Seongsu café for Valrhona chocolate latte and madeleines: Notldun

Notldun on the way to the Seoul Forest Garden Expo

On a day when the autumn sky was unbelievably high and beautiful, I stopped by Notldun, a Seoul Forest dessert favorite, on my way to the Seongsu-dong Garden Expo~~~

A serene interior of white and natural wood

Walk up the stairs and open the door, and a bright, clean white-toned interior welcomes you. Even without much decoration, the combination of white and natural wood feels refined and calm. The person serving us is quiet and calm, too. It almost feels as though there is a café right in the middle of a forest.

Inside the cake display window, cakes are lined up like works of art.

What does a Valrhona madeleine taste like?

These are coffee-bean-shaped Valrhona madeleines. Valrhona is one of the world’s top~~~~ premium chocolate brands, haha, and is said to be especially well known as the couverture chocolate brand preferred by fine pastry shops, pâtissiers, and chefs around the world. If they made madeleines with that very Valrhona, how delicious must they be? Next time, I want to try one of the Valrhona madeleines haha.

Such, such pretty mousse cakes hahaha—eek!

The cakes here are handmade, shaping them stitch by stitch~~ as if embroidering. A pâtissier was piping mousse in the display window. Wow~ It is truly art, art itself!!

A wide range of madeleines perfect for gifting

There are so many different madeleines, and every single one is delicious hahaha. They are absolutely perfect for gifts.

My recommended order: lime, Earl Grey, then pistachio madeleines

The moment I bit into the pistachio madeleine, its aroma and soft texture danced around my mouth hahaha. So delicious. The pistachio also reins in the sweetness, so it is not overly sweet. But the Earl Grey is even tastier for its fragrant aroma, and the lime’s citrus flavor goes so well with the butter!!!!!!!

My personal Notldun madeleine ranking: lime >>>>>> Earl Grey >> pistachio

A mousse cake with memorable mascarpone vanilla cream

The vanilla mousse cake with mascarpone cream felt even more precious after seeing the pâtissier make it so carefully, stitch by stitch, as though embroidering. You can taste the vanilla bean’s own aroma exactly as it is. Natural vanilla aroma, not artificial flavor ㅠㅠ I’m moved!!!@ So of course I had to become obsessed with it!!!!!

Extra-shot coffee with sweet desserts

Since I love strong coffee, I ordered mine with an extra shot. It goes so well with the sweet desserts. A dream pairing.

Valrhona Guanaja chocolate latte with an exceptional bittersweet flavor

The Guanaja chocolate latte uses Valrhona’s signature dark chocolate, with an intense bitterness and weighty balance of red fruit. It even has “Valrhona” lettered on top of the cream. How am I supposed to drink it with lettering like that? I pushed my straw right down to the bottom, and the aroma and flavor of the Valrhona chocolate were incredible haha. A real!!!! chocolate latte. It feels like the chocolate latte I had in Paris, France, recreated right here haha. Highly recommended!!!!!!!

Financier and madeleine sets for sharing your feelings

When you want to show someone how you feel, I think bringing a financier set or a madeleine set would make them incredibly happy haha. They look pretty and taste great, too! The moment you give one, you will be the thoughtful friend~~