Autumn brunch for two by the river in Daegu: Hands Coffee Dongchon

Between the seasons that are either brutally hot or freezing cold, weather like this feels so precious. So whenever I get the chance, I go out for brunch — and this time we went somewhere that let us properly enjoy the autumn weather, have brunch, and take a walk along the autumn riverside: Hands Coffee at Dongchon Resort!

Location: 5-6 Hyodong-ro 6-gil, Dong-gu, Daegu, South Korea, Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch / Hours: Open daily, 10:00–23:00 / Amenities and services: large parking lot out front, group-friendly, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms, takeout available

Parking and the 2nd-floor entrance at Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch

Being a large café, Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch has a spacious parking lot. It tends to be fairly quiet on weekdays, but do keep in mind it can get a bit crowded on weekends.

Shall we head into Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch, a top brunch spot in Dong-gu, Daegu?

Right from the building entrance, true to its reputation as a Daegu brunch spot, the brunch set menu is posted.

The entrance to Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch is on the 2nd floor, so you take the elevator up. Floors 2 through 4 are all part of Hands Coffee. It's known for its huge space and wide variety of seating!

As a large Daegu café, Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch has an antique, vintage feel the moment you walk in.

What we ordered: Hands House Brunch set and creamy mushroom pasta

What we chose at Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch was the Hands House Brunch + 2 Long Blacks set. There were already quite a few people here for brunch, and more kept coming, so we decided on our order before even looking around. A brunch set that comes with drinks included, at a discount — how could we not pick it!

One brunch dish alone seemed like it wouldn't be enough for two of us, so we added the creamy mushroom pasta.

We ordered two long blacks, but since Hands Coffee is known for pour-over coffee, I took a quick look at what else was on the menu these days. The nostalgic Hands Coffee waffle keeps reinventing itself too. And by the way — a matcha red bean waffle? Wait, they made this?! (☉ε ⊙ﾉ)ﾉ This is definitely a menu item I need to try someday...

What are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor seats like?

The 2nd floor of Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch is filled with luxurious, atmospheric sofas and antique, vintage-style tables. There's such a variety of tables and chairs, all stylishly arranged, that it's hard to pick where to sit. We hesitated quite a bit.

After ordering, we went back up to explore — this time to the 3rd floor. It has more of a regular café interior compared to the 2nd floor! It seemed like most people (us included) ended up sitting on the 3rd floor. I think it's because the window seats there have the best view.

The 4th floor, which had a lot of group tables, also had an outdoor terrace with an amazing view. Here's the kind of scenery you get from the 4th floor outdoor terrace seats.

A space where the seasonal changes of Dongchon Resort — spring cherry blossoms, summer greenery, autumn foliage, winter snow — seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows stay in your memory even as you sit there

It was cool enough that we could have sat outside, but we decided to have brunch on the 3rd floor, which was also the busiest floor!

How does the Hands House Brunch taste?

While we were exploring the café, the buzzer went off. We went down and out came a brunch with incredible presentation. The Hands House Brunch + 2 Long Blacks — the long black can be switched to decaf, so I had mine changed to decaf.

My husband said it felt like having a fancy breakfast at an overseas resort! I felt the same way, probably because of the special music playing in the background and the vintage, tasteful interior.

A brunch you can enjoy with fresh ingredients, house-baked ciabatta, and house-made wurst sausage

A pasta with deep flavor made from a variety of softly sautéed mushrooms and a rich cream sauce

Add the olive balsamic sauce and ketchup as you like.

The combination of the two dishes was fantastic. Eat it this way and you won't regret it! The vegetables were also incredibly fresh, and personally, the ciabatta bread was to die for.

Even the bread alone, dipped in the olive balsamic sauce, was so delicious. Order the Hands House Brunch and you get pretty much all the usual brunch favorites. There was also well-cooked potato served with white sauce to fill you up.

Is the creamy mushroom pasta worth adding?

The moment I took a bite of the creamy mushroom pasta, the mushroom aroma filled my mouth. It had been a while since I'd had rigatoni, and it paired so well with the thick sauce. The rich cream sauce was full of mushroom flavor, so we used the ciabatta to scrape up every last bit of the sauce.

We chatted away over our meal, and Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch made us feel like we'd gone on an overseas trip.

Which seat suits your visit to Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch?

The staff looked really busy but were still so kind, and with its spacious seating spread across the 2nd to 4th floors, Hands Coffee Dongchon Resort Branch suits any occasion — gatherings, dates, family outings, studying, you name it. On a nice day, why not take a walk around Dongchon Resort with someone special and have a brunch break?