Cafe A (cake buffet), Hongdae

Because I am a dwaeji, and also a cheapo, there are few things in life more pleasing to my ears than the words "buffet" and "all you can eat". So needless to say, when I heard about an unlimited cake buffet in Hongdae, my inner heffer was immediately titillated.

The deal is that you buy one drink per person and pay an extra 6,900 won for unlimited access to sugar + carbohydrate utopia. As drinks start from as low as 3,900 won, this makes it entirely possible to have all-you-can-eat dessert for as little as just over a manwon.

DROOL.

Of course, this price isn't going to get you anything like high tea at The Ritz in London, but the value is definitely there and (most of) the cakes do taste pretty decent.

Fancy coffee devices and sweet, sweeeeet cakes.

Antigua Guatemala drip coffee (5,500 won), frappe (5,900 won)

The cafe has 13 different types of cake and, being the dwaeji I am, I resolved to try every single one of them. My first slice was the green tea mousse cake:

I hate to say it, but this was a mistake. It didn't really seem to be "mousse", but rather 2 layers of sponge cake coated in something green that tasted like the kind of faux cream they use to ice the cakes at Paris Baguette. Sadly, my stomach doesn't have a high tolerance for that stuff and I also found it didn't have a strong enough green tea flavour for my liking, so that was a disappointment.

For the next few rounds, I decided to revise my strategy and not give up any more precious stomach space to the fake mousse, going straight for the cheesecakes instead:

Chocolate cheesecake

(Not really "chocolate" though, as the only cocoa content seemed to be in the base and the decorative stripes in the glazing)

Layered cheesecake

(Can't really say there are many layers going on here... u__u)

Questionable names aside, I'd say the cheesecakes were pretty decent, as far as cheesecakes in Korea go. I'm sure most foreigners are all too familiar with the awful experience of biting into a "cheesecake", anticipating that rich, smooth deliciousness, only to find that what they're ingesting is nothing but a misleading mass of cheese-coloured material that tastes like a sponge (*cough* Paris Baguette *cough*). Fortunately, that didn't happen at at Cafe A. Their cheesecakes were smooth and creamy with a bit of tang, just with a lighter texture and not as rich as their western counterparts. I really liked the layered one with its crunchy chunks of chocolate biscuit.

Some of the other cakes on the menu included:

Tiramisu

Plain cheesecake

Chocolate ganache cake

Cassis cake

Mountain strawberry mousse cake

At the end of the day, I wound up having only four pieces, which was a far cry from the thirteen I'd been so gungho about devouring.. A sad story coming from the fatty who could once down half a pizza and a litre of chocolate ice cream in one sitting. Age must be catching up to me, hah. :(

Regardless though, I still think the cafe is worth visiting if you have a sweet tooth, a ravenous appetite, and an innate desire to penny-pinch whenever possible. (Like me!) My only recommendation is to start with the cheesecakes first before you move on to trying the mousse ones. XD



Cafe A (Cafe Amazing Grace), Hongdae
Hours: 11am - 12am (midnight)
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 364-21 (364-21 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://cafea.co.kr/
Directions: From Hongdae Station exit 9, go straight and take the second left. Here, you'll want to cross over the road to the side with Forever 21 and Taco Bell. Take the third right, onto the "parking street" where you'll find lots of parked cars in the middle. Follow this street for a couple of minutes and you'll reach a 4-way junction. Keep going straight and Cafe A will be on your left, just a few metres down from the junction, next to Ho Bar Ten.