Mocha buns, the once-popular sweet treat with a crispy outside and abundant cream filling, seem to have all but disappeared from Seoul’s streets in recent years, perhaps pushed out by the arrival of newer, more creative desserts. At Standard Bun, a cafe in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, that opened in early October, mocha buns have been transformed in a surprising way. Each bun's crispy coffee layer is decorated with a topping that matches its generous filling. Everything from the usual milk cr

Whether you have it for lunch at your desk, in the car on your way to a meeting, or even save it for the end of the day, a Japanese lunch box, or bento, is a great mid-day meal option, especially for busy office workers. Bento is not only economical, it's a healthy and fun way to treat yourself to a variety of meats, vegetables and soups. Goaji — a Seoul restaurant whose name in Japanese is suggestive of deep flavors — specializes in grab-and-go bento lunch boxes, which are prep

For many office workers, one worry will never go away until their final working day: What should I have for lunch? In a bustling Samseong-dong area in southeastern Seoul, there are various food alleys behind Samseong Station on Subway Line No. 2 and Bongeunsa Station on Subway Line No. 9. From Korean barbeque to Japanese restaurants with sushi counters and grab-and-go sandwich shops, the area boasts varied offerings. But when it comes to filling and healthy Korean meals, they are hard to find. A

Just as if you had walked into a local bakery somewhere in rural America, “What A Bread” (WAB), a newly opened bakery in a bustling food alley next to Yongsan Station, is where you can enjoy a creative variety of baked goods. The last few years have seen Korean bakeries grow more creative than ever, with genre-bending techniques and innovative flavor combinations. WAB, which perfectly fits into the category of bakeries that offer good pastries, has the freshest and the most filling

Koreans might not be able to match the US in their love of beef patties, but burgers are one of the most popular options here to grab on the go. At Patties, a new homemade burger restaurant that opened in December near Euljiro 4-ga Station, you don’t want to finish your palm-sized burger in a few bites. Here, the burger is something to appreciate, enjoying every bite in a creative way, such as dipping it in a thick cream soup. Patties’ burgers come in five varieties -- basic, cheese,

London Bagel Museum is a household name in Korea when it comes to the bakery scene here. It is not an exaggeration that this top-rated fresh-baked bagel and hot soup brunch place that opened in 2021 led huge bagel boom here. People also visit here just to experience the exotic atmosphere inside the café that has an eccentric British aesthetic. There are currently four London Bagel Museum stores across the country -- Anguk, Dosan, Jamsil and Jeju. Lee Hyo-jung, Chief Brand Officer of LBM C

Pumpkin, known as a seasonal superfood, is generally enjoyed either in soup, as a garnish or as a side dish. While there are different kinds of pumpkins from yellow pumpkin to green pumpkin --known as aehobak in Korean -- not many people here think of using them in a grilled salad or cooking it with rice. To break the mold, Kim Seung-kyu, a young chef in charge of menu development and cooking at Baby Pumpkin, says he wanted to offer diners a fun experience while making the most of his restaurant

Koreans can now enjoy the taste of Singaporean celebrity chef Justin Quek’s flagship restaurant Justin Flavours of Asia at the basement food court of Lotte Department Store’s Myeong-dong branch in Sogong-dong, Seoul. Catering to a wide range of visitors from nearby Myeong-dong’s busy office workers, tourists hungry and tired from shopping at downtown Seoul's largest shopping block as well as Singaporeans craving food from home, Justin Flavours of Asia opened in Seoul on De