake

This one was decent too.

If you think of it as cake for kids or families, it’s definitely a good shop, but for me, sweeter and more luxurious cakes seem to be a better fit. That’s just personal taste, I suppose.

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