Iced hongyusaeng tea with Mom at Suwolgyeonghwa, a Songjeong café

Suwolgyeonghwa

A traditional tea house next to Songjeong's Gudeokpo tunnel

Suwolgyeonghwa is one of Busan's most representative traditional tea cafés. I used to just walk past it every time I passed the Gudeokpo tunnel in Songjeong, but it turns out it's famous as a tea house. It's full of traditional teas, so I thought it'd be nice to bring my mom, and the three of us — my mom, Ttaeji, and me — stopped by for dessert after lunch. I think I planned a pretty good lunch-then-Songjeong-café course in East Busan 💛

Parking and the entrance

You can park under the building, but it's double parking, so you might have to move your car for someone else. The entrance is around the side of the building.

No elevator

There's no elevator in the café building — I was a bit caught off guard 😱. My mom's knees aren't great, so I held onto her as we climbed up. Luckily there was a handrail, but there were more stairs than I expected, haha.

Su Wol Gyeong Hwa

Every floor on the way up was decorated so nicely that it became a photo zone. The speakers were even playing the sound of waves.

On the way down, a round moon light and blue lighting caught my eye. Suwolgyeonghwa means 'the moon reflected in water, a flower reflected in a mirror.'

A hanok-style space on the 4th floor with Songjeong ocean views

Finally made it to the 4th floor 💛. A Songjeong ocean-view café that made the climb worth it.

An open view where the Songjeong sea comes into full view. The hanok atmosphere with its Asian aesthetic feel was so nice.

The ceilings were incredibly high, with log pillars and a wooden roof — an old-fashioned yet trendy fusion interior. I think parents would love being brought here.

A café that's won the Blue Ribbon award twice — a place like a painting. It being a weekday Tuesday, it wasn't crowded and was nice and quiet.

9 traditional teas and a night-menu switch

There's a menu board, and you can also check the menu and order via QR code.

Nine different teas, each with its own taste and aroma. It's rare to get the chance to try traditional tea, but at Suwolgyeonghwa you can enjoy various blended teas.

From 7pm, the menu switches to the 'night stroll' drink lineup, so the daytime and evening drink menus are different.

It's not just traditional tea — there's also gabae, meaning coffee, plus lots of other drinks.

What we ordered

• Dalbodeure dessert box ₩13,000
• Hongyusaeng ₩8,500
• Bamnuguireum ₩8,000
• Gabae au lait ₩7,000

Ordered everything iced.

If you're coming as a couple, the window seats are a must. Since there were three of us, we sat at the square table. With the dessert and three drinks it was quite a heavy tray to carry — careful, careful. Just looking at it was so pretty 🧡💗💛

With the traditional tea, they also serve you the brewed tea leaves so you can smell the aroma. You're not supposed to eat them, haha.

Dalbodeure box: a Korean-style dessert set

The Dalbodeure dessert box is a Korean-style dessert set with gamtae financier (seaweed financier), angbutter monaka, and injeolmi sulbbang (rice cake steamed bread). It was so pretty I almost hated to eat it. I think foreign visitors would really love this.

Hongyusaeng · Bamnuguireum · Gabae au lait

For the traditional tea, I picked hongyusaeng — a healthy tea made with red bellflower root, yuzu, and ginger. I usually like tea, and this had a clean taste.

My mom had the bamnuguireum, which felt like a nutty chestnut latte. It was mildly sweet with soft milk cream, so my mom really enjoyed it. Ttaeji, who loves coffee, had the gabae au lait.

I used to have this bias that traditional tea has to be drunk hot — turns out that's not true at all. It was great enjoyed cold!! The tea colors were gorgeous too.

Monaka, sulbbang, injeolmi chewy rice cake, gamtae financier. I usually just eat bread all the time, so these unique Korean desserts felt like a nice change.

Why I'd go back

Enjoying Korean-style desserts and drinks leisurely while looking out at the Songjeong sea. I live in Busan, but the ocean still looks beautiful every time I see it. The 3rd floor seating looked nice too, but since I was there with my mom, I didn't get to check it out. Guess I'll have to go back once more.