Chocolate cake that's worth the wait

Warm chocolate cake

Chocolate is what’s been keeping me alive under the tremendous amount of stress and frustration at work these days. Every night, there is only one thing on my mind when I get home: warm chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

I first tasted the minicake in 1997 at Nougatine in New York City, and as the warm chocolate lava slowly spilled over my dessert spoon, I knew I was falling in love. It has become a ritual for me to go back to Nougatine at least once a year to taste the harmony of tender cake and intense chocolate fondant and forget about the bad things that happened that year.

Mobssie, a chocolate cake cafe in Hongdae. By Ser Myo-ja

New York City is on the other side of the globe, but I have found a magical dessert in Seoul. Mobssie is a small chocolate cafe near Hongik University, better known as Hongdae.

Mobssie gets its name from the Korean for “very much,” so people can say I am “Mobssie” fond of the cafe’s offerings.

Mobssie

Mobssie’s Just Baked Chocolate Cake - Moelleux au chocolat is slightly different from that of Jean-Georges, but it offers decent competition. The chocolate cake (4,500 won, $3.27) takes about 15 minutes to bake and it’s served inside a small cup, topped with icing sugar. The top is slightly gooey and the warm chocolate lava lies just under the surface and underneath is a layer of moist chocolate cake.

The cafe serves a signature Mobssie coffee (4,000 won), and the jumbo bowl of mild coffee is a perfect match for the warm chocolate cake.

Mobssie’s interior screams that you are in Paris. The Tiffany-blue painted walls and frames of photos depicting France are adorable. There’s seating for about 20 people and I have never waited for a seat before, but last Saturday the joint was packed. While I was waiting for my cake to be baked, a queue formed outside.

Some things are worth the wait.

By Ser Myo-ja Staff Reporter[myoja@joongang.co.kr]