Dubai chewy cookies at Balsan Station dessert café: Byway Bakers
In short
Byway Bakers Balsan Station is a wood-toned dessert bakery about 400m from Exit 3 of Balsan Station in Gangseo, Seoul. The takeout order was a Shanghai butter rice cake, a chocolate almond financier, an Oreo financier and two Dubai chewy cookies (du-jjon-ku), and at home the rice cake was thick and springy while the Dubai cookies still had crisp kadayif and pistachio cream. For chewy desserts and crisp-outside, moist-inside baked treats, Byway Bakers Balsan Station is a satisfying pick.
Good to know
- Address
- 1st floor, 45 Gangseo-ro 56ga-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Hoguk Bohun Hall)
- Getting there
- About 400m on foot from Exit 3 of Balsan Station
- Hours
- 09:00 - 20:00
- Closed
- Every Wednesday
- Good to know
- Same-day reservations accepted; takeout and terrace seating available
- Ordered for takeout this visit
- Shanghai butter rice cake, chocolate almond financier, Oreo financier, 2 Dubai chewy cookies
as written by the visitor on Sep 5, 2026
Today I want to share a story about a bakery near Balsan Station that completely won me over recently 😉
My husband and I are total suckers for sweet baked goods and desserts. Everything I brought home this time was a huge success, and I don't know how happy I was eating it all haha
What is Byway Bakers Balsan Station like inside?
Byway Bakers Balsan Station is a dessert bakery on the 1st floor of the Hoguk Bohun Hall, about 400m on foot from Exit 3 of Balsan Station. The moment I walked in, the clean, warm wood-toned interior caught my eye
The calm, cozy atmosphere was perfect for a leisurely dessert time
Beside the counter there was a whole display of colorful number candles, cute headbands, and meringue decorations — party supplies galore. Perfect if you want to grab something extra when buying a cake or dessert for an anniversary or birthday haha
Even the vintage-style takeout bags were pretty, which made the walk home so much lighter hahaha
The four desserts packed for takeout that day
What I got at Byway Bakers Balsan Station that day was the Shanghai butter rice cake, and
a chocolate almond financier, an Oreo financier,
and two du-jjon-ku, which have gotten hard to find lately
Shanghai butter rice cake: how thick is the filling?
The first thing we ate was the Shanghai butter rice cake, and I'll say it boldly: it's genuinely the best butter rice cake I've ever had 🤎
Butter rice cakes from other places often disappointed me — the center sunken and a bit thin, or the portion frustratingly small — but the inside of Byway Bakers' Shanghai butter rice cake was really thick 🤤
Taking a big bite, the chewy rice cake texture filled my mouth completely, and I couldn't help but gasp. The nutty richness of the butter and the chewiness of the rice cake came together in a way that was truly one of a kind 🤤
How were the chocolate almond and Oreo financiers?
The financier lineup, a bakery staple, also exceeded expectations
Both the chocolate almond and Oreo financiers had generous coated toppings piled on top, making them wonderfully thick
Usually a thin topping just passes by without much flavor, but with Byway Bakers' financiers you could really feel they didn't skimp on ingredients haha. Bite in and the outside is crisp while the inside is dense and moist — that classic crisp-outside-moist-inside texture — and the more you chew, the more the flavor builds
The balance between the cream and topping wasn't overly sweet, just pleasantly sweet — gone in no time!
Dubai chewy cookies (du-jjon-ku), hard to find these days
Above all, so many places that used to sell Dubai chewy cookies have disappeared lately, and it's been personally disappointing 🥺
So finding them again at Byway Bakers Balsan Station made me so happy. Du-jjon-ku really is the truth every single time 💚
One bite and the crunchy kadayif texture inside is vivid and alive, and the rich, dense pistachio cream fills your mouth. Chew through the chewy marshmallow skin along with it and — honestly, words fail. The du-jjon-ku trend... it's back!! haha So delicious it makes you smile that genuine, can't-help-it smile hahaha
It would have been a disaster if I'd only bought one of these. So glad I bought two — pat myself on the back!!
What to order on the next visit
I've been seeing so many videos of the Wakppu salt bread on my Instagram feed and shorts lately that I kept swallowing hard every time 🤤 I was so curious about the tangy cream and fresh fruit piled on top of the bread, and since every dessert I tried this time was a success, my confidence has shot way up
Next time I'm definitely going back to conquer the Wakppu salt bread 💕
If any of you neighbors are craving a properly made chewy dessert or a crisp-outside-moist-inside baked treat, I genuinely recommend stopping by. Highly, highly recommend!!
Byway Bakers Balsan Station: hours, address and directions
- Address: 서울 강서구 강서로56가길 45 호국보훈회관 1층
- Directions: About 400m on foot from Exit 3 of Balsan Station
- Hours: 09:00 - 20:00 (closed every Wednesday)
- Note: Same-day reservations available; takeout and terrace seating available
Where it is
서울 강서구 강서로56가길 45 호국보훈회관 1층서울특별시 강서구 강서로56가길 45 대한민국무공수훈자회 1층
