Yeongdeungpo cake café: Han River picnic strawberry dome at Chef Zo

This is the strawberry fresh cream cake (Strawberry Dome cake) from Chef Zo Mullae Main Store (쉐프조 문래본점), a Seoul cake shop where we finished a whole cake in one sitting ^^

I was taking my nieces, who are seriously into desserts, to a picnic at Yeouido Hangang Park, and I'd heard that in Yeongdeungpo there's a gorgeous strawberry fresh cream cake made by a master baker who appeared on the TV show "Master of Living" (cake four heavenly kings episode). So I picked one up, all excited~

We were already stuffed, so I'll tell you exactly how a whole cake still vanished in no time haha

Chef Zo Mullae Main Store: location, hours and parking

Chef Zo Mullae Main Store is at 98 Mullae-ro, Units 104·105·106 Hanyoung Building, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a 3-minute walk from Mullae Station Exit 3. It's open 08:00–22:00, every day of the year.

• Location: 98 Mullae-ro, Units 104·105·106 Hanyoung Building, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul (3-minute walk from Mullae Station Exit 3)
• Hours: 08:00–22:00 (open every day)
• Parking: Municipal Mullae Youth Center parking lot (paid, ₩500 per 10 minutes, ₩3,000 per hour)

What's the atmosphere like inside Chef Zo Mullae?

The showcase at Chef Zo Mullae is packed with fresh-out-of-the-oven cakes ^^

It's right on the main road, so it's easy to find~ Just a 3-minute walk from Mullae Station Exit 3~ The shop is clean and bright (airy?), and when you open the door it's a feast of colorful, delicious-looking cakes.

The showcase was full of freshly made (fresh-from-the-oven?) cakes. I went around 1 p.m., and new cakes were still being baked, but they were selling faster than they came out~

Some customers were picking up cakes, and on the other side lots of people were relaxing over coffee and bread~ Natural fruit is piled on generously, so the colors are no joke, and honestly they look too pretty to eat T_T

Chef Zo Mullae cake types and prices

The signature Strawberry Dome No. 1 at Chef Zo Mullae is ₩46,000, and cake slices start at ₩7,500. Here are the cakes and prices I saw in the shop.

Strawberry, chocolate, sweet pumpkin, pound and roll cakes

• Strawberry cake (Strawberry Dome) No. 1: ₩46,000
• Choco Whole Strawberry No. 1: ₩56,000
• Sweet pumpkin tart No. 1 ₩35,000 / No. 2 ₩50,000
• Caramel fruit pound cake: ₩24,000 (soft pound cake made with caramel and dried fruit)
• Pure milk roll cake (MILK ROLL CAKE): ₩24,000 (mascarpone cream packed into soft soufflé batter)
• Pistachio Forest No. 1: ₩56,000

Mini cakes, Forest cakes and Choco Kirsch

• Dark Choco Forest Mini: ₩39,000
• Fig Pistachio Mini: ₩45,000
• Fig Fresh Cream Mini: ₩39,000
• Pistachio Forest Mini: ₩43,000 / No. 1: ₩56,000
• Choco Kirsch No. 1: ₩45,000

Tart slices and cake slices

• Mont Blanc tart: ₩8,500 (soft choux cream and candied chestnut tart with 100% milk fresh cream and chestnut cream)
• Lemon cheese tart: ₩8,000 (tangy lemon curd paired with cream cheese)
• Strawberry cream cheese tart: ₩8,500 (strawberry coulis with fresh strawberries and mascarpone sour cream)
• Sweet pumpkin tart slice: ₩7,500 (mild sweet pumpkin fresh cream on a tart made with house-boiled sweet pumpkin)
• Choco Kirsch slice: ₩7,500 (moist real chocolate cake with cherries sandwiched in 100% milk fresh cream)
• White fresh cream slice: ₩7,500 (soft real strawberry cake packed with strawberries in 100% milk fresh cream)

Mango and fig whole cakes and the strawberry tart

• Mango Mini: ₩39,000 / Mango No. 1: ₩46,000
• Fig cake: ₩43,000
• Strawberry tart No. 1 ₩35,000 / No. 2 ₩50,000 (pistachio tart with house-simmered strawberry jelly, filled with crème diplomate)

The colors are so pretty and there are lots of sizes (whole cakes No. 1/2/3, and slices), so the choice is huge.

How does Chef Zo pack the Strawberry Cream Cake No. 1?

Chef Zo Mullae's signature Strawberry Cream Cake No. 1 came in a pretty box, double-packed so it's easy to carry, and I got it home safely ^^ But how does it taste?

I carried it like a sacred jar so the cake wouldn't lose its shape~ Because why? Because I had to do this haha. A family member's birthday was coming up too, so I really went all in~

It's round and fluffy and so adorably cute, and even though it's size No. 1, it feels quite hefty when you lift it~

How does Chef Zo's strawberry cake cream taste?

They say Chef Zo cakes use only 100% animal-based milk fresh cream~ So the cream on the strawberry cake doesn't feel greasy in your mouth, and melts rich and soft.

Unlike artificial fresh cream out there (like the cream in a convenience-store cream bun, you know?), it doesn't coat your mouth, and the moment it touches your tongue it melts away rich and soft~ That's the stuff~!

A moist sponge that melts without chewing

The most surprising thing about Chef Zo's strawberry cream cake was the texture of the sponge~

You can feel the moistness even from the cross-section photo, and there's no need to chew at all, it just crumbles and melts softly in your mouth T_T

They say it's a combination of slow, long-aged natural yeast and organic flour, and my stomach felt really comfortable after eating!

Isn't it too sweet? The nieces' and my husband's reactions

Chef Zo's strawberry cream cake is a low-sugar style where neither the cream nor the strawberries are artificially sweet, so it should suit all ages and genders. Strawberries are tucked into every layer of the sponge.

Half of us are old folks (haha), half are Gen Z, and everyone was totally satisfied!

My husband, a chocolate lover who only likes sweet things, liked it too, and the picky nieces dug in with their faces practically in the cake haha

We finished the whole Chef Zo Mullae strawberry cake in the end

When we came to our senses afterward, it was like, why were we competing over this? Everyone blaming each other haha. At first we ate politely with forks, but it was so good that we ended up attacking it with chopsticks ^^

It's a back-to-basics strawberry fresh cream cake, moderately sweet, moist and fresh, that you never get tired of eating. I get why it's lasted so long!! With 100% animal-based fresh cream there's no dry, clingy feeling in your mouth afterward, it's not overly sweet so it's no burden, and it's the kind of taste you crave again after finishing a whole one??