Rice cake gift box near Saetgang Station, Yeouido: Ojo Manggaetteok

I fell for manggaetteok (rice cake wrapped and steamed in smilax leaf) the moment I tried one — a rice-flour dough packed with red bean paste I love, wrapped in cheongmirae (smilax) leaf and steamed. This is the story of my visit to Ojo Manggaetteok in Yeouido, a specialty shop that sells manggaetteok you won't find at a regular rice cake shop.

Where is Ojo Manggaetteok, and is there parking?

Ojo Manggaetteok is an 8-minute walk from Saetgang Station Exit 2. It's easy to reach from Yeouido or Saetgang Station, and close to The Hyundai Seoul and IFC Mall too, so it's perfect to swing by after shopping. Parking is available at the Hongwoo Building lot, free for 1 hour.

• 🏠 78 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, Hongwoo Building
• 🚇 546m from Saetgang Station Exit 2
• ⏰ Mon–Fri 8:00–18:00 / Sat 8:00–16:00
• Closed every Sunday (open for group reservations on Sundays); closes early when ingredients run out
• 📍 Reservations, takeout, delivery (quick service), group orders, parking available

What the shop looks like inside

Inside, Ojo Manggaetteok reinterprets the warmth of a hanok (traditional Korean house) in a modern way. Manggaetteok arranged neatly on wood-toned shelves, along with carefully made traditional K-desserts, catch your eye one by one — an elegant, calm Yeouido rice cake shop.

Seeing the manggaetteok made with no preservatives, no artificial flavoring, no artificial coloring — carefully prepared with the kind of care a mother puts into food — really drives home the sense of a premium traditional dessert. I also spotted colorful silk bojagi wrapping, along with candied walnuts and real ginger syrup that are great for gifting as thank-you treats.

Which rice cakes does Ojo Manggaetteok sell?

The lineup ranges from the signature manggaetteok to gotgam sando (dried persimmon rice cake) and black rice fig chapssaltteok, among other menu items.

Yay~ from black sesame injeolmi (rice cake coated in bean flour) that I love, to soybean-flour injeolmi that my kid loves, honey seolgi, plain seolgi, yaksik, mugwort tteok, and chapssaltteok — everything is made fresh the same day, so it's warm and soft. Walk-in customers come by to buy rice cakes too — perfect as thank-you rice cakes or to carry around and eat as a breakfast substitute!

Watching manggaetteok shaped by hand

I got lucky and got to watch the manggaetteok being hand-shaped 🍃 They steam glutinous rice flour, pound it carefully until it's chewy, pull off thin pieces, and stuff them generously with red bean paste that's been boiled soft and sieved fine. Then they shape each one beautifully like a rose — just watching it was pure healing-🤎

Maybe it's all that care that makes this K-dessert look even more delicious. This Yeouido manggaetteok shop wraps each piece in smilax leaf, arranges them neatly in a box, and finishes it off in an elegant bojagi wrapping. Great as a snack, but also perfect for gifting! Given how many office workers there are in Yeouido, this feels like the perfect pick for simple office snacks to share, thank-you gifts, or client gifts.

What comes in the Manggaetteok Mixed Set A

The menu at this Yeouido manggaetteok shop is broadly divided into manggaetteok items, manggaetteok mixed sets, single rice cakes, and thank-you/group menus. They also sell side items and drinks like ssaloranda (rice puffs), handmade candied walnuts, handmade whole doraji (bellflower root) jeonggwa, handmade doraji syrup, handmade ginger syrup, traditional sikhye (sweet rice drink), sweet pumpkin sikhye, and omija sikhye.

What I ordered was the Manggaetteok Mixed Set A.

• ✔ Manggaetteok
• ✔ Lotus leaf yaksik
• ✔ Mugwort injeolmi
• ✔ Apple roll

I loved that this set lets you taste several kinds of rice cake all at once. With its elegant bojagi wrapping and careful packaging, this manggaetteok mixed gift set is perfect for thank-you rice cakes, gifts for elders, sangyeonrye (formal meeting between two families before marriage) gifts, or client gifts. All the rice cakes taste best eaten the same day.

Aww~~ why are these rice cakes, arranged so neatly and colorfully in the box, this pretty? These are rice cakes filled with a mother's wish to make a healthy snack. Food trends are also making a comeback these days — retro items like yaksik and mugwort injeolmi are in fashion, so this makes for a gift full of care. Perfect for a Yeouido gift set.

How did the Mixed Set A taste?

Manggaetteok (rice cake in a smilax leaf)

I tried all three colors of manggaetteok — the rice cake is chewy, and the red bean filling is soft and mealy, melting smoothly in the mouth. It's mild and nutty without an intense sweetness — the kind of taste older generations would love too! It's the type of treat you enjoy piece by piece, and it pairs well with both coffee and tea.

The subtle, gentle sweetness of the red bean itself isn't overly sweet, so you keep reaching for more! The chewy-yet-mild plus subtly-sweet combo is the best 🤎 Tasting the faint aroma of the smilax leaf together with the chewy rice cake, I really felt the charm of traditional dessert today.

Lotus leaf yaksik (sweet steamed rice)

Chewy yaksik with a subtle lotus leaf aroma added — nutty and mild lotus leaf yaksik. Wrapped in lotus leaf, the yaksik is studded with jujube and nuts.

One bite is chewy! The more you chew, the nuttier and more subtly sweet it gets. The sticky, soft rice cake with crunchy nuts made for a richer texture I enjoyed a lot.

Mugwort injeolmi (chewy pounded rice cake)

I only tried one piece of mugwort injeolmi, but it's dense. You can feel the glutinous rice's stickiness fully coming through — pounded until properly chewy — so you can really enjoy the true flavor of mugwort injeolmi, and the distinctive fragrance of mugwort came through, which I personally liked a lot. Tasting it, I could tell it's made completely differently from ordinary injeolmi — properly done. Great choice for a thank-you rice cake too.

Apple roll

On top of chewy glutinous rice comes a sweet-tart kick from apple-🍎 The sweet rice cake and refreshing apple are more harmonious than I expected. Because of its wholesome apple flavor, this would be especially great for gifts to elders.

Is Ojo Manggaetteok worth it for a Yeouido gift set?

Tasting each carefully made rice cake, I got to feel the full charm of K-dessert enjoyed with a modern sensibility, all at this Saetgang Station rice cake shop. Ojo Manggaetteok in Yeouido feels like an easy gift for both parents' generation and younger people alike. The packaging is clean, so it's perfect for a Yeouido gift set, and this lineup would shine even more as a gift to convey your feelings to someone, not just as a snack for yourself. It's especially good for thank-you gifts — I'd recommend this Yeouido rice cake shop if you're considering sangyeonrye gifts, Parents' Day gifts, client gifts, or office thank-you gifts.