Castella prep times 10–11am at a Gimpo Gurae-dong bakery: Jinsim

What kind of shop is Jinsim Castella Gimpo Gurae Main Branch?

Jinsim Castella Gimpo Gurae Main Branch is a castella cake specialty shop at 1F, 525 Gimpohangang 4-ro, Gimpo, Gyeonggi. It's open 10:00–21:00, with parking available in the lot behind the store or the building's basement lot, and 30 minutes of parking is supported once a day with an order. Orders are placed at a kiosk, and takeout is available.

You don't really think of many specialty castella shops when you're craving castella, right? I was looking for a snack to share with my kid and found out there's a castella specialty shop in Gurae-dong, so I went to check it out.

I thought they'd only have plain castella, but once I got there the variety was bigger than expected, so I stood in front of the kiosk for a bit deciding what to get.

Jinsim Castella menu and prices: original, chocolate, mugwort and mocha

The signature menu at Jinsim Castella Gimpo Gurae Main Branch is original castella at ₩8,700 and original whipped cream castella at ₩9,700. On top of that there's chocolate castella ₩8,700, chocolate whipped cream castella ₩9,700, mocha castella ₩8,700, mocha whipped cream castella ₩9,700, mugwort castella ₩8,700, mugwort whipped cream castella ₩9,700, and half-and-half whipped cream castella ₩9,700.

A single whipped cream is ₩1,500, and beyond the plain whipped cream you can choose chocolate, Oreo, Lotus, injeolmi (sweet rice cake powder), salted caramel, apple cinnamon, Earl Grey, and more.

You can just buy plain castella on its own, or pick one with whipped cream in it, so it was nice being able to choose based on preference.

Drinks you can add to a castella order

Jinsim Castella Gimpo Gurae Main Branch is a castella specialty shop, but it also has a simple drink menu alongside it.

Americano ₩2,500, café latte ₩3,500, hazelnut Americano ₩3,200, hazelnut latte ₩4,200, vanilla bean latte ₩4,500, matcha latte ₩4,500, low-sugar matcha latte ₩5,000.

If you're taking it home to eat right away, it's nice to order coffee along with it too.

Two boxes for 19,400 won: one original cream, one chocolate

After some back and forth, I packed up one original whipped cream castella and one chocolate whipped cream castella. Both were ₩9,700, so ₩19,400 total!

I considered just sticking with one flavor, but since I'd be eating it with the kids I added a chocolate one too, and I was glad I brought home two kinds.

The original combo is easy for anyone to enjoy, while the chocolate one feels a bit more like eating a proper dessert, so it was nice being able to pick whichever one I felt like on a given day.

Original whipped cream castella: the safe classic

The original whipped cream castella (₩9,700) is fluffy castella with whipped cream sandwiched inside.

With the whipped cream added in, it's much softer to eat than plain castella alone, and it was great to give the kid with a glass of milk, or to have with a cup of coffee I brewed myself.

There are days when a heavy dessert like cake feels like too much and you just want a simple piece of bread. This is exactly the kind of thing to pull out on those days!

Chocolate whipped cream castella: hard to pass up for chocolate fans

And then the chocolate whipped cream castella I packed alongside it! If I'd only bought the original whipped cream one, I think I would've gotten home and regretted not buying the chocolate one too, haha.

It's chocolate castella paired with chocolate whipped cream, so the flavor is clearly different from the original whipped cream castella. Because of that, buying both didn't feel like buying two similar things.

Great as a snack for kids, and if you're into chocolate desserts like me, this one's worth trying too.

When does the castella come out? Between 10 and 11am

Apparently at Jinsim Castella, the original, chocolate, mugwort, and mocha castellas are prepared in stages every day between 10am and 11am. They can sell out early if ingredients run out, so if you want a specific flavor or you're visiting later in the day, it's a good idea to check before you go.

This time I brought home the original whipped cream and the chocolate whipped cream, but there are so many kinds that I'm already curious about the half-and-half whipped cream for next time~ If you're in Gurae-dong looking for a kid's snack or a simple dessert to share at home with the family, packing up a box of castella here was a good choice.

It's not so fussy that it feels like wrapping a gift, and both kids and adults can enjoy it together, so it made a nice snack to keep at home~!