Busan tea café corner window seat on a windy day: Suwolgyeonghwa

An ocean-view café in Songjeong for a windy day

I walked into Suwolgyeonghwa, an ocean-view café facing Songjeong Beach in Busan, the moment it opened on a Sunday morning. I'd come from Gijang to Songjeong for a friend's wedding in Busan, but the wind was so strong it was hard to even go for a walk.

Since we couldn't ride the beach train either, we went looking for a café with a sea view near Songjeong Beach so we could still enjoy the ocean mood, and found Suwolgyeonghwa — a café by Songjeong Beach where you can watch the beach train and surfers go by. To sit and have a relaxed cup of tea with the sea in view, we skipped lunch and got there the moment it opened Sunday morning.

• 📍 Location: 188 Songjeong-jungang-ro 6beon-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea, 4th floor
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00–23:00 (last order 22:30)
• 🅿️ Parking: Free building lot or paid Songjeong Blue Parking Lot

Suwolgyeonghwa's building and where to park in Songjeong

Suwolgyeonghwa sits on the 3rd and 4th floors of a building in Songjeong, and the ground-floor piloti area looked like it could fit around 10 cars. The building's 2nd floor is a Vietnamese home-style restaurant, and the 3rd and 4th floors are Suwolgyeonghwa, the café we visited.

And if you arrive later, don't worry! There's also a paid parking lot right in front of the building. It's handy for surfers heading to Songjeong Beach or whenever there's no space under the building. Songjeong Blue Parking Lot charges ₩1,500 per 30 minutes. We stayed about an hour, so we paid ₩3,000.

Up the stairs to Suwolgyeonghwa: a moon and the sound of waves

Suwolgyeonghwa is on the 3rd floor, which might sound like a hike, but every little detail along the way was so lovely that climbing up felt beautiful.

Once you push past the curtain, the interior opens up — there's a moon overhead and the sound of waves plays, and you can even sit and take a selfie with the moon reflected in a mirror!

With wave sounds as the BGM, it genuinely feels like you're standing in front of the real sea.

Various decorations line the stairway, and there were some sentimental lines written up too.

Looking at the moon reflected in Songjeong's sea is like the way I look at you, and a single elegant flower reflected in the mirror is like you — something I cannot hold in my hand.

Before the 4th-floor entrance door opens, there's a moment of welcome and a moment of farewell. It felt like Korean beauty rendered so gracefully. It's a truly lovely café that's received the Blue Ribbon Survey mention twice, in both 2025 and 2026!!

Suwolgyeonghwa's menu: over ten teas plus gabae

Suwolgyeonghwa's menu has so many kinds of tea that when we came in to order, we were told there were too many tea types and menu items, so we should just take the menu board with us to our table.

The tea varieties were truly diverse — over ten kinds. Rooibos Velvet, Camo Elixir, Mint Shock, Heonwol Hojicha, Louis Wolju, Jeju Breeze, Lemon Sunset, Bomulgyeol, Melon Mance, Hongyusaeng — every name was given such a pretty touch.

While looking for a seat, we found a corner spot with a sea view. The floor-to-ceiling window showed the whole of Songjeong Beach. A train suddenly went by and I filmed it — such an amazing view >_<

Suwolgyeonghwa means 'moon reflected in water, flower reflected in winter.' They say it's a space that carries the feel of a traditional tea house but reinterprets it in a modern way.

In front of the ordering counter, the teas on display each had their own written description.

The coffee most people drink often is sold under the name gabae, in items like gabae and gabae-orae.

There was also a good variety of ades and teas on sale.

There weren't the usual cakes or breads you'd find as dessert — instead there were things that looked like traditional confections, including the Dalbodeurae box we had absolutely planned to order.

There were also new desserts made with monaka (Japanese-style wafer shells).

We picked out everything and managed to place our order, a bit clumsily, haha. Then I noticed what looked like a hanok-style space next door and looked inside — white ceramics were on display. I was surprised a café would have a space like this!

The 3rd-floor tea ceremony room and floor seating

After ordering, we headed down to the 3rd floor, which looked like a space for tea ceremony practice. Wasn't this where NewJeans learned tea ceremony!! We just enjoyed the tea itself instead of doing the ceremony. Sitting side by side looking at the sea while drinking tea here would be pure happiness.

There were more spaces on either side — one with tables and chairs, and another with floor seating.

Iced Bomulgyeol tea and the five-piece Dalbodeurae box

What we ordered at Suwolgyeonghwa was iced Bomulgyeol and the Dalbodeurae box. Even that early, there were plenty of customers, so by the time we'd finished looking around the space, our order arrived. It was perfect to enjoy alongside the sea and the beach train.

This was the Dalbodeurae box we'd been determined to try — a single box gathering several handmade confections.

The Dalbodeurae box was made up of five items: a gamtae (sea mustard) financier, a red bean butter monaka, a ganache monaka, black rice sulbbang (steamed rice cake), and an injeolmi (glutinous rice cake) skewer.

And my order, Bomulgyeol, was an intriguingly combined tea of green tea and tropical fruit. I asked for it iced, and it had the aroma of green tea balanced with the cool, sweet scent of tropical fruit.

Coming to Suwolgyeonghwa by Songjeong Beach, someone who knew nothing about tea, I got to experience so much. You could really feel the care in how they brewed each type of very good tea leaf at its own correct time and temperature. If you want a fragrant cup of tea, or coffee, go for the gabae — either way, enjoy some leisure time in a space where you can see the sea and the train go by!