Gwanghwamun weekend date café with croissant sandwich: Lemangdoré

A café date by Cheonggyecheon stream at Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun. After a satisfying weekend meal, dessert has its own separate stomach, haha!

If a café can give you an iced americano and a sandwich dessert, that's the perfect healing snack between lunch and dinner, right? And if it also has emotional interior and comfortable furniture, it's the perfect vibey café~ Well, there's just the place for it~ I went to Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun~ Three floors of cozy, emotional space plus delicious bread and coffee made for a truly perfect Cheonggyecheon café date. Check it out in this review~!

Where is Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun, and what are its hours?

• 📍 17 Mugyo-ro, 1st-3rd floor, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• ⏰ Daily 08:00–21:00
• 🅿️ No parking available

A pure white, emotional building between City Hall Station and Cheonggyecheon stream — this is today's City Hall café bakery, Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun.

Seating on each floor, from the 1st to the 3rd

Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun was a spacious café with all three floors, from 1F to 3F, used as café space, each decorated with a different feel, which made it fun to explore each one's charm~

The 1st floor, where you can see the outside scenery through the windows,

and a spacious 2nd floor hall with comfortable seating that fits up to 12 people together

And then, made in collaboration with Fritz Hansen furniture~

the emotional 3rd floor gave off a lovely atmosphere and comfortable, healing vibes~

Choosing coffee beans and browsing the bakery counter

Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun has a wide variety of coffee, so I loved being able to pick different beans according to my taste, and there were also plenty of non-coffee menu options~

They had goods and coffee beans on display,

and there was a great variety of delicious baked goods and bread ready too~

The order: croissant sandwich, iced americano and financier

• Ham cheese avocado sandwich ₩1.1
• Iced americano ₩0.55
• Nutmeg financier ₩0.4

Since our earlier meal was a bit light (?), I decided to order a sandwich and a financier~

A delicious-looking sandwich with fresh ingredients layered inside a croissant, and

a nutmeg financier with a Jekyll-and-Hyde (?) two-face (bad example?) kind of charm looked absolutely delicious~

How the ham cheese avocado croissant sandwich tastes

Packed with avocado, ham, cheese and more, it really looked great!

The savory-salty flavor of the ham blended perfectly with the nutty taste of cheese and avocado, and the freshness of lettuce and tomato added to it, all wrapped in a nicely crispy-yet-chewy croissant. It was a great flavor that worked both as a meal and a snack~

Iced americano made with Noir beans

Next up, the iced americano!

Among the various beans, I chose Noir, and just as described — dark chocolate and roasted almond notes — it was nutty, well-balanced, with low acidity, exactly the rich, nutty coffee flavor I love. Totally my type~ Gwanghwamun coffee spot, confirmed~

What does the nutmeg financier taste like?

Next, the nutmeg financier! I didn't really know what nutmeg was and figured it was some kind of nut, roughly.. but it turns out it's the English word for the spice yukdugu (육두구)~ So I wondered if it would taste unusual~ but it had a mellow, unobtrusive feel, kind of like cinnamon, which made the white chocolate flavor come through even richer, with the nutmeg as a nice accent. It was moist and delicious to eat~ Thanks for the meal~

Is Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun a good date café?

I visited the City Hall café bakery Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun. Even though it's near City Hall, having three whole floors as café space, with far-reaching furniture, a wide variety of breads and desserts, and the rich, nutty americano that's totally my type — it really hit the spot as a Gwanghwamun dessert café. If you're looking for a café during a City Hall / Gwanghwamun date, give Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun a visit~ It has everything a dessert café should have, so you'll love it~!