Today was a good day. The sun was shining, it was a lovely 26 degrees C, and I got to feel really important (or pretentious) by wearing my (new!!) sunglasses until the minute the sun set. It probably wasn’t the best day to wear a skirt, but hey I was prepared. (With these super cute lace trim biker shorts from forever21). The best thing about today though, was no doubt, finding bloom and goûté during my Adventures Through Sinsa-dong.
If you’re thinking this place has a slightly weird name, there is an explanation. Bloom and goûté is the brainchild of Lee JinSook, who studied botany in London, and Jo JungHee, who studied baking in Paris. There’s a small area by the till where you can see the made-to-order flower arrangements be constructed, and there are two floors where you can sit and eat ridiculously tasty food (anyone say ‘All Day Brunch?’) while listening to a soundtrack that whisks you away from the streets of Seoul and straight into that dreamy, Parisienne atmosphere.
The menu had me literally giddy with excitement. Afternoon Tea. Traditional English Scones. A comprehensive list of all the different types of Tea’s I haven’t been able to drink for nigh-on 10 months unless I’ve been feeling like splashing out the cash for a cuppa (not often). But mainly scones with clotted cream and jam. They were offering a British summer staple and I definitely wasn’t going to say no. I also decided that saying no to the lasagna would be a cardinal sin, so ordered that too.
Yum, in a word. Very yum, in two with added awful grammar because really, after my first year of Uni and terrible, terrible ready meal lasagne (my parents only make the vegetable kind), this was quite honestly worlds apart. So gooooood. More pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee.
And then out came the scones. Devonshire clotted cream. Jam. I don’t care that the scones weren’t circular. They were fresh from the oven, so fresh the cream was melting as soon as it was spread. Ahhhh. Not quite perfection (the devonshire natives or the cornish have that), but pretty damned close and I’m definitely not going to snub anything homebaked in Korea. Home baking needs to become a trend. Ovens need to become a wide-spread household thing in this city that’s stolen my heart. I miss mine.
Please check this absolutely adorable spot out if you’re heading to Seoul, and try out the rest of the menu for me (they have a lot of comfort food classics). The general price for a main is from 8000-15000W, Afternoon Tea is 28,000W (for two people) – you get a selection of sandwiches, scones, jam, cream and a choice of tea’s.
address: Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Sinsa-dong 534-6
phone: (02) 535-6659
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