Gangnam cake shop, no cooler bag on the drive home: Chef Cho

Trying the peach berry cake at Chef Cho, a Seoul cake favorite inside Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam

Where is Chef Cho inside Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam?

Chef Cho is a fresh fruit cake shop tucked into the Sweet Park corner on basement level 1 of Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam. I don't usually love dessert, but I suddenly had a craving for cake. So I went looking for a Seoul cake favorite and ended up at Chef Cho inside Shinsegae Gangnam.

Chef Cho sits in the Sweet Park corner on B1, and true to the name, there were tons of other dessert shops around it besides this cake favorite.

Still, I'd come for cake, so I resisted all the other temptations and headed straight for Chef Cho, where the display case was loaded with cakes piled high with all kinds of fresh fruit.

Chef Cho display case: cake types and prices

On the Chef Cho display I saw the real mango rose cake at ₩56,000 and the chocolate whole strawberry cake at ₩53,000. Being a department store cake, the quality was noticeably high just by looking — the real mango rose cake (₩56,000) had thin mango slices arranged one by one into a rose shape on top, and you could really feel the care that went into it.

There were also cakes topped with fig, green grapes, strawberries and more, and all the fruit looked completely fresh.

One I'd been considering was the chocolate whole strawberry cake (₩53,000) — if you're in the mood for something sweeter and more dessert-like rather than a nutty cream-based cake, that one looks like a solid pick.

Browsing the display case at this Seoul cake favorite, I started really wanting to buy one and try it at home.

Do you need the cooler bag for a long drive home?

Chef Cho Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam offers cooler bag packaging for an extra ₩3,000. Since I'd come all the way from Pyeongtaek to Gangnam, I was worried the fruit might soften by the time I got home. Luckily the cooler bag option (₩3,000) was there, so if your trip home takes more than an hour, adding it is probably worth it.

I debated adding the cooler bag but decided to just blast the car AC instead, so I skipped it. The cake I bought was the peach berry cake (₩53,000), piled high with peaches and strawberries!

How the Chef Cho peach berry cake is packed, and the fresh cream

The peach berry cake packaging included a cake knife, a candle, and a card introducing Chef Cho. Once I got home and took the cake out, it looked even more delicious than it had at the department store. Along with the standard cake knife and candle, the intro card noted that this Seoul cake favorite uses 100% dairy cream.

It also said the fresh fruit on top is brought in every morning, which might explain why it looked so appetizing.

What does the Chef Cho peach berry cake taste like?

The peaches on top of the peach berry cake at Chef Cho have a firm texture, so they might not be for everyone. Rather than soft, mushy peaches, these were firm ones, which could split opinion a bit — but since the fruit was so fresh, the natural strawberry and peach fragrance coming off the cake was sweet.

I don't usually go for cream-based cakes because the cream often feels too heavy. But this cake from Chef Cho, a Seoul cake favorite, didn't have that heaviness I expected — it was nutty and light instead, and the sponge was so fluffy that it paired really well with the cream.

The other shocking part was the strawberries. Strawberry season these days runs from December to May, so finding strawberries this delicious in August was surprising — sweet and tangy in a way that came through clearly in the cake.

That was my review of trying the peach berry flavor at Chef Cho Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam, a Seoul cake favorite I really enjoyed!