Waiting for a window table at Suwolgyeonghwa, a Songjeong tea café

I visited Suwolgyeonghwa, one of Busan Songjeong's most iconic ocean-view tea cafés with a full window wall looking out over Songjeong Beach.

I was genuinely startled to see a train passing right along the beach! Let me give you an honest review of Suwolgyeonghwa, an atmospheric tea café where you can take in Songjeong's sea and the beach train together.

Where do you park at Suwolgyeonghwa?

There's a free parking lot in the piloti space on the 1st floor of Suwolgyeonghwa. If it's full, you can use the Kakao lot across the street or nearby paid lots — just note there's no parking support provided.

A different floor each time: the 2nd-floor photo zone and 3rd-floor floor seating

Going up to the 2nd floor, there was an atmospheric photo zone with the sound of waves, as if depicting a moonlit seaside. Suwolgyeonghwa, whose name means 'moon reflected in water, flowers reflected in a mirror,' really lived up to its name — a cozy Busan Songjeong café with a distinctly Korean beauty.

The 3rd floor has some floor seating as well as tables, and it was great for enjoying the Songjeong seaside through the full windows.

How long is the wait for a 4th-floor window table?

The 4th floor of Suwolgyeonghwa has the ordering counter and tables, and since it has the highest view in the building, it was especially popular. We sat somewhere else while waiting for a window seat to open up, then finally moved over and managed to sit down.

There were quite a lot of tea options, so I agonized for a while over what to choose. Honestly, I wanted to drink all of them, haha~

What we ordered at Suwolgyeonghwa and what it cost

• Dalbodre box ₩13,000
• Jeju Breeze ₩8,500
• Hojigabae ₩8,000

The Dalbodre box, Jeju Breeze, and Hojigabae came out — the Dalbodre box is Suwolgyeonghwa's signature dessert set, an absolute must-order menu item.

1) Dalbodre dessert box, 13,000 won

'Dalbodre' apparently means 'sweet and soft' in Korean. It looked just as gorgeous and delicious as that name suggests.

The five-piece dessert set consists of ganache monaka, gamtae (roasted seaweed) mentaiko financier, whole red bean butter monaka, an injeolmi (rice cake) skewer, and black rice sulbbang (steamed bread). It was sweet and chewy, satisfying in both portion and variety, and lovely to nibble on bit by bit alongside the tea.

2) Jeju Breeze, 8,500 won

The tea that surprised me most after drinking it was Jeju Breeze. It felt truly refreshing, with a clean taste and a subtle citrus aroma.

With hallabong (Jeju tangerine), chamomile, and tangy lemon, it had a bright, subtle hallabong-and-apple flavor layered with gentle chamomile aroma — refreshing and light without being sharp. I'm definitely planning to reorder this on my next visit.

3) Hojigabae, 8,000 won

This is apparently a meeting of roasted green tea (hojicha) and café latte cream. Hojigabae is Suwolgyeonghwa's signature drink, and behind the nutty cream I could taste a bittersweet, nutty coffee flavor.

It's a drink I'd recommend to anyone who likes grain lattes — unlike a regular latte, it has a strange, distinct charm.

With the view of the sea, and the train passing by on top of it, the space felt even more special.

Is Suwolgyeonghwa worth the wait? Final thoughts

• A Busan Songjeong café where you can take in both the ocean view and the beach train.
• An atmospheric tea café with a special range of teas and desserts.
• A café where you can enjoy special traditional dessert sets alongside a leisurely, healing cup of tea.