Balsan Station café lunch date: decaf cold brew & financiers, Byway

Maybe it's because the weather has turned chilly, but I was craving financiers (small buttery almond cakes) so badly! You might wonder what chilly weather has to do with financiers, but we bread lovers are sensitive to the weather, okay..? So I went looking for a great financier spot and heard about a bakery selling firm financiers that are crisp outside and chewy inside, and I ran right over! It's close to Balsan Station so it's easy to reach, and it's loved by office workers too. Let me introduce Byway Bakers Balsan Station 😆

Where is Byway Bakers Balsan Station and when is it open?

Byway Bakers Balsan Station is on the 1st floor of the Korea Distinguished Service Medal Association building at 45 Gangseo-ro 56ga-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. It's listed as open daily 09:00–20:00 and closed every Wednesday. There's no parking, so it's best to go by public transport.

Come out of Balsan Station Exit 3 and head into the alley beside The Venuzi building, and you'll find Byway Bakers there.

The shop is pretty big, so I found it right away!

What is the seating like at Byway Bakers Balsan Station?

Byway Bakers Balsan Station has both an outdoor terrace and plenty of indoor seating. There's an outdoor terrace that seems perfect for this time of year, especially during the daytime~

Inside there were plenty of seats too. It looked like the seating goes all the way to the back!

The weather was lovely, so we grabbed the sofa seats near the window.

As a dessert café famous for its bread, the bread showcase was quite big. It's enclosed behind glass, so it looked clean and hygienic too! We grabbed a tray and tongs and set off on our bread hunt!

What breads and pastries does Byway Bakers sell?

Byway Bakers is best known for its financiers, but besides baked sweets it also sold meal breads, salt bread (buttery rolls with a salty crust) and more. Salt bread is nearly as famous as the financiers, so there was a nice variety of it too.

They also sold pastries, egg tarts and butter tteok (butter rice cake). The basic salty financier takes up quite a big spot, probably because it's the most popular.

Byway Bakers financiers sell out even at weekday lunch

There were lots of other financier flavors too, but even though this was a weekday lunch, some were already sold out! Someone was buying financiers in bulk while I was choosing!! That's how famous they must be for financiers..? So we picked the basic salty financier and the yellow cheese financier.

Financier and salt bread package discounts

There are also financier and salt bread packages, with a discount if you buy in bulk! The discount was pretty big, so they looked good for gifts or thank-you presents.

Fresh-fruit sticky rice cakes, wax-paper salt bread and the Dubai series

Fruit mochi (chewy rice cake) has become a trend lately after Hanjeongseon bread got popular, and they were quick to follow the trend, selling fresh-fruit mochi too.

When I went, they had shine yogurt mochi and chocolate banana mochi. They also had the wax-paper-wrapped salt bread and the Dubai series, which were once a big trend.

Byway Bakers drinks menu and how to order

Because of my diet, I picked just two financiers first, then looked at the drink menu! The prices weren't bad for a bakery café. I ordered the decaf cold brew, and my boyfriend ordered the apple hongcho hibiscus tea (hongcho is a tangy fermented vinegar drink).

I was totally taken in by this and told my boyfriend to order it,, haha

You can pay at the kiosk, and they also take payment at the counter.

Self-service water and tissues are at the pickup zone.

How do the decaf cold brew and apple hongcho hibiscus tea taste?

Our order came out quickly!

The financiers looked so crunchy and chewy that I couldn't wait to dig in, haha

My decaf cold brew!! I really love how clean cold brew tastes, haha. Byway Bakers' cold brew was a clean, refreshing coffee too.

My boyfriend's apple hongcho hibiscus tea was a tangy hongcho, a bit light, with a faint hibiscus aroma? It felt fresh, which I liked, haha

Salty vs yellow cheese financier: what's the texture like?

And the financiers I was looking forward to most!! I cut into the salty financier first. You can feel the crisp-outside, chewy-inside texture from the moment you cut it!! You can tell just by looking how crunchy that edge is, right?

Just as expected, a beauty of a financier, crisp outside and chewy inside,, haha Since it's the classic item, the salty financier showed that crisp-and-chewy contrast best.

Next, the yellow cheese financier!

The yellow cheese financier has a yellow cheese base, and on top it's covered with Poto crackers and a yellow cheese chocolate coating.

The yellow cheese flavor wasn't super strong; it was a sweet, mild yellow cheese taste. And the crackers in the chocolate coating maximized the crunch! Both were so good that I was satisfied,, haha

Is Byway Bakers Balsan Station worth a visit?

I went to Byway Bakers Balsan Station because it's a financier hotspot, and true to its reputation, the financiers were really delicious. It's a trend-savvy café, so it was nice to have such a variety of items! If you're curious about trendy desserts like fresh-fruit mochi or wax-paper salt bread, it's worth stopping by once!