Cafe de Seoul has yet to offer full meals to its hungry patrons since only light meals, pastries, and drinks are on the menu at the moment. Since the café aims to bring the subtler side of Korean culture in the country, offerings include a selection of Korean teas and the famous Bing Soo, a Korean version of our halo-halo.
Instead of halo-halo staples like nata de coco, ube, leche flan, and minatamis na saba, the Bing Soo has sweetened red beans, nuts, mochi balls, and gelato atop a ginormous bowl of shaved ice. A bowl is good enough for 4 people with petite appetites who badly need a sugar rush. We shamefully admit that we were not able to finish 2 bowls of these (to think, there were 6 of us!).
Here’s the trick to eating a Bing Soo: folding (as conspiratorially shared by Nigel). We had no idea how folding works but we did it just how we murder the halo-halo: stick in the spoons until we reach the ice!
Ginormous bowls of Seoul Bing Soo and Green Tea Bing Soo
Ours came in 2 versions: Green Tea Bing Soo (Php200), which has a sprinkling of matcha (green tea) powder; and Seoul Bing Soo (Php210), that has 5 kinds of roasted nuts, ogok (powdered 5 kinds of grains) and drizzled with chocolate syrup. As shared by Nigel, they also have a Strawberry Bing Soo, which has the same ingredients but with strawberry ice cream and drizzle (of course!). Pat mentioned that most Koreans order this sweet treat around midnight, unlike Pinoys who love halo-halo during the afternoons.
Another unusual offering found on the menu: Sweet Kies in 3 flavors, namely, chocolate, strawberry, and tiramisu. Sweet Kies (Php105) is a kind of flaky pastry originally from Germany, served with a wooden mallet instead of the usual spoon or fork. Wrapped in plastic (it’s fantastic!), one must hammer this big ball of pastry for Sweet Kies to “break” into bite-sized pieces. Hold the pastry (still wrapped in plastic), instead of placing it on the plate, while hammering it, as pointed out by Nigel. There seems to be a rise in broken plates and cut fingers because of this treat.
Still untouched Sweet Kies, with the mallet deviously lurking behind.
Hammered Sweet Kies goes well with the yummy White Choco Mocha.
Munching on murdered Sweet Kies is best paired with a glass of White Choco Mocha (Php135), Cafe de Seoul’s answer to ice-blended drinks of popular coffee shops. Of course, the cafe has other coffee offerings that could tickle your taste buds. Fret not, coffee aficionados, for Cafe de Seoul has their own coffee master, Lee Cheol Joo, not to mention that the cafe’s roasted coffee beans are imported from Korea. In fact, there is a coffee drip machine in the café but alas, it hasn’t been operated for quite a while. A cup of coffee drip (Php160) tastes really bitter and is caffeine kick in a cup, Nigel added.
In case you’d rather have some light snacks instead, this coffee shop also has a selection of mini rice cakes (Php50 apiece) imported from (where else?) Korea. These frozen munchkins, akin to the Japanese mochi or local buchi, have fruit-flavored fillings inside the glutinous, colorful rice balls. Too damn cute to be gobbled up immediately! Not familiar with Japanese mochi? Check out our article on Mochiko mochi here: https://www.wheninmanila.com/mochiko-mochi-the-kookiest-dessert-in-manila/
Mini rice cakes with fruit-flavored fillings, akin to the Pinoy’s buchi sans the deep-frying.
Cafe de Seoul also has savory treats, albeit limited, such as croissants and sandwiches. One of their bestsellers is the Bread Egg Sandwich (Php105), ham and egg ensconced between toasted bread. Believe me when I say that these things go too fast! Once of out stock, the cafe does not make new ones, so yeah, better get them while you see them prettily displayed.
Newest menu additions are K-Bap or Korean rice burgers with either Spam (Grand Spam) or Donkatsu (Crispy Donkatsu) in-between.
The Bread Egg Sandwich. Gone too fast and down my gullet.
How about some refreshments, wherein iced tea is just not some powdered sugar mixed in water? Choose from a selection of iced Seoul teas for a different kind of beverage, beginning with the bestseller, Honey Yuja (Php130). Yuja, as explained by Nigel, is a Korean citrus fruit. Its honey-infused rind makes up for a refreshing cold drink, garnished with thinly sliced yuja.
Refreshing Honey Yuja and Deliciously Sweet Ddalgi Sonagi. Hey, that’s 3 Korean words!
Craving for a cocktail, but it’s a school night and you need to cram for next day’s exams? Perhaps, a mocktail could do the trick. These ice-blended drinks are so fruity you’ll forget you ever craved for some alcohol. Pick your poison, my friend, but Ddalgi Sonagi (Php155) is the highly recommended one. Literally translated to “strawberry rain”, this drink is a concoction of strawberry and kiwi, combined with blue curacao syrup to make it more colorful. Its sweetness reminds me of aratiles, a cherry-like fruit as sweet as cotton candy.
Cafe de Seoul tries to add something new to its menu offerings every month, says Pat, coming up with fresh and unique products to keep up with the ever-changing tastes of its cafe regulars. We’re the guinea pigs of food-tasting, Nigel quipped. In fact, the coffee shop now has freshly-baked donuts, a perfect companion to a cup of piping hot coffee. Most of the café’s ingredients are imported from Korea but perishables, such as fruits, are still sourced locally. There are plans to expand next year, setting up 5 to 10 branches around the metro. Perhaps somewhere South or North, we’ll see. For now, Cafe de Seoul, along with its youthful creative team, happily serves its patrons comprised of yuppies and students from neighboring colleges and universities.
When in Manila, soak in the subtler side of Korean culture at Cafe de Seoul with a glass of Seoul tea or a big bowl of Bing Soo.
Also, did you know that Cafe de Seoul often gives away rustic Herschel Supply Co. bags and hip Breo watches? To know more about this, check out the links below.
Cafe de Seoul
Unit 12 2/F One Archer’s Place, Taft Avenue, Manila
Tel. No. (02) 5531086
Website: https://cafedeseoul.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cafedeseoul
Twitter: @cafedeseoul
