Sojindam Sinsa Branch, once listed as a dessert cafe in Seoul’s Garosu-gil area, is now marked as closed on Polle. For readers looking up Sojindam black sesame desserts, the important update is simple: the Sinsa location at Seoul Gangnam-gu Nonhyeon-ro 161-gil 51 is no longer shown as operating on that listing, even though older travel and restaurant pages still preserve details about its menu and address.1
That mix of old menu listings and a current closure marker can be confusing if you are trying to plan a visit. The available sources do not give a specific closing date, so the most careful way to describe the situation is that Polle currently identifies “Sojindam Sinsa Branch” as closed, while other pages continue to describe the cafe as it was listed: a handmade cake and dessert cafe known for Korean-ingredient sweets, especially black sesame injeolmi cake.123
Sojindam Sinsa Branch Is Marked Closed

Polle’s page gives the clearest closure signal among the available records. It lists the business name as Sojindam Sinsa Branch, categorizes it as a dessert cafe, gives the address as Seoul Gangnam-gu Nonhyeon-ro 161-gil 51, and marks the store status as closed.1 That is the key fact for anyone searching with a practical question in mind: whether the Sinsa branch is still a place to visit.
Other listings help explain why the branch still appears in searches. onTrip introduces Sojindam Sinsa Branch as a cafe located at Seoul Gangnam-gu Nonhyeon-ro 161-gil 51 and lists several signature or handled items, including black sesame injeolmi cake, red bean mugwort cake, mugwort chestnut cake, and injeolmi cookies.2 Tripinfo also lists the same address, provides the contact number 02-542-5550, and shows operating hours of 11:00 to 22:00 with no regular closing day, but it does not separately mark the current closure status.4
That difference matters. When a directory-style page preserves older business information, it can still be useful for understanding what the cafe offered, but it should not be treated as proof that the location is currently open. Tripadvisor’s page likewise gives the Sinsa address, describes the place as a handmade cake and dessert cafe, and notes that there are no confirmed business hours available on that listing.3 Taken together, the records point to a branch that remains documented online for its dessert identity, while the clearest current status supplied here is closed.
Why the Black Sesame Injeolmi Cake Stood Out
The reason Sojindam Sinsa Branch continues to draw searches is not just the closure question. It is also the memory of its Korean-style dessert menu. The Korea Tourism Organization’s Visit Korea article, based on information written in May 2021, presented Sojindam Sinsa Branch as one example of a dessert cafe shaped around what Korean pop culture often calls “halmae taste,” a fondness for traditional, grainy, nutty, herbal, or softly sweet flavors associated with older Korean palates.5
In that article, Sojindam is described as serving more than 30 kinds of premium handmade cakes along with coffee, while reinterpreting Korean ingredients such as mugwort, black sesame, injeolmi, sweet pumpkin, and red bean in dessert form.5 That context helps explain why Sojindam black sesame became such a natural search phrase: the cafe’s identity was not built only around ordinary cakes, but around a familiar set of Korean ingredients presented in a modern dessert-cafe format.
The black sesame injeolmi cake was highlighted as a representative menu item. Its components were described as black sesame gateau sheet, injeolmi cream, and chewy glutinous rice injeolmi rice cake placed on top.5 Even without tasting notes beyond the source material, you can picture why the combination would be distinctive: black sesame brings a deep, roasted flavor; injeolmi cream connects it to the soft nuttiness of roasted soybean powder; and the rice cake topping adds the chewy texture that many Korean desserts are known for.
Older guide listings repeat that this cake was central to the Sinsa branch’s menu. onTrip lists black sesame injeolmi cake among both representative and handled menu items, alongside red bean mugwort cake, mugwort chestnut cake, and injeolmi cookies.2 Tripinfo also names black sesame injeolmi cake in both representative and other menu categories, reinforcing that this was not a minor side item in the way the cafe was presented online.4
Reading Old Cafe Listings With Care
For anyone discovering Sojindam Sinsa Branch through older travel pages, the safest reading is chronological. The Visit Korea article reflects information written in May 2021, when the cafe was being introduced as part of a broader dessert trend.5 Directory pages such as onTrip, Tripinfo, and Tripadvisor preserve address, contact, category, and menu details, but they do not all answer the same current-status question.243
That is especially important for a neighborhood like Sinsa and Garosu-gil, where cafes can become known for a specific menu item long after a particular branch changes status. The source material does not provide a reopening notice, relocation notice, final business day, owner statement, or explanation for the closure. It only supports the narrower conclusion that the Sinsa branch is marked closed on Polle and that older records identify it as a dessert cafe at Nonhyeon-ro 161-gil 51 with a menu centered on handmade cakes and Korean flavors.15

Sojindam Sinsa Branch is best understood now as a documented Garosu-gil dessert cafe whose Sinsa location is marked closed, while its black sesame injeolmi cake remains the standout source-backed menu item associated with the branch. If you are researching the cafe for food culture context, the older listings still explain why it mattered; if you are planning an actual stop, the closure marker is the fact to take seriously.
References
- 소진담 신사점 – 가로수길 디저트카페 (Polle)
- 소진담 신사점 (onTrip)
- 소진담 – 신사점, 서울 – 레스토랑 리뷰 (Tripadvisor)
- 소진담 신사점 (Tripinfo)
- 요즘 애들 다 흑임자 케이크 먹고 쑥 라떼 마신다, 할매 입맛 디저트 카페 3 (대한민국 구석구석 / 한국관광공사)