Interview: Korean Matcha Dessert Chef — "Green Tea Cakes Are Not Only Beautiful, They're a Superfood"
Host: Matcha Maya
Guest: Park Soo-jin, Head Pastry Chef & Co-Owner, Nokcha Dabang (녹차다방), Seoul
Location: A sunlit corner table at Nokcha Dabang, a matcha dessert house set in a peaceful back street in Ikseon-dong, Seoul
Date: 23/072026
Meet the Chef and Her City
Matcha Maya: Soo-jin, people in Seoul know your cakes even though you don't talk about them a lot. Many wait in line before the shop opens, and your matcha crepe cake shows up on every "must-eat in Seoul" list. But you did not start with baking cakes, did you?
Park Soo-jin: (laughs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear) Not even close. I studied food science at Seoul National University. For five years, I worked in a lab. I would test the nutrition that is found in different traditional Korean foods. Matcha — or nokcha, as we call it — kept coming up in my research. I would see the high levels of catechins, the L-theanine, and how much antioxidants there are. I kept asking myself: why do we think of this like it's just for healing, when it can also be used as a wonderful thing in desserts?
Matcha Maya: And now you have one of the most photographed dessert cafés in Seoul. How did you go from where you were to this?
Park Soo-jin: I joined a patisserie class in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu. I spent two years learning the French way to bake. When I got back to Seoul in 2019, I knew my goal. I wanted to bring together French skills and Korean tea life. Nokcha Dabang opened about six months after this. The name means "Green Tea Tea House." It repeats the word tea, I know. (smiles) But people in Korea feel the warmth in that.
Her First Memory of Matcha
Matcha Maya: Tell me about the first time you had real matcha. Not the one made in a lab, but the one you tried yourself.
I was seven when I went to see my grandmother in Boseong. This place is the most well-known spot for green tea in the south. She gave me a bowl of nokcha. She made it the old way. She used a bamboo whisk to mix it. I still remember the color most of all. It was so green, almost like something glowing. I thought my grandma gave me melted crayons. (laughs) The taste was sharp, more grassy than I was used to. I grew up with strawberry milk, so it was all strange to me. Still, my grandmother told me, "This is the taste of patience." I did not get it back then. Now, I know what she meant.
Matcha Maya: "The taste of patience." That's a nice thought. Do you feel that way of thinking is in your desserts?
Park Soo-jin: I drink it every day. Matcha is slow. You can't make it taste better by putting more sugar in it. You need to respect the tea. I use only single-origin matcha from Hadong. Hadong is not as well-known as Uji, but the tea has more umami and almost no bitter taste. When you work with tea that is this pure, your job as a chef is to show what is good about it, not cover it.
What Locals Eat and Drink With Matcha
Korean café culture is well known by people all over. But what do people there usually have to eat or drink when they enjoy their matcha desserts?
Park Soo-jin: A classic choice is the misutgaru latte. This is a roasted grain powder drink. It has a nutty taste and is just a bit sweet. It goes well with matcha. The drink brings out matcha's green taste in a nice way. A lot of younger people like to get dalgona cream on top of iced matcha. It looks good for photos, and it's also really tasty. In summer, most people order nokcha bingsu. That is shaved frozen milk with matcha syrup, red bean, and chewy rice cakes called injeolmi.
Matcha Maya: And what about food that is not sweet? Do Koreans have matcha with food?
Park Soo-jin: This does not happen much in the past, but now it's different. There is a café in Euljiro that has matcha-salt fried chicken. I was not sure about it, but then I ended up eating a whole basket. The matcha gives a taste that goes well with the oil. It really does go together. At Nokcha Dabang, we give a small yakgwa—a cookie with honey glaze—with each hot matcha. The soft feel and the honey taste work well with matcha.
Her Favourite Matcha Spot in Seoul
Matcha Maya: If you are not at home making it, where do you like to get matcha in Seoul?
Park Soo-jin: There's a small tea house in Bukchon named Cha Masineun Tteul—"The Garden Where You Drink Tea." An 80-year-old woman runs it. She brings in her own leaves from Jirisan mountain. She does not advertise the place. You find it after you follow a hand-painted sign down a stone path. Her matcha is thick—almost like paint. She gives it to you with one piece of dasik, a pressed rice-flour cookie with a flower pattern. There is no music, no Wi-Fi, and no menu. You get only tea and quiet. It is the most honest matcha experience you will have in the city.
Matcha Maya: That sounds nothing like the busy café scene.
Park Soo-jin: Yes, that's true. And I love both. Seoul shows this mix in a good way — you can drink a bright matcha latte in Hongdae late at night, then go sit in a 200-year-old hanok the next morning and have tea in a special way. That is the city I want people to get to know.
A Local Matcha Order to Try
Matcha Maya: If someone is exploring Seoul alone and goes into a café, what can they order to feel like a local?
Park Soo-jin: Say: "Nokcha latte, tteugeoun geollo, dalkomhaji anhge." This means "Hot matcha latte, not too sweet." In Korea, most cafés use sweetened matcha powder because people there like drinks sweet. Saying you want it not too sweet shows you know how to order well. If you want the drink cold, say "aiseu nokcha latte" instead.
Matcha Maya: And if they're at Nokcha Dabang?
Park Soo-jin: Order the Nokcha Gâteau de Crêpes. It is our main dessert, with twenty layers of matcha crepe. There is whipped cream between each layer and Hadong matcha powder on top. Have a hot hojicha next to it. Hojicha is roasted green tea. It has less caffeine and has a warm caramel taste. It goes well with the crepe cake and does not take over the flavor. That is the order.
Advice for a Solo Traveller
Matcha Maya: Your café is in Ikseon-dong. This is a neighbourhood where people can walk around for hours and not get bored. What would you say to someone traveling alone who wants to check out matcha spots in Seoul?
Park Soo-jin: First, do not feel scared to sit by yourself. In Korea, eating and drinking by yourself was once looked down on — honbap and honsul were words people did not feel good about. That has changed a lot. Now, cafés like to have people who come alone. Take a book with you, or just enjoy watching people go by outside. No one will tell you to leave in a hurry.
Second, use the café as your anchor. Pick one matcha spot in each neighbourhood — Ikseon-dong, Bukchon, Hongdae, Seongsu — and go out from there. Seoul's neighbourhoods feel very different from each other. Seongsu has an old factory feel, with a lot of warehouses that were made into new places. Bukchon is all about traditional hanok houses. Hongdae has young people and street shows. Each place has its own matcha feel.
Third, learn these two phrases: "Mashisseoyo" (it's delicious) and "Jal meogeosseumnida" (I ate well). When you say these to the server or the chef, you get warm smiles in Seoul, even if you do not say them perfectly.
Matcha Maya's Travel Notes
📍 Location: Nokcha Dabang, 55-55 Supyo-ro 55-gil, Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
💰 Cost: Each dessert costs from ₩6,500 to ₩12,000 (about $5 to $9 USD). A matcha latte costs ₩5,500.
🏙️ Area: Ikseon-dong has lots of small, twisting streets. The streets have updated hanok houses where you can find cafés, shops, and galleries. This place feels new and old at once, and there is still a lot of charm, mainly in the morning on weekdays before too many people get there.
🛡️ Safety: Seoul is known as one of the safest places for people who travel alone. Ikseon-dong has lots of light and you see people around until late at night. The trains run until midnight.
🌸 Best time to visit: April has pretty cherry blossoms. October brings lots of autumn colors in the trees. Skip late July and August unless you like humid weather. Nokcha Dabang is quietest between 10:00 and 11:30 AM on weekdays.
🗺️ Getting there: Take Line 3 and get off at Jongno 3-ga Station, Exit 4. Walk straight for about two minutes, then turn left when you see a small bakery with a blue roof. Go down the
Matcha Maya: Soo-jin, I have one last question for you. You said that some people call matcha a superfood. Do you think this is just marketing talk, or is there something real about it?
Park Soo-jin: (pauses, then leans forward) Both. The word "superfood" is marketing — it makes people think that one thing will fix everything. That is not how what you eat works. But there is real science about matcha. The EGCG catechins in it are some of the strongest antioxidants we know. The L-theanine helps make you feel calm but not sleepy. Chlorophyll helps your body get rid of bad stuff. These are not just claims from a blog — they come from careful research.
I tell my customers this: matcha's best quality is not found in just one thing. It's in the whole process. You slow down. You whisk. You wait. You taste something green that feels fresh. This is special, and you can't find it in a simple pill. Yes, matcha is a superfood. But not because it will let you live for many years. It's because it helps you notice and enjoy your everyday life.
Matcha Maya: That is a great way to finish. Jal meogeosseumnida, Chef Park.
Park Soo-jin: (bows slightly, smiling) Cheonmaneyo. Please come back in autumn. I will be making a persimmon-matcha tart then.
This interview is part of the MATCHA MAYA series. In this series, there is one bowl of matcha and one local story from every continent. You can read our Seoul café guide [here] and our interview with a Kyoto tea farmer [here].
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