Mapo café for melon smoothies and cake by the Han River: Puru Papa

I was out at Mangwon Hangang Park and stopped by Puru Papa Hangang MAPOINT Branch, a Han River-view café with delicious drinks.

This is a popular Mangwon-dong café with lots of desserts, but more than anything, the view was seriously amazing haha. It was such a nice Mangwon-dong café to rest at during a walk around Mangwon Hangang Park!

Puru Papa Hangang MAPOINT Branch information

• Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 12:00–20:00; last order 19:30
• Regular closing day: Every Monday
• Address: 1F, MAPOINT Naru, 435 Maponaru-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Parking: Paid parking available; ₩2,000 for the first 30 minutes, ₩300 per additional 10 minutes, maximum ₩15,000

How to find Puru Papa from Mangwon Hangang Park

Puru Papa Hangang MAPOINT Branch is farther inside Mangwon Hangang Park. Once you enter the park and follow the Han River, you will spot a large building that looks as though it is floating on the river. Puru Papa is inside that building. It is in such a convenient spot for dropping by a café right after a walk or date at Mangwon Hangang Park!

Outside the café

Puru Papa is right beside the CU convenience store in Mangwon Hangang Park, so it was not hard to find. Just look for the Puru Papa × Kkeukeu Sushi (크크스시) sign and you have arrived.

What are the floor-to-ceiling Han River-view seats like?

From outside, it did not look very large, so at first I wondered if it was a takeaway-only café. But once I went in, it was a regular café.

There were more tables inside than I expected, with a proper space to sit down and eat or drink like any other café.

In particular, there were so many Han River-view seats with floor-to-ceiling windows right at the front of the café. The river is right outside the windows, so I think the view is definitely this place's biggest advantage. On a nice day, it would be perfect to order a drink, sit by the window, look out at the Han River, and relax. It seemed like the seating was shared with the other shops in the building, so the space itself felt quite roomy too.

From coffee and desserts to weekend pub food

Puru Papa had a wide range of drinks, from coffee such as Americanos, signature lattes, and soft lattes to smoothies and ades, plus several desserts including cakes. Their ice cream uses Sangha Farm products. (If it is Sangha Farm, you know it will taste good haha.)

They also run a separate pub menu on weekends, so I heard you can have beer with chicken or tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes).

Since it operates in the same space as Kkeukeu Sushi, it also looked like a good place to grab a light bite with your drink.

How the cakes and drinks I ordered tasted

• Red velvet cake ₩6,900
• Chocolate ganache cake ₩6,900
• Honey melon smoothie ₩4,900
• Sangha Farm organic latte ₩4,900
• Ube ice cream ₩4,500

Ordering was easy through the kiosk in front of the counter. That day, we ordered red velvet cake, chocolate ganache cake, a honey melon smoothie, a Sangha Farm organic latte, and ube ice cream.

We took a seat right in front of the Han River, and the view was lovely with a cool breeze blowing through. Our order came out quickly too, which was nice because we did not have to wait long.

The red velvet cake is on the left, and the chocolate ganache cake is on the right.

First, the chocolate ganache cake had an Oreo on top and was an all-around sweet chocolate cake. If you like chocolate desserts, it is an easy, reliable choice haha.

The red velvet cake also had soft cream and a sweet flavor, so it went nicely with coffee. If you visit as a pair, it could be nice to choose one cake each and share.

The honey melon smoothie tasted like melon, just as its name suggests, but personally it immediately reminded me of Melona. Its smooth, sweet melon aroma makes it an especially summery flavor!

The Sangha Farm organic latte had a lovely soft milk flavor and was good with the sweet cakes.

Lastly, the ube ice cream was soft-serve topped with ube syrup. Maybe because it uses Sangha Farm milk, its rich milk flavor was so good ❤️ Overall, everything was tasty and the prices were quite affordable, so I recommend visiting if you are looking for a café in Mangwon Hangang Park.

A great café stop after a walk at Mangwon Hangang Park

If you are looking for a Han River-view café to visit while walking around Mangwon Hangang Park, Puru Papa Hangang MAPOINT Branch was a good one. Above all, it has plenty of seats looking out over the Han River through floor-to-ceiling windows, so it would suit anyone who values a view.

There are plenty of drinks as well as cake and ice cream, making it nice for dessert and a light meal together. Since they also offer a weekend pub menu, being able to have coffee and dessert in the daytime, then chicken or tteokbokki with beer in the evening, is another plus. If you are on a date or outing at Mangwon Hangang Park and want somewhere to enjoy a Han River view, it would be worth stopping by.