Cheonan garden café, order-first entry and shrimp risotto: Pino Cafe

This time I visited Pino Cafe (피노카페), set in Taehaksan Natural Recreation Forest in Pungse, Cheonan. It has a beautiful 3,000-pyeong garden for all four seasons, so it feels less like a café and more like a healing theme park in nature. Looking for a brunch café in Cheonan? Wondering about a date course in Cheonan? Searching for a place to go with your dog? If you want a pet-friendly café in Cheonan, please read to the end!

• Address: 99-23 Hyuyangnim-gil, Pungse-myeon, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungnam, South Korea
• Hours: 10:00–20:30
• Closed: open every day

It's a place to enjoy stylish brunch, desserts and coffee while looking out at a chest-openingly wide view of Taehaksan. The intro line, "building a fairytale world on 3,000 pyeong," is no exaggeration. A big "wow~~~~" just came out of me! Even among Cheonan cafés, I felt it's rare to find one that's this fun to walk around and explore.

Where do you park at Pino Cafe?

Pino Cafe has Parking Lot 1 and Parking Lot 2. If both are full, park in the public lot in front of the Taehaksan management office and walk about a minute.

Pino Cafe interior and the sunroom

Step into the main building and you'll find a hall with red brick walls and wooden tables spread out sooo widely. The ceiling is full of hanging red ornament balls, ribbons and string lights. I bet the Christmas mood here is the best. The spacing between seats is really generous, right?

What impressed me most was the sunroom at the back. With layers of white fabric draped from the ceiling, orange chairs, green plants and a huge teddy bear, it felt like a scene from a movie. If you love taking photos, you'll definitely love the Pino Cafe sunroom.

Self-service corner and dog treats

The self-service corner has water, cups, napkins, wet wipes and a microwave, plus a self-service packing table. There's a notice asking you to return used dishes to the main building, so keep that in mind! The fridge by the counter is full of bottled and canned drinks, and a basket holds homemade dog treats.

The Pino Cafe garden is order-first entry

It would be a real shame to see only the indoors at Pino Cafe! Under the pine trees there's a photo zone with teddy bears, nutcracker dolls and sparkling butterfly lights.

I walked straight toward the garden to take photos first, but the sign at the entrance said "Please order before entering." I made an awkward U-turn and went to the counter first, haha. If you get as impatient as I did, just order first and then head out to the garden!

Follow the deck path to a signpost, and beyond it an orange flower field opens up. A red windmill stands right in the middle, and pinwheels are spinning here and there. Wow, this scene alone makes it a good Cheonan date spot, doesn't it? The Taehaksan forest wraps around behind like a folding screen, so if someone says "Pungse café," this is the view I'd think of first.

Pino Cafe camnic prices and conditions

The outdoor picnic zone at Pino Cafe (called "camnic," a camping-picnic) costs ₩30,000 for 2 hours, ₩50,000 for 4 hours and ₩100,000 for all day (all for 4 people), with ₩10,000 added for each extra person. Each tent is described as a private space with heating and cooling, and you can book via Naver or on site, even same-day ^^

• ₩30,000 for 2 hours / ₩50,000 for 4 hours / ₩100,000 all day (for 4 people)
• ₩10,000 extra per additional person
• Hours 10:00–20:00
• No outside food and no cooking

Wet wipes, board games and colored pencils are set out inside the tent, so I thought it would be nice to come with kids too.

The wide lawn has parasol tables and rabbit-shaped lights. A review event is also running, so give it a try ^^

Pino Cafe menu

Pino Cafe offers a wide range, from brunch to desserts and bakery items. Please check the menu photos above for details ^^ Brunch is prepared every morning with fresh and seasonal ingredients, and the desserts and bakery items are made the same day. So the lineup suits anyone looking for a brunch spot in Cheonan.

How do the shrimp cream pasta and shrimp tomato risotto taste?

Ta-da!!♡ At Pino Cafe I ordered shrimp cream pasta, shrimp tomato risotto, red bean butter salt bread, castella salt bread and iced coffee. It looked so good I wanted to write a Cheonan restaurant review! I couldn't wait to taste it.

The shrimp cream pasta comes topped with plump shrimp, with bacon and cheese mixed in. The cream coats the noodles evenly, so every time I twirled them on my fork, the sauce came right along.

In the shrimp tomato risotto, the sauce soaks well into the rice, and every spoonful brings stretchy cheese along, zzzuuuk~~~ The shrimp were bigger than I expected, which surprised me! My friend and I decided to share the risotto, and our forks actually clashed over a single shrimp, hahaha. They were plump and really delicious. This is good enough to call it a Pungse favorite.

Red bean butter salt bread and castella salt bread

For bread, I picked the red bean butter salt bread (ang-butter, red bean paste with butter) and a salt bread piled with castella (sponge cake) crumbs. On the ang-butter salt bread, a thick slab of butter sits on top of the red bean, so salty and sweet hit together in one bite. It's said to be baked the same day, so one alongside a meal is just right.

Who is Pino Cafe good for?

If you're looking for a brunch café in Cheonan, why not visit Pino Cafe? It's also great when you want to settle both a café and a meal in Cheonan, or enjoy a Pungse café and restaurant in one go.

Thanks to its roomy space, I think it suits people looking for a large café in Cheonan and those looking for a pet-friendly café in Cheonan too.