Best Fruit Cakes in Seoul at Rice Dessert Cafe Chamsae!

Rice dessert Cafe Chamsae 카페 참새방앗간 is a well hidden cafe, which offers delicious cakes all made 100% of local rice flour (which means they are gluten free), unrefined sugar and creamy butter. Their signature cake is Fresh Mango Cake, but all other fresh fruit cakes are just as delicious as well!

Note: While the cafe emphasizes that they use only rice flour, it doesn’t explicitly declare itself as gluten-free on the internet. Please be careful if you have a high sensitivity to gluten or are concerned about contamination.

Cafe Chamsae is located in a neighborhood in Seoul with many small restaurants and cafes, just a 7-minute walk from Sadak Station, Line 2. I particularly liked the fairy lights and quiet music, especially in the evening. The cafe was perfect for spending a calm evening with a friend.

The metal sign with the cafe’s logo, a sparrow (Chamsae 참새) with a rice ear, is subtle, but the words ‘rice’ and ‘dessert’ caught my eye immediately as I walked by. On Sunday evening, only a handful of other guests were there, and the cafe was quiet, allowing us to choose our seats freely.

Unfortunately, many of my pictures didn’t quite do justice to the café because my phone camera doesn’t take particularly good photos in the dark. You can find more and better pictures from other guests on Google Maps and Naver Map (link below!).

The drink menu was diverse, as is common in most cafes in Seoul. Besides coffee there were also several teas, such as Peach Earl Grey and lemonades.

At the counter, there were individual slices of cake, whole cakes, and cake decorations for birthdays and other occasions.

When it came to choosing a cake, we were spoiled for choice. There were options like carrot cake, cheesecake, Shine Musket (grape) cake, fresh mango cake, fresh orange cake, and a few hours earlier, there had apparently been banana chocolate cake and chocolate cheesecake as well. Additionally, they had brownies, Earl Grey financiers, and cookies.

The fruits were incredibly juicy, and the cream was sweet and buttery, without being overly heavy or sweet!

Final Thoughts

With prices ranging from 7,000 to 8,000 Won for a slice of cake and 4,000 to 6,000 Won for a piece of cake, prices were similar to many other gluten-free/ rice flour cafes in Seoul.
Probably because it’s not directly in the city center, the cafe was a bit more spacious than many cafes I’ve written about so far. I can’t judge how crowded it is in the afternoon, but for me, it was a perfect place to enjoy my time with a friend while eating one of the best fruit cakes I’ve had in Seoul so far! The fruits, especially from the mango cake, were very fresh and juicy, and combined with the fluffy cream, they were super delicious without being too sweet.

Total: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)
Taste: ★★★★★++
Variety: ★★★★☆(4.5)
Interior: ★★★★☆ (3.5)
Access: ★★★★☆
Price: ₩₩₩ (normal prices for cake in Seoul)

참새방앗간 Cafe Chamsae
10:00~22:00, close on Tuesdays
Instagram
Google Maps: 66 Bangbaecheon-ro 4an-gil, 방배2동 Seocho-gu, Seoul
Naver Map