Busan tea café in Songjeong: BTS Beach Train view, Suwolgyeonghwa

Today I'm writing about Suwolgyeonghwa (수월경화), a tea café in Songjeong, Busan, where you can watch the Beach Train go by! I think it might be the most famous tea café in Busan. It's known as a Songjeong ocean-view café and has racked up a ton of Blue Ribbons, so I'd always wanted to go at least once, and I finally got a good chance to visit!

Where is Suwolgyeonghwa? Hours and parking

Suwolgyeonghwa is on the 4th floor of the building at 188 Songjeongjungang-ro 6beon-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan. It's open from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (last order 8 p.m.). There's no regular closing day, and for the detailed schedule please check their Naver news page!

For parking, there's a dedicated lot on the 1st floor of the building. It's double parking, so I thought it would be a hassle, but the spaces are fairly wide and nobody called asking me to move my car. What a relief 🥲

Which floor is Suwolgyeonghwa's entrance? Order on the 4th, not the 3rd

Suwolgyeonghwa is on the 4th floor, so you follow the signs on the building and walk up the stairs,

and on the way up you reach this pretty entrance 🥹🤍

That pretty entrance is actually the 3rd-floor space, so to order you have to go up one more floor. Look for the entrance covered in Blue Ribbons, and that's the 4th floor!

Is every seat at Suwolgyeonghwa an ocean view?

True to its name as a Songjeong ocean-view café, every seat looks out on Songjeong Beach and the Busan Beach Train, so the view is lovely wherever you sit.

The café is quite spacious, so there's a real variety of seats, from tables with a direct view of the Beach Train to tables set further back. They also said that if seats run out, you can use the 3rd floor too!

There's also a group seating area with wooden furniture, hanok-style (traditional Korean house) interiors and a calm, cozy feel. Of all the spaces in Suwolgyeonghwa, this was the one I liked best and found the prettiest 🥲 Traditional Korean props are nicely arranged all around the café... 🤍

Suwolgyeonghwa also runs a thank-you discount for national merit holders, soldiers, police officers and firefighters, so keep that in mind!

Suwolgyeonghwa menu and prices

The signature item is the Premium Tea Collection (8.5), which you can get hot or iced, and they also sell coffee, traditional teas and desserts. Menu prices are written in units of ₩1,000.

• Premium Tea Collection (8.5, hot or iced): Hyeonwolhoji / Hongyusaeng / Melongmangseu / Bommulgyeol / Jeju Breeze / Louiwolju / Lemon Sunset / Chamomile Elixir / Mint Shock / Louis Velvet
• Signature Hoji Gabae (8.0)
• American-style Gabae (6.5) / Gabae au lait (7.0)
• Hona Cloud, Louis Velvet Cloud, Bam Louis Cloud (8.0)
• Ssanghwa tea (9.8) / jujube tea (9.8) / sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch) (8.0)
• Red bellflower ginger tea (9.8) / chestnut sikhye (sweet rice drink) (8.0)

• Signature Dalbodeure Box (13.0)
• K-chewy mochi, 2 pieces (13.0): almond spread & kadayif / pistachio spread & kadayif / rich pistachio cream
• Red bean mochi monaka (5.0) / iced matcha monaka (7.5)

That's how the menu is laid out.

Smell the teas before you choose at Suwolgyeonghwa

For the Signature Tea Collection at Suwolgyeonghwa, you can smell every type of tea before you order.

Buying Suwolgyeonghwa tea bags to take home

If you like the signature teas, you can buy them as tea bags too, and this is what they had on sale!

• Signature Tea Collection (10 or 20 bags)
• Premium Tea 10-type sampler
• Premium Tea Collection, 6 types, 18 bags
• Premium Caffeine-free Tea Collection, 6 types, 30 bags

If you need extra things like ice water, filtered water, syrup or tissues, use the self-serve bar in front of the pickup counter!

Watching the BTS Beach Train from Suwolgyeonghwa's window

Our seat was on the seaside, the spot in Suwolgyeonghwa with the best view of the Beach Train,

and I loved that the Beach Train is right there in front of you 🥹🤍 Maybe because the day we visited was a BTS concert day, a BTS-themed Beach Train went past, which was so cool hahahaha

How do Hyeonwolhoji, Melongmangseu and the Dalbodeure Box taste?

What I ordered at Suwolgyeonghwa that day was two Signature Tea Collection teas (8.5), Hyeonwolhoji and Melongmangseu, plus the Signature Dalbodeure Box (13.0). While I sat waiting for the Beach Train, the order came out quickly!

With the Signature Tea Collection, you don't eat the tea leaves placed on top or steep them again. You just smell them, set them aside, and pour as much tea into your cup as you want to drink!

Hyeonwolhoji is a signature tea that apparently won 2 stars at the 2024 International Taste Institute (ITI) Superior Taste Awards. For details about the tea, check the explanation sheet that comes with it!

The Dalbodeure Box holds 5 kinds of desserts in one box: seaweed and pollack roe financier, black rice sulppang (rice-wine steamed cake), whole red bean and butter monaka, ganache monaka, and an injeolmi (rice cake) skewer. It had a strong traditional tea-snack feel, which I loved, and the flavors were mild and clean rather than loud, so it was good! My personal favorite was the whole red bean and butter monaka, number one 🥹🤍

It's so hot these days, but sitting in cool air conditioning with warm tea, a bite of sweet snacks, and the Beach Train outside. Zoning out in a café and spending the time leisurely was so enjoyable.

Suwolgyeonghwa's restroom is pretty too

I never thought I'd be taking photos of a café restroom, but the restroom at Suwolgyeonghwa is a hit too, so I couldn't not take a picture...

The free Hyeonwolhoji tea bag from a receipt review

At Suwolgyeonghwa, if you write a Naver receipt review, you get one random tea bag from the Premium Tea Collection. As I was leaving, I remembered that I'd totally forgotten what the staff told me earlier, so I showed them right away and got it, and they gave me a Hyeonwolhoji tea bag, the very tea I drank! I'd liked Hyeonwolhoji earlier and was thinking about buying it, so I'll try this one and come back again ♡

What is Suwolgyeonghwa's 3rd floor like?

The 3rd floor of Suwolgyeonghwa is a calm, modern Japanese-feeling space with floor seating where you take off your shoes and private tables for four. On my way down the stairs after leaving the café, I got curious about the 3rd floor and stepped in, and the atmosphere was just as good as the 4th floor. If the 4th floor feels warm with its traditional hanok and wood interior, the 3rd floor felt quiet and calm.

There was a floor-seating area where you take off your shoes, along with a display of various tea utensils,

and through that round window you can see Songjeong Beach and the Beach Train, so this is a hidden view spot too 🥹

There's also a space on the other side, with tables for four screened off by fabric partitions, so it seems more private.

Who should visit Suwolgyeonghwa in Songjeong?

If you're looking for a Songjeong ocean-view café, or you're usually interested in traditional Korean interiors and tea, I think you'd love a visit to Suwolgyeonghwa!