Seocho cake shop, hidden cherry layer in Pistachio Forest: Chef Cho

I picked up a Pistachio Forest No. 1 from Chef Cho in Sweet Park at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam. As you'd expect from a shop known as one of the "four kings of cake" on the TV show Master of Living (생활의 달인), the cream was clearly well made, but once you cut into it, a hidden surprise shows up. Here are the prices for No. 1, Mini and slice cakes, plus how they package it.

What kind of cake shop is Chef Cho?

Chef Cho (쉐프조) is a cake shop that was featured as one of the four kings of cake on Master of Living. Ever since I saw the show, whenever a family member's or friend's birthday came around, I'd stop by Bread Company Chef Cho near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station and pick up a strawberry fresh cream cake. People often say the cream is light and the strawberries fresh. This time I bought a cake for the first time at the Chef Cho shop in Sweet Park at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam. It was a weekday at 1:30 pm, and I stopped by with a friend.

Chef Cho Shinsegae Gangnam: location and shop info

Chef Cho Gangnam is inside Sweet Park, the dessert hall on B1 of Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam, at 176 Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It connects directly to Express Bus Terminal Station, so it's an easy walk from the subway. On the display counter sits a nameplate for the four kings of cake, and a sign next to it says the master pastry chef has run Chef Cho for 23 years. It also says they use 100% dairy fresh cream and fruit delivered daily. They currently run three places: the Mullae main shop, Bread Company Chef Cho and Chef Cho Boutique.

What cakes are in the Chef Cho showcase?

Even on a weekday afternoon, customers kept coming in for cakes. The showcase is divided by type. Slice cakes are on the left, No. 1 whole cakes on the upper shelf in the center, and Mini cakes on the lower shelf. There are cakes wrapped in layers of mango like a rose and cakes with figs stacked tightly upright, and the colors alone make you stop and stare.

At the Bread Company shop I mostly saw strawberry fresh cream cakes, but the Shinsegae Gangnam lineup was far more varied. There were several menu items I'd never seen before, such as the NEW-tagged Fig Pistachio and a fig crêpe.

Chef Cho cake prices by size

No. 1 cakes: ₩53,000–₩58,000

Pistachio Forest, Real Mango Rose, Cacao 52% Whole Strawberry Choco, Fig Pistachio and more. They serve 3–4 people and are known for their lavish look and fresh fruit toppings.

Mini whole cakes: ₩39,000–₩45,000

Pistachio Forest, Real Mango Rose, Peach Berry and more. They serve 1–2 people, a size that's easy to enjoy without feeling like too much.

Cake slices: ₩9,800–₩12,000

Real Strawberry Fresh Cream, Real Mango Fresh Cream, Matcha Choco Strawberry, Sebit Crêpe and more. A good lineup for sampling a range of flavors.

How is a Pistachio Forest No. 1 packaged?

After some deliberation, I chose a flavor combination I don't usually eat: the Pistachio Forest No. 1, priced at ₩56,000.

A Chef Cho staff member asked how long the trip home would take, slipped an ice pack inside the box and added a plastic bag over the outside. My friend had brought along an insulated bag they'd received earlier, so we carried the cake home in that.

Pistachio Forest taste and cross-section

The top of the Pistachio Forest has alternating lines of white fresh cream and light green pistachio cream, with pistachio pieces and edible flower petals scattered over it. The petals looked more like decoration for color, and I wished a few more pistachios had gone in their place.

When I put the knife in, the upper layer was sponge soaked with pistachio cream, and the lower layer was chocolate sponge studded with chocolate cream and cherries. But I'd left the cake out at room temperature a bit too long, so the cream softened and the cross-section came out smushed instead of clean. It's better to take the Pistachio Forest straight from the fridge and cut it right away.

Upper layer: pistachio cream

When you scoop up a bite, the nutty aroma that's typical of pistachio comes first. The pistachio cream is dense yet melts smoothly in your mouth, and the fresh cream on top gently softens that rich flavor. The most satisfying part of this cake was, by far, the cream. My fork went to the cream more often than to the sponge.

Lower layer: chocolate sponge and cherries

Go down to the lower layer and the flavor changes. Cherries are packed between the chocolate sponge with no gaps, so every bite brings juicy fruit. There are also chocolate pieces mixed into the sponge, adding a different texture and sweetness here and there. The cherries were much sweeter than I expected, with the sweetness coming ahead of the chocolate and lingering long in the aftertaste.

Who is Chef Cho's Pistachio Forest right for?

The combination of dairy fresh cream and pistachio cream was so clean that I'd have been happy eating the cream by itself. The cherries are generous too, so the cross-section looks rich. The cherries seem to balance the nutty pistachio against the bittersweet chocolate. Shelf life is 2 days refrigerated, so it's best eaten the day you buy it or the next day.

Chef Cho Gangnam is a place where you can meet the Chef Cho I knew for strawberry fresh cream cakes in a wider range, including pistachio, fig and mango. It suits pistachio cream fans especially well, and depending on how you feel about cherries, trying the Mini size first is one option. There are still several fig menu items I haven't tasted, so choosing is half the fun. If you're looking for an anniversary cake near Express Bus Terminal, it's worth a stop.