Went to British-themed bakery “Scoff” after a calorie-burning cycling trip. I was really hyped-up to try brownies for the first time in forever! I had come across them during my first trip to Buamdong (부암동), which is a quaint, little district north of the Blue House (청와대). It was quite crowded, which added to my excitement. With so many western treats on display, hopes were high for this place!
I ended up getting the regular brownie after my friend mistakenly took the beet cake first thinking it was the brownie. Unfortunately, I was let down quite a bit with what we picked. The brownie was exceedingly dry and pretty one-dimensional. I thought the top crust would have a nice sugary bite to it, but it was too thin and the whole thing just tasted like a semi-dense piece of bland bread. There was more bitterness and virtually no sweetness. We had to go to the convenience store up the hill and get a whole liter of milk to wash down the desert-like drought that developed in our mouths. Even that wasn’t enough to combat the persistent dryness.
The beet cake was actually a bit moister than the brownie, but we weren’t used to the flavor of beets. This was slightly sweeter than the brownie, but not by much. It was edible, but eventually the beet aftertaste became a practice of endurance. It seemed to become more and more unpalatable to us as we went at it, granted I don’t think we’d like beets in the first place. The fact that we managed to finish it is a testament to how edible they can make an inedible veggie.
Needless to say this was one of the biggest upsets I’ve ever encountered in Seoul. I’m not sure if British people just eat dryer pastries, or if it’s something else. I wouldn’t mind trying them out again for the cream cheese brownie and the lemon cake which looked a bit better, but it’ll be hard to get past this sting.
