Bear mirror photo zone at a Gwangjang Market mugwort bakery: Ssuk's

What kind of place is Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul at Gwangjang Market?

Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul is a mugwort (ssuk) dessert specialty shop tucked in an alley of Gwangjang Market. I went to Gwangjang Market to eat something delicious and ended up grabbing dessert too, haha. This time I visited Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul in Gwangjang Market — the name alone sounded like exactly the kind of mugwort dessert shop I love, so I was curious, and it turned out to have way more variety than I expected, so it was fun just to look around.

It had been really, really long since I visited Gwangjang Market. Even though it was a weekday afternoon, the place was packed with foreign tourists.

In the alleys of Gwangjang Market, one single word caught my eye — "Ssuk" (mugwort) haha. The green interior matching the mugwort theme really grabbed my attention.

Inside the shop: display case and menu lineup

Walking into Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul, the first thing that caught my eye was a tray with desserts beautifully arranged in green box packaging!

From the mugwort choco pies to mugwort cookies and mugwort scones, everything on the menu used mugwort, so it looked hard to just walk past if you're a mugwort lover haha. The packaging was so pretty too, right?

It wasn't just mugwort desserts — there were also drinks and cakes, from milk tea and mugwort milk tea to choco cheesecake and mugwort cheesecake. It'd be great to come with a mugwort-loving friend and pick a bunch of things to try haha.

Gift boxes: 3-piece or 6-piece?

What I liked most was the gift sets! Ssuk's Choco Pie Seoul has boxes in 3-piece and 6-piece sizes, and the packaging was so clean and pretty that it felt less like dessert packaging and more like a small gift haha. If you're looking for a light gift to pick up near Gwangjang Market, this kind of dessert set seemed like a solid choice :) Honestly, Gwangjang Market has a reputation for being overpriced, but Ssuk's Choco Pie's prices were actually reasonable?♥

Looking it up, I found out that the main store of Ssuk's Choco Pie is Ssuk's Choco Pie Gwangju. It was interesting to know that a mugwort dessert that started in Gwangju can now be found in Seoul too haha.

Taking a photo at the bear mirror photo zone

After some thought, I wrapped up the 6-piece gift set — the box packaging was just too pretty. There was also a cute bear mirror in the store, so I took a mirror shot as proof of visit, hehe. Having a little photo zone like this made picking out gifts even more fun with the extra photo-taking..♥

Unboxing the 6-piece set: which flavors are inside?

Time to unbox the 6-piece Ssuk's Choco Pie box ♥ Each piece came individually boxed, which made it easy to grab one at a time and also clean for gifting :) There was a nice variety too — Geomundo sea-breeze mugwort, sea-breeze mugwort injeolmi, sea-breeze mugwort whole red bean, Nonsan strawberry, Udo peanut, and Gwangju real chocolate — six flavors in total!

• Geomundo sea-breeze mugwort
• Sea-breeze mugwort injeolmi
• Sea-breeze mugwort whole red bean
• Nonsan strawberry
• Udo peanut
• Gwangju real chocolate

For reference, this Gwangjang Market spot claims to be Korea's first mugwort choco pie. They say it's a chilled, premium dessert made without artificial coloring, preservatives, emulsifiers, shortening, or margarine, so I trusted it even more..✨

How does the sea-breeze mugwort with whole red bean taste?

I couldn't resist haha, so I pulled out the sea-breeze mugwort whole red bean first! The fragrant mugwort flavor came through gently, and between the soft chilled cream was mild 100% domestic whole red bean — it was so, so good..♥ The chocolate coating was genuinely high quality too!! Not cheap chocolate — the kind that melts and gets on your hands, real chocolate that melts smoothly, so it tasted amazing and the whole thing came together perfectly ㅠ

I tried the rest of the flavors back home, and honestly every single one was delicious — a real Gwangjang Market gem 🫶🏻 Personally, since I love mugwort desserts, just browsing the variety was already fun, and the gift set had such a nice range of flavors that trying one at a time was its own pleasure haha. Highly recommend for anyone near Gwangjang Market looking for something a little different, or for mugwort desserts specifically!