Suwon café outing with a newborn and stroller: Jeong Ji-young Coffee

Today I want to write about a visit I recently made to Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch, a longtime fixture of Haenggung-dong in Suwon. New cafés with unique looks keep popping up along the Haenggung-dong café street almost daily, but Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters has been famous for its coffee for so long that you can trust it whenever you go.

A famous café in Haenggung-dong, Suwon — Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch

A Haenggung-dong café outing with a newborn

This visit to Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch felt like our first outing as a couple with our newborn baby. It was a pretty special trip for us. With a newborn, there were so many restrictions on picking a restaurant or café. But Jeong Ji-young Coffee is somewhere I've always loved, so we just couldn't give it up and ended up going anyway.

Where to park at Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch

Because of how Haenggung-dong is laid out, Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch doesn't have its own parking lot, so we used the nearby Jangan-dong public parking lot. Weekend parking competition is pretty fierce, so I'd recommend arriving a bit early or taking public transit.

After parking and walking over, the distinctive red brick building and big signboard caught our eye from far away. It's a space converted from an old house, so it has a vintage yet warm charm that's really appealing.

Can you bring a stroller indoors or to the rooftop?

Inside Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters Haenggung Main Branch, there are a lot of stairs and the floors are split up, so bringing a stroller inside or up to the rooftop was too much of a stretch. So instead of forcing our way in, we settled into the outdoor chairs set up right outside the café building. The weather these days is just cool enough — not too hot, not too cold — so it felt like perfect timing to enjoy coffee outside.

Indoor atmosphere and 1st-floor bean and drip bag sales

Once we found a seat, my husband went inside to order. The interior of Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters has an exposed-concrete look blended with wood-tone furniture that feels cozy, and one side of the 1st floor sells coffee beans, drip bags, and cleanly designed goods. If you enjoy making coffee at home, picking up some beans or drip bags could be a nice bonus. Next time, once the baby is a bit older and can walk, I'd like to sit indoors or up on the rooftop with its pretty view.

How was the coconut latte and hot americano?

At Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters we ordered the signature coconut latte, a hot americano, and one chocolate cookie to go with it lightly. The menu is quite varied, as you'd expect from a roastery café. Maybe because we were drinking it while watching our baby sleep peacefully outside, the coffee tasted even sweeter than usual.

The hot americano had no sharp acidity — it was heavy and nutty at its base, an easy flavor for anyone to like without complaint. Since they roast in-house, even sitting in the outdoor chairs we could pick up a pleasant, subtle coffee aroma. The coconut latte I ordered brought together the soft, distinctive coconut flavor and a rich espresso in really nice harmony.

The Haenggung-dong alley mood from the outdoor chairs

With a newborn along, we didn't get to take photos against the pretty interior or the open fortress-wall view of Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters, but just sitting in the outdoor chairs and soaking in the relaxed, quiet mood of the Haenggung-dong alleys was healing enough on its own. Watching people pass by the alley, feeling a pleasant breeze, and sharing a delicious cup of coffee with my husband — that small moment gave us a boost of energy in the middle of tiring days of parenting.

If you're visiting Haenggung-dong with a baby and hesitating about going indoors because of the stroller or baby gear, I'd strongly recommend using Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters' outdoor seats on a nice day like this. You don't even have to go inside — the coffee alone is worth the visit.