Seongsu café plain bocado without dipping cream: Bocado Butter

I went looking for a different kind of Seongsu café dessert in a neighborhood that's packed with people even on weekdays. Walk a bit into the alley from Exit 3 of Seongsu Station and you find a café with a much calmer vibe than the busy street outside. Curious about the Thai-style butter crispy dessert said to be found only in Seongsu, I visited Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store.

Where is Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store, and what are its hours?

Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store is on the 1st floor of 11 Yeonmujang 7ga-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, and it's open daily from 10:30 to 22:00. There's no parking, so it's better to walk from Seongsu Station.

Bocado Butter is apparently the only place selling this Thai-style butter crispy dessert in Seongsu.

When I first read the sign, I thought, 'What even is a Thai-style butter crispy?' Curious, I went inside.

The showcase by the entrance had rows of delicious-looking bocado lined up, and to one side the owner kept making more on a large griddle. Watching them being made right there made me even more curious about what this dessert actually was.

Inside Bocado Butter: the space, the menu, and what we ordered

Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store has a warm wood-tone interior with pops of the brand's signature yellow. The calm atmosphere combined with the yellow accents made it feel bright and cheerful.

The menu features the signature bocado dessert along with various coffees, drinks, and set menus. There were eye-catching coconut options too, like coconut latte and coconut ice cream — I usually love coffee with coconut in it, and the coconut latte looked tempting, but I'd already eaten a big lunch and wanted something light. So, since it was my first visit, I went with the most basic combination: bocado 8pcs, an iced americano, and an iced latte.

You could add dipping cream to enjoy the bocado in more ways, but since I usually prefer plain, light desserts, I decided to try the basic bocado on its own this time.

Seating and the separate handwashing area

The store is on the compact side, but with both bar tables and regular tables, there were actually more seats than I expected. There was also a separate area inside for washing hands. Since bocado is a dessert you eat with your hands, I really appreciated having that space — it seems small, but it's genuinely nice to have at a place where you eat with your fingers.

What is bocado, the Thai-style butter crispy dessert?

While waiting for my order, I looked up bocado a bit. Bocado is a Spanish word meaning 'a bite.' True to its name, it's a dessert meant to be enjoyed lightly in bite-sized pieces, and Bocado Butter's signature bocado is thin and crisp with a rich buttery flavor.

My order finally arrived. The bocado came neatly arranged in a cute yellow box that made me smile just looking at it. My first thought was that it looked like a Korean jeonbyeong (thin rice cracker) rolled extremely thin and folded in half. It was even thinner in person than in photos.

Is the plain bocado without dipping cream too rich?

The plain bocado left quite a bit of buttery residue on my hands, but tasting it, there was almost no greasiness at all. I picked one up with freshly washed hands and thought, 'this leaves way more butter on my fingers than I expected — won't it be greasy?' But one bite completely changed my mind. The thin, crisp texture carried a nutty butter flavor really well. The crispness came with a subtle sweetness and just a hint of saltiness at the end, making it different from a plain butter cookie.

It's crisp like a cracker but not quite a cracker, and not quite bread either — the texture sits somewhere in between, which felt especially unique. It was the kind of thing that felt familiar yet unlike anything I could actually place. And since the flavor isn't too strong or too sweet, I kept reaching for another piece without meaning to. You know that feeling of 'just one more' turning into several... haha.

Iced americano vs iced latte: which pairs better with bocado?

The bocado was clean and crisp with the iced americano, and more nutty and rich with the iced latte. I usually assume sweet desserts pair best with iced americano, but surprisingly, the bocado went really well with the iced latte too. Since the dessert itself isn't too sweet or heavy, it wasn't overwhelming even paired with a smooth latte.

Eating it, I thought it would also make a nice gift. There's a Happy Box with the signature dessert in stylish packaging, which seems like a great option for anyone looking for a light dessert gift in Seongsu-dong.

When Bocado Butter in Seongsu is worth a stop

That day, my legs were tired from walking around Seongsu-dong looking at everything, and since I'd already had a big lunch, I wanted a light coffee break rather than a heavy dessert. Bocado Butter turned out to be exactly the right café for that.

It was a nice break away from the usually bustling atmosphere of Seongsu-dong, and getting to try bocado, a dessert different from the usual cakes and cookies, made the visit more memorable.

If you're on a Seongsu date looking for something a bit different, or want a Seongsu café dessert to go lightly with coffee instead of something too sweet and heavy, this place is worth a stop.