Suwon traditional sweets shop: gift for my old teacher, Haenggung Daol

✔ Recommended as a Suwon thank-you gift ✔ Wide range of traditional sweets and gift sets ✔ Daol No. 3 A set ₩44,000, with bojagi (traditional wrapping cloth) (★) ✔ Great holiday gift for elders (teachers, parents, etc.)

Why traditional Korean sweets as a gift for a teacher?

I was going to see my old teacher for the first time in a long while, and the gift I chose was a traditional sweets set from Haenggung Daol (행궁다올) in Gwanggyo, Suwon. The holidays had just passed and there were lots of days off lately, so showing up empty-handed felt a bit lacking. I wondered what to bring, and juice or other drinks worried me because of the liquid fructose, and this time I wanted to give something a little special.

Then I found traditional sweets gift sets! I happened to be going to Gwanggyo to pick up a friend, so I snagged a gift while I was at it, haha. It turned out the shop offers sweets from a master of Korean cuisine, so I was even more excited.

Where is Haenggung Daol in Gwanggyo, Suwon?

Haenggung Daol is at 135 Forena Gwanggyo, 1st floor, 300 Gwanggyohosugongwon-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, and it is open 09:00-20:00. You'll see the shop once you walk inside Forena Gwanggyo. If it's your first visit, the building's interior map helps! I found the shop by heading toward the round-shaped space.

If you're looking for a place to buy gifts in Gwanggyo, or a Suwon thank-you gift, this is worth keeping in mind.

When I first arrived, the clean exterior was the first thing I noticed. A white facade with the Haenggung Daol sign, and a white jar sitting beside it! It suited the traditional mood so well that I liked it from the first impression.

What is the Haenggung Daol café like inside?

I thought Haenggung Daol was just a traditional sweets packaging shop, but it was bigger inside than I expected, with a café space where you can sit and have tea. I had seen photos of the gift sets before visiting, and they looked so pretty and varied that I wanted to see them in person.

There were traditional decorations, paintings and small objects here and there, and what I liked most was the mother-of-pearl table (najeon)! It had a traditional feel that's hard to find these days, and it was fun to look at. It also seemed like a nice spot for a light cup of tea and a chat with elders.

Haenggung Daol café menu: traditional tea and susu bukkumi

The shop has coffee and tea menus plus cute traditional desserts. There were familiar traditional drinks like sikhye (sweet rice drink) and sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch), along with various teas and individual desserts. There's also a persimmon roll set and a menu where you pick sweets one by one, so even without a gift set it looked like a nice place to drop in.

The one I was personally curious about was susu bukkumi (sweet millet pancake)! It looks so dainty and cute that I thought it would go well with tea, haha.

With traditional sweets it's easy to think of them only as gifts, so I liked that there are items you can actually sit down and try.

What gift sets does Haenggung Daol sell?

My purpose that day was a gift set, so I properly browsed the Haenggung Daol sweets gift sets.

The variety was bigger than I expected! There were sets in small tins, easy-to-gift 4-piece and 6-piece options, okjeolpan (a multi-compartment tray set), and Daol No. 3, No. 7 and other sizes.

I liked that you can choose by recipient or budget. Traditional sweets each have a different shape and lovely colors, so the sets with a good mix caught my eye.

Daol No. 3 A set: a safe pick for a teacher whose tastes I didn't know

I didn't know my teacher's taste exactly, so a set where she could try several kinds seemed better than one with just one sweet. That's how I picked the Daol No. 3 A set, ₩44,000!

It includes a variety of traditional sweets, from jeonggwa (candied fruit and root) to yakgwa (honey cookie) and dasik (pressed tea cookies), so it seemed great for gifting.

I once had something similar to royal court sweets at Saenggwabang in Gyeongbokgung, and this reminded me of that. For anyone who likes traditional sweets, it should be a welcome gift. Another plus: you can pick and eat just the sweets you want to try one by one!

How do you choose bojagi wrapping at Haenggung Daol?

Haenggung Daol had a variety of bojagi designs, and the staff guided me to choose by the color I wanted. Bojagi wrapping is something you can't leave out of a traditional sweets gift set. The contents matter, but when the wrapping is pretty too, the recipient feels even better, right? haha

When visiting elders, I think a gift carefully wrapped in bojagi beats just carrying a plain box. For holiday gifts or occasions like a families' first meeting before marriage, where you want to be a bit more formal, bojagi wrapping seemed a perfect fit.

For people looking for a Suwon Chuseok gift or a Gwanggyo thank-you gift, this wrapping option seems quite appealing too! The contents matter, but so does conveying that you prepared it with care.

A traditional sweets shop run by a master of Korean cuisine

Several certificates and accreditations hung on the walls of Haenggung Daol, and when I checked, it's run by someone named a Korean Master of Korean Cuisine (대한민국 한식대가). On one side of the shop there were traditional objects too, and the mother-of-pearl bowls were really pretty.

These days you see lots of pretty desserts and gift sets on social media, but Haenggung Daol felt more special because it specializes in traditional sweets. It's not just a gift that looks pretty; I liked that you can experience a variety of traditional sweets. So I thought it would also be fine as a gift for people you want to thank, like parents or a teacher.

What's in the Daol No. 3 A set and how to store it

The Haenggung Daol Daol No. 3 A set is ₩44,000 and contains 10 sweets, with bojagi wrapping included. Best of all, each sweet comes in its own single-slot case!

You don't have to take everything out at once; it's easy to take out just one at a time, and I was told leftovers can be stored in the freezer. And each sweet was really cute, with different shapes and colors, so opening the box was a fun bonus~! hahaha

When you eat them, you just thaw them naturally for about 5 minutes, so that's handy if you want to taste several kinds slowly. For the recipient, it's nice too that they can take them out one at a time without pressure to finish everything at once.

How did my teacher react to the gift?

I gave the Daol No. 3 A set from Haenggung Daol to my teacher, whom I was visiting after a long time. Choosing a gift is hard for the giver, and you keep wondering whether the recipient will like it.

Especially when you don't know their taste exactly, it's harder to decide, but this set had a good mix of traditional sweets, so it was easy to choose without worry.

And when my teacher saw the gift set, she loved it, saying it was so pretty and cute! She also said the bojagi was too nice to throw away and she'd put it to good use, which made me, the one who prepared it, feel proud, haha.

In the end, a gift is enough when the recipient likes it. Next time I visit elders, I'd like to look at other sets at Haenggung Daol.

Looking for a thank-you gift in Suwon? Try Haenggung Daol

Thanks to the variety of traditional sweets and the careful bojagi wrapping, both the recipient and I felt good about this gift, haha. I liked that the set types are so varied that you can choose to suit the situation, from a light thank-you gift to something more heartfelt. With the bojagi wrapping added, the gift felt much neater and more upscale!

• Holiday gifts for parents
• Thanking a teacher
• Looking for a Suwon Chuseok gift or Gwanggyo thank-you gift
• Formal occasions like a families' first meeting before marriage
• Preparing a special gift with a traditional feel

If you're looking for a pretty gift set, remember Haenggung Daol for Suwon thank-you gifts!