Gangneung souvenir café: sand boxes split with a friend—Gangneung Sand

Where is Gangneung Sand Main Branch, and what is it like?

Gangneung Sand Main Branch (강릉샌드 본점) is at 31 Seonggokgoyang-gil 5beonan-gil, Gangneung, Gangwon, and it's open daily 9:30–19:00 (last order 18:30). This is the place that makes Gangneung Sand, a great Gangneung souvenir, and I only found out about it this time. Lots of shops put the Gangneung Sand name on their signs, but it turns out the real one starts here at the main branch.

As you turn onto a quiet country road, you'll spot a grand five-story white-and-blue building with a very Greek feel. That's Gangneung Sand Main Branch.

Go in along the entrance and there's an elevator, so strollers and wheelchairs can get up easily. Floors 1–3 are mostly the areas open to customers. There's also a 5th-floor observatory, but I went up and the door was locked, so I couldn't see it.

There's seating on the 1st floor too. Maybe because it was a weekday, it was quiet and empty, which I loved.

Awards and breakwater bread at Gangneung Sand Main Branch

At the main branch you can also see the awards the owner won at tourism souvenir competitions for products they made themselves, including Gangneung Sand and breakwater bread (방파제빵).

Aren't the breakwater breads adorable! Head to Anmok Beach, Gangmun Beach or Namhangjin Beach and you'll see breakwaters piled up like this around the lighthouses. Coming up with the idea of making bread in that shape is brilliant, I think.

How to order at Gangneung Sand Main Branch, and the events

You order through a kiosk, and there are all sorts of events running, from review events to a prize draw, so give them a try!

There are photo zones here and there too, so get some pretty photos~

Can you buy Gangneung Sand individually?

Gangneung Sand isn't sold individually; you can only buy it by the box. One box has 10, and flavors can't be mixed, so keep that in mind.

My suggestion: come with a few friends, each buy a box in a different flavor, and split them up to suit everyone's taste.

What we ordered with a friend: two boxes (coffee and corn) and canned drinks

The drinks at Gangneung Sand Main Branch are sold in cans, and I remember some unusual ones like a dried persimmon latte and a samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) latte. I got the canned iced Americano (₩4,000) and my friend got the strawberry latte (₩5,500). For the Gangneung Sand, we ordered one box each of coffee and Chodang corn (sweet corn from Chodang, Gangneung), and planned to split them in half.

Here are the drinks, which came out quickly, and the two boxes of Gangneung Sand we ordered. The whole place smelled of cookies from the moment I walked in from outside, and once I actually had the boxes in my hands I wanted to dig in even more.

The 2nd-floor sandpit and RC excavators at Gangneung Sand Main Branch

Up on the 2nd floor of Gangneung Sand Main Branch there's a big sandpit and a space where you can play with RC excavators.

I think it'd be nice for parents to relax with a coffee while the kids (elementary school age and up) play with the excavators.

How do you tell coffee from corn Gangneung Sand, and how do they taste?

We sat down, chatted, and decided to try a few of the Gangneung Sand we'd ordered.

The corn one is on the left and the coffee one on the right, and you can tell them apart by the color of the "Gangneung Sand" lettering on the side (yellow/brown).

My friend said the strawberry latte had a strong strawberry aroma and was packed with coconut jelly, which made it nice and chewy.

My canned iced Americano had ice inside too, so it was cool and clean-tasting. It goes perfectly with the sweet Gangneung Sand.

This is the coffee Gangneung Sand, a sand cookie filled with coffee buttercream. The coffee flavor isn't as strong as I expected, so it's easy for anyone to eat; the cookie is crispy and the cream is smooth.

With coffee, I personally found the corn one tastier than the coffee one. You get bits of corn here and there, and it's a little sweeter, so I think it went better with coffee.

Which flavor should you pick for your first Gangneung Sand?

I hear coffee and Chodang corn are the most popular flavors at Gangneung Sand, so those two are what I'd recommend if it's your first time.

After I got home my friend messaged me saying they'd finished the whole thing at some point, haha. They liked it so much that after finishing they said they wanted to go buy more. It was a dessert we really enjoyed. If you're wondering what to bring back as a Gangneung souvenir, I recommend giving this Gangneung Sand a try.