Sweets can be found in almost every nook and cranny of Garosugil and its adjoining streets.

In fact, one can practically gauge the latest dessert trends of the city by taking a stroll through the scenic area that is located in Seoul’s Sinsa-dong. 

There one will come across at least three different takes on soft serve, uber-popular roll cakes, variations on the bingsu and other delights.

One will also find sister shops of established dessert stops, like sibling stores Pumpkin Terrier Cake Shop and Hey. J, both of which spin out tasteworthy confections.

Pumpkin Terrier Cake Shop, which opened in June, derives its homey cake aesthetic from Glamorous Penguin, a dessert cafe that opened in 2012 in Seoul’s Hannam-dong.

“We met the owner of Glamorous Penguin through an acquaintance,” said Pumpkin Terrier co-owner Kim Hyun-jin, 41.

Kim revealed that the expertise of Glamorous Penguin was enlisted to help form the shop’s basic dessert concept, which Kim describes as “homemade treats served in generous portions.” 

Layer cakes can be found at Pumpkin Terrier, including a particularly memorable raspberry meringue confection, where layers of cake boasting a slightly big crumb are sandwiched around a sweet raspberry curd.

The whole towering affair is then covered in sugary, marshmallow-like meringue for the kind of dessert that goes great with a piping hot cup of coffee.

At Pumpkin Terrier, coffee is brewed with Seoul-based Anthracite Coffee Roasters’ Butter Fat Trio Blend, said Kim.

Americanos emerge fragrant, bitter and full-bodied with a tart edge, ideal for sipping with the sweet treats at the cake shop, which is precisely what Kim and team intended.

Cakes are not Pumpkin Terrier’s sole strong suit.

The from-scratch sweet stop whips up a tasty banana pudding, with shockingly sweet shards of banana nestled in layers of cream, uber-moist cake and, though Kim will not confirm it, something that tastes like custard.

Salty-sweet peanut butter cookies are yet another munchworthy treat at the shop, and now that it is winter, Kim revealed that a strawberry shortcake is in the works.

While Pumpkin Terrier spins out treats like layer cakes and cookies, Hey. J whips up choux a la creme and soft serve ice cream.

More of a take-out kiosk than a sit-down shop, Hey. J is located directly below dessert cafe La Pomme.

The proximity is no coincidence. Hey. J is La Pomme’s sibling store and is not only close to but also shares a kitchen with La Pomme.

In fact, Hey. J is situated so that the kitchen is directly behind the counter, enabling the shop to specialize in filled-to-order cookie chou, according to co-owner Kim Ye-young.

Filling the cream puffs to order helps prevent the choux pastry from getting soggy, Kim, 37, further explained. 

The resulting cookie chou ― choux pastry with a rugged cookie-like crust ― are cool and crumbly, oozing with a vanilla bean-flecked mixture of custard and fresh cream that is thick as pudding.

Then there is Hey. J’s matcha soft serve ice cream, which, according to Kim, is made completely from scratch with matcha from Kyoto.

One can get an unadorned swirl or, for an extra 900 won, order the matcha soft shiratama, which comes with a dollop of housemade sweet red beans, from-scratch rice cakes and a butter cookie.

Now two years into business, Kim revealed plans to stick to the current menu, with the focus on good-quality artisanal sweets.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)


Hey. J

1F, 534-8 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
(070) 7627-0057
Open 1:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily
Cookie chou costs 3,500 own each, matcha soft ice cream costs 3,900 won, matcha soft shiratama costs 4,800 won


Pumpkin Terrier Cake Shop

545-8 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
(02) 545-7566
Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays
Cake costs 7,000 won to 8,000 won per slice, cookies cost 1,000 won to 3,000 won, coffee-based drinks cost 5,000 won to 7,000 won