Forest-view Hongcheon brunch café before caravan check-in: Cafe Iseo

On the way to our Hongcheon caravan trip, we were craving brunch before checking in, so we stopped at Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch (카페이서 홍천점)! Honest review, from menu to tips. Let's go!

Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch: hours, location and parking

Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch is open daily 10:30-20:00 and closed on Wednesdays. Brunch can only be ordered between 11:00 and 17:00.

• ⏰ Daily 10:30-20:00 (closed Wednesdays), brunch 11:00-17:00
• 📍 957 Hanchigol-gil, Seomyeon, Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon, South Korea (between the Palbongsan tourist area and Vivaldi Park)
• 🅿️ Free parking in front of the café (about 20 cars)

What do the exterior and interior of Cafe Iseo Hongcheon look like?

Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch has a red-brick exterior and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Inside, it's decorated with wood tones and plants, and the big windows look out on green forest.

The pretty red-brick exterior gives off total overseas vibes. With mountains all around, the mix of mountain and brick really calms you down 😌

There's a big parking area right in front of the café, so no need to worry about parking at all! It fits about 20 cars!

The interior, with its mix of wood tones and plants, was totally our taste 🤩

The inside is huge and comfortable. There are seats from tables for two to group seating, and the tables are spaced far apart, so it looked even bigger and felt relaxed. There were several large paintings that suited the café's mood well. The fresh green scenery outside the window is healing just to look at 🌿

I bet it's even prettier in autumn when the leaves change color 🍁

Restrooms and facilities

There are separate men's and women's restrooms, and they were super clean and spacious, which I loved.

Blankets, hot water and cold water are set out. The air conditioning was blasting and it felt a little chilly, so it was nice that blankets were ready too.

Cafe Iseo Hongcheon brunch menu and prices

Brunch at Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch is ₩17,500 for open sandwiches, ₩19,500 for hot plates (shakshuka ₩22,000) and ₩16,500-₩18,900 for salads. Brunch can only be ordered 11:00-17:00, so keep that in mind!

Open sandwiches 🥪 - ₩17,500

• Guacamole
• Cream French toast
• Avocado & shrimp
• Shrimp & chicken
• Prosciutto
• Loaded shrimp (this one was sold out)

Hot plates 🍝 - ₩19,500

• Shakshuka (eggs in hell) ₩22,000
• Anchovy bacon pasta (spice level can't be adjusted)
• Shrimp cream pasta (spice level adjustable)
• Bolognese ragu pasta (spice level adjustable)

Fresh salads 🥗

• Burrata cheese salad ₩17,000
• Avocado cobb salad ₩16,500
• Chicken breast cobb salad ₩16,500
• Iseo salad ₩17,500
• Taco salad ₩18,900

Brunch takeout is available (+₩500), except for some items.

Besides brunch, there are desserts and all kinds of drinks like coffee and tea ☕️🍵 The menu has photos and descriptions, so it was easy to choose. After much agonizing, we ordered the guacamole sandwich and the shrimp cream pasta (medium spice)!

How do the guacamole open sandwich and shrimp cream pasta taste?

The guacamole open sandwich at Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch used such fresh avocado that the guacamole alone had a lot of flavor, and the shrimp cream pasta had a cream that got thicker as you ate, with a spicy kick that never got old. The food took about 15 minutes to arrive.

The food took about 15 minutes, so we got our iced americanos first to cool off. You can choose between a nutty flavor and a more acidic one for the americano! We went nutty, no question! The coffee was so good ☕️

The guacamole sandwich and the shrimp cream pasta, ta-da! Look how plump those shrimp are 🍤

The open sandwich has a long strip of whole bacon, so just slice it down the middle, swish swish, and share! Maybe because the avocado is so fresh, the guacamole had a lot of flavor even on its own. And the sprouts on top were so fresh I was surprised, and the lightly drizzled dressing really whets your appetite.

The shrimp cream pasta is our dream pasta 🍝 Why doesn't it taste like this when we make it at home..?! We chatted about that while happily eating. The cream got thicker as we went and got better with every bite, and the spicy kick that hits now and then 🌶️ keeps it from getting boring! Overall the ingredients felt super fresh.

On the way out, I saw they grow basil and other herbs themselves at the entrance, so I wondered if that's why everything tasted so fresh 🌱 (Why won't my arugula grow..?! 🥲)

Visit tips for Cafe Iseo Hongcheon 🍯

At Cafe Iseo Hongcheon Branch, if you order one menu item per person and join the receipt review, you can get one americano refill or takeout, and turning on Naver Map notifications gets you a 10% discount coupon.

• ☝️ One menu item per person lets you join the receipt review - one americano refill or takeout
• ✌️ Turn on Naver Map notifications for a 10% discount coupon

You really can't miss tips like these. If you're heading to Hongcheon, definitely have your brunch with a forest view at Cafe Iseo!