Weekend open-kitchen bakery watching in Ansan: Degree Gojan Branch

📍717-2 Gojan-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi / 🚘 2 hours free at the building's underground parking lot / ⏰ Daily 07:00–24:00 / Open year-round!

My Ansan friend's regular spot — turns out I'd been here before

After eating with my friend it felt like a waste to just head home haha 😭, so I thought maybe we'd grab a café at least ~ and we went to ☕️ ➡️ Degree Gojan Branch, my Ansan friend's regular spot❗️

But walking in, something felt oddly familiar...? When I heard the name I had no idea, but once I actually visited it turned out lol I'd been here once before with friends 👀?!? 🥐🤎 Oh my gosh... so this was that famous place ~??

✨ Turns out Degree is a pretty long-running local café brand in Ansan 👍🏻 It started in 2014 and runs several branches, and the Gojan branch opened in 2020! There's a wedding hall nearby too, so it's convenient for grabbing a café with friends right after a wedding❗️ (Actually, that's exactly how I came here last year lol)

Weekend atmosphere and seating

✨ Maybe because it was the weekend, there were seriously so many people 🫢 But the store itself is huge and clean, so it never felt cramped ❌ The tables are also split into several zones, so if you grab the right spot you can sit comfortably and relax haha

The bakery work space visible through the glass

✨ On one side of the store, they were hard at work making bread 👀🥖 The layout has a transparent window into the bakery work space, so you can actually watch the bread being made! Seeing it made right there in front of you somehow builds even more trust... 💕

✨ The drink menu is more varied than I expected too. On top of coffee, there are ades and fresh fruit juices, so it's easy to pick a drink to pair with the bread ~~

A display case with a huge variety of bread

✨ Guys, Degree really has so many kinds of bread!! I'd just eaten a full meal, but seeing the bread case made me suddenly want more haha..

✨ Nearly everything I love — salt bread that's basically Ansan's answer to Seongsimdang, kouign-amann and other pastries, baguettes, brioche — all my favorite kinds of bread!?🥖

✨ There are also sandwiches and brunch-style breads that are easy to eat, so it feels like you could come here just for a meal!! So this is worth checking out not just for people looking for a Gojan-dong dessert café, but also anyone hunting for a brunch café ~~

✨ Apparently Degree Gojan Branch bakes fresh every morning 👀 They said they use French flour and Lescure butter and such (I don't really know the details.. but it sounds good so I'm writing it down haha). Despite having just eaten a full meal, I stood in front of the display case agonizing over choices for way too long…🤣

✨ There were already a lot of people when we walked in, but by the time we left there were even more?? So I didn't get to take too many photos ㅠㅠ Definitely a popular café...

Studying, dates, and family groups alike

✨ The overall vibe is exactly that trendy, Instagram-café feel these days! I saw plenty of people studying in the café, couples on dates, and quite a few family groups too!

✨ With almost every seat taken, my friend tucked herself into a corner spot lol so c.. cute..

✨ If you say you're eating the bakery items there, the staff will even cut them up nicely for you!

✨ In the end I couldn't resist and came back with a whole pile of assorted bakery items lol🥐🥯 We'd definitely already eaten, and yet I have no idea why I ordered so much bread~ But when there's this much good-looking bread right in front of you, how are you supposed to pick just one

Coffee and watermelon juice — the drinks are a hit too

✨ But honestly the drinks here are pretty great too🫢👍🏻 Even the americano has different bean options, with acidic or nutty notes, so you can drink it exactly to your taste — and honestly the coffee itself is just really delicious

✨ And the watermelon juice I tried!! 🍉💚 Not watermelon syrup — it genuinely tastes like watermelon just blended straight up! Watermelon (well.. of course, since it's watermelon juice) lol but honestly it's the best watermelon juice I've had this year — personally the best thing I ate that day… 🤭

✨ Lastly ~~ there's a review event where you can get Dutch coffee concentrate, so make sure to join in too!! That's the end of this review-✨

Who should visit

Overall the store is spacious and clean ~ with a wide variety of bread and solid drinks too, so even coming back after a while, I was very satisfied with 'Degree Gojan Branch'

• Anyone looking for a casual café after visiting the nearby wedding hall
• Anyone looking for a place to chat with friends over bread
• Anyone looking for a Gojan-dong dessert café or brunch café

Next time I'll come without eating a meal first and properly work through more of the bread lineup!!! Bye ~💕