Siwoo · 2 stories

Weekend Sideboard

I write about cafés and restaurants I visit in Seoul and Gangwon. · Writes about: Cafés · Restaurants

Gangseo bakery in Dongchon-dong: chewy top 3 financiers, Byway Bakers

Byway Bakers Balsan Station is a financier and salt bread bakery café on the 1st floor of the Gangseo Hoguk Bohun Hall in Dongchon-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. This takeout run covered the three bestselling financiers — salty, almond chocolate and hwang cheese (yellow cheese) — plus Shanghai butter rice cake and mocha salt bread, and the financiers' crisp shell with an unusually chewy centre was the highlight. Financiers keep up to 14 days in the freezer, so Byway Bakers is a good place to stock up with the 5-piece package next time.

Written Sep 6, 2026Sponsored

PlaceGangseo, SeoulRestaurants

Magok Korean restaurant, Wando seaweed and Beolgyo cockles: Mikodam

Mikodam Magok-Balsan Branch is a Korean restaurant in Magok near Balsan Station in Gangseo, Seoul, serving full table spreads built around seaweed soup and cockle bibim (cockles mixed with rice and sauce). The full-table set for two costs 46,000 won and came with beef seaweed soup, soy-marinated cockle bibim and Jeju yellow crab, plus basic side dishes, japchae, stir-fried pork and a thick grilled mackerel. Cards on the table name the sources — Wando seaweed, Beolgyo and Yeosu cockles — and the same building's lot gives 3 hours of free parking, so Mikodam is an easy, trustworthy stop by car.

Written Sep 6, 2026Sponsored

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