Flavored cold presso at Kotomo Coffee, a Yeongdeungpo coffee shop

What kind of coffee shop is Kotomo Coffee Yeongdeungpo-gu Office branch?

Kotomo Coffee Yeongdeungpo-gu Office branch is a cafe that recently opened near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station, close to Dangsan Park. It's fairly close to home for me, and there are a lot of trendy cafes near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, where I actually used to work for a few years. People say there are always good restaurants near district offices and public institutions, but it feels like cafes and hip spots have really been multiplying there in the last few years. It's a nice neighborhood — get off at Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station, walk a loop around Dangsan Park, then head to a cafe for coffee. Since a new cafe called Kotomo Coffee had opened near the park, I went to check it out over the holiday.

Inside Kotomo Coffee: the room and the kiosk ordering

Geoje and Tongyeong apparently got hit with torrential rain that day, but in Seoul it was just occasional light drizzle. Kotomo Coffee had an umbrella stand set up right by the door.

You order via kiosk. There are quite a few offices around here besides Yeongdeungpo-gu Office itself — like the Seoul Southern District Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor — so plenty of office workers pop in for coffee around lunchtime. With two kiosks though, you shouldn't have to wait too long to order. Since it was my day off, I went after finishing a morning workout and lunch, so it was fairly quiet, which was nice.

Kotomo Coffee Yeongdeungpo-gu Office menu and prices

Kotomo Coffee had a wide range of drinks, from espresso variations to cold brew, ade, and tea. Besides drinks, there were desserts like egg tart, pound cake, and cookies, plus a summer-season cup bingsu (shaved ice). Even though the start of autumn (ipchu) had passed, it's still hot during the day, so a simple cup bingsu seemed like a good option too.

It was nice that ordering through the kiosk let you see photos of each menu item. It seems like this would be convenient for someone with a developmental disability to order too.

How is cold presso different from cold brew?

I got the Bonbon cold press, the Elderflower cold press, and the Kotomo egg tart. Cold press is a bit different from cold brew, and it's Kotomo Coffee's signature drink. Cold brew is normally made by steeping beans in cold water for a long time, which gives it a really high caffeine content — but cold press, the staff explained, is coffee extracted from cold water using a pressing method. They use flavored beans: the Bonbon cold press is scented with shine muscat grape, and the Elderflower cold press with elderflower, the flower that grows on trees in the elderberry family. I didn't know much about elderflower, so I looked it up — apparently it grows in wide, flat clusters and has a lovely scent, often used in sorbets and desserts, while the berries, elderberries, are made into jam in places like Hungary. I'll have to try elderberry jam sometime if I come across it.

Tasting the Bonbon and Elderflower cold presso with a Kotomo egg tart

The two cold presses and the egg tart came out. The coffee was made surprisingly fast.

Since I was taking it to go, I got the drinks in disposable takeout cups. Normally if you drink in the cafe you get a reusable cup, but I ended up waiting inside for a friend arriving by bike, so I got takeout cups instead. It made me realize I should really start carrying a tumbler with me more. My friend arrived soon after, and we split the Bonbon cold press and Elderflower cold press outside. Drinking the cold press was genuinely surprising and fascinating. The Bonbon cold press tasted like a grape drink mixed with coffee — no sugar or syrup added, but it felt sweet, probably because of the shine muscat flavoring. The Elderflower cold press also had a sweet, soft floral scent running through the coffee, so it felt like drinking tea and coffee at the same time. I ordered it because it looked unusual, and it was a hit! Next time I visit Kotomo Coffee, I think I'll order the cold press again.

The Kotomo egg tart. Apparently Hong Kong egg tarts, Macau egg tarts, and Portuguese egg tarts each have their own distinct characteristics, but I don't really know the details. I ordered this dessert to get a bit of extra protein after my morning workout. My friend and I split it in half — it was really soft and sweet, with a crisp, flaky pastry that was delicious.