Korean-wheat choco pie bakery mid Gwangjang Market food crawl: Ssuk's

If you're wandering Gwangjang Market looking for a healthy dessert to bring home to the kids for Chuseok, or just hunting for a good snack, Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul is worth adding to the walk. It's a familiar-yet-different dessert amid the market's lively, traditional buzz, and it made a nice addition to my Gwangjang Market food course.

Want dessert instead of market food at Gwangjang Market?

Gwangjang Market is one of the first places that comes to mind in Seoul when you want to combine market browsing with good snacking. There's plenty of famous market food here — bindaetteok (mung bean pancake), yukhoe (beef tartare), mayak gimbap (seaweed rice roll) — but this time I went looking for something a bit different: dessert.

The place I visited this time is Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul.

Gwangjang Market has alleys packed with different foods, so after a meal you naturally end up wandering off in search of dessert. The name Ssuk's Choco Pie caught my eye right away, so I had to check it out.

Mugwort and chocolate together: what does it taste like?

The whole point of Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul is using ssuk (mugwort) in a familiar choco pie. Picture a regular choco pie, and you have a certain image in your head — so I was curious how mugwort's distinct scent would work with chocolate's sweetness. Turned out, it was more harmonious than I expected.

The outside carries that sweet chocolate flavor, while a subtle mugwort scent rises from the inside — giving it a character clearly different from your typical chocolate dessert. Rather than a dessert that's just intensely sweet, the mugwort adds a layer that makes the flavor feel more varied.

Since Gwangjang Market is so packed with traditional food stalls, running into a fusion-style dessert like this adds a whole different kind of fun.

Why Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul works midway through a food crawl

Ssuk's Choco Pie is great to pick up one at a time while browsing the market, and it also works well taken home to enjoy with coffee or tea. If you like sweet snacks but also enjoy ingredients with a distinct aroma like mugwort, this is worth trying at least once.

Personally, when I'm doing a food crawl at Gwangjang Market, tasting a little of many dishes fills me up fast — but since this choco pie is a proper dessert rather than another meal item, it was nice to enjoy simply midway through or at the end.

How does the Nonsan strawberry choco pie taste?

Ssuk's Choco Pie Nonsan Strawberry, where the soft scent of mugwort meets sweet chocolate! One bite, and behind the mellow mugwort comes the bright taste of Nonsan strawberry — different, and delicious. It's not overly sweet; the freshness of the strawberry keeps it light, and the chewy, moist texture is charming too. A perfect snack alongside coffee or tea, and I'd recommend it as a gift as well.

On top of it all, there's the sheer fun of the location itself. The smell of all sorts of food drifting through narrow alleys, the crowds, the energy — just walking through feels like traveling around Seoul. If you're browsing market food and suddenly crave something sweet, Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul is a solid stop to work into the route.

Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul as the dessert stop on a Gwangjang Market course

If you're planning a Gwangjang Market visit, I'd suggest building your course around dessert after the meal, not just chasing famous food stalls. Getting to enjoy both traditional market food and an unusual dessert together is part of what makes a Gwangjang Market outing fun.

If you're planning a date or a food tour with friends around Jongno in Seoul, stop by Gwangjang Market to enjoy the food, then finish things off sweetly with Ssuk's Choco Pie.

Adding mugwort to a familiar choco chocolate dessert made for a genuinely unique experience, and it's a place I'd happily recommend to anyone looking for a Gwangjang Market dessert spot.