C Four Cake Boutique

Can you afford to stay at the Hyatt Hotel? If so, then this little cake shop looking down on Itaewon may be right up your street.

Exposed brickwork and a classy interior set the tone for this pricey little cafe. 6,000 won will get you the simplest of coffees and 10,000 is the minimum asking price for tea or juice.

The best bet if your wallet is feeling a little empty in these times of economic depression is to skip the drinks and go straight for the cake. With ten different cakey options on offer (tart/cheese/chocolate/crepe/shortcake/chiffon/roll cake/chou cream/almond tuille/stick pie) you are spoiled for choice. I decided to go for something dark and simple in the form of the Choco Mousse cake:

Choco Mousse Cake 6,000 won a slice or 60,000 won for the whole damn thing.

The cake looks stunning. A sexy black top with a fringe of white chocolate is enough to set off a chocolaty pavlovian response from even the most hardened chocoholic.

The first bite is a satisfying mouthful of chocolate, mousse and very soft sponge. Absolutely delicious, but as you get nearer to the edge of the cake and gorge yourself on the white chocolate decorations your ecstatic chocolate experience takes a turn for the worse...

The white chocolate is ever so slightly sickly, much like the cheap stuff you can buy at the bakery markets near Dongdaemun. It spoils the taste of the rest of the cake and is a real disappointment from a "cake boutique" that charges such high prices. Leonidas in Myeongdong makes the most fantastic white chocolate and perhaps the C Four Cake Boutique needs to take a leaf out of their book and rethink their recipe.

C Four Cake Boutique is just round the corner from the Grand Hyatt Hotel, give it a try if you have the cash, but beware the cakes that bear the mark of white chocolate.

You can go to their Korean language website or call them on 02 749 8511.