My friend Sammie showed me the way to this cafe out near Sookmyung Women’s University. It’s a nice looking cafe, with a spacious and eclectic interior full of National Geographic style photography (the theme is Madagascar after all), photo gear, photo books, and random curios. I guess the owner is a photographer who visited Madagascar and kinda liked it. There’s lots of seating inside and it seems like a nice place to meet friends or study, with plenty of room to find a quiet corner to yourself, or a large table to accommodate a big group. (The photos below only show one side of the cafe).
They don’t offer any single origin coffees, or hand drip – though I saw a few drippers & servers behind the bar so maybe they did at some point or will in the future. They do offer the standard range of espresso drinks and flavored stuff, prepared on what looked like a Nuova Simonelli Appia (which, incidentally, must have good distribution here as it’s common in a lot of cafes).
The double espresso I tried looked nice, tasted pleasant, but the flavor wasn’t anything I’d go out of my way for. Just a solid enjoyable shot and a nice atmosphere. I tried a cappuccino as well and found it satisfying. In the photo if it looks a bit on the foamy side, it was. They make a rather “dry” style layered cappuccino with thick, fine foam on top, rather than the velvety, incorporated micro-foam that many specialty coffee people find preferable. But it wasn’t scalded and the foam had a nice, fine meringue texture. I had no complaints and enjoyed it.
Anyways, it’s solid coffee and a nice spot, check it out if you’re in that area. The space also apparently doubles as a photo studio or gallery and has lectures and classes. Check out their website for more information.
Click here for directions.
Take line 6 to Hyochang Park station and get out at exit #2. Turn around and go the opposite direction from the exit and take a right up the street. It’ll be on your right hand side after a short walk.
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3 comments
Louis says:
Aug 4, 2010
Hi!
I love the blog, well written, great pics and by the looks of things some excellent coffee shops.
My girlfriend and I live and work in the UK and we are heading out to Korea next week to visit her family and attend a family wedding. I’ve noted, thanks to your reviews, some quality looking places in Seoul to visit, though as the in-laws are from the south of the country we will be spending most of our time in Busan and I wondered if you knew of any suitable places to get a good brew down there.
Many thanks
Louis
admin says:
Aug 4, 2010
Hey, thanks, glad you enjoy reading the site! I’ve only been to Busan twice, not enough time to visit any good coffee shops, unfortunately. The only place I know of is a chain called Coffea. The current Korean barista champion works for them (not sure what location he’s at, though) so it should be good. Here’s a Korean blog with a map to their Busan shop: http://blog.naver.com/ssobangz?Redirect=Log&logNo=80110371617
Hope you have a good time here, it’s currently quite hot, rainy, and humid. I’m moving to Sweden next week, so from here on out the blog will be much more European in perspective :)
Louis says:
Aug 4, 2010
Excellent stuff, many thanks! We’re really looking forward to the trip and some proper warm weather.
Have a great time this side of the world, i look forward to your reviews of the European coffee houses. There quite a rapid rise in quality, 3rd wave places, tho clustered in certain cities, but flights make it relativity cheap to city hop . Last time i was in Stockholm we had fantastic coffee at a place you may of heard of called Johan & Nyström, defo worth checking out.
Happy travels and thanks again
Louis