Gangnam dessert café for canelé with crisp-outside chewy-inside bite
In short
Upper and Under is a large dessert café between Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station in Seoul, spread from basement level to the second floor. After a meal nearby, an Americano, pistachio cream latte, egg tart, Earl Grey canelé and caramel canelé were ordered, and the canelé — crisp outside, chewy inside — was the clear pick of the day. The cream coffee was good too, but Upper and Under is a place worth visiting for the canelé alone.
Good to know
- Location
- 5-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 6, 10-minute walk from Gangnam Station Exit 11
- Size
- Basement level to 2nd floor, with terrace seating on 1st and 2nd floors
- Parking
- No parking available; public transit recommended
- Americano
- ₩6,500
- Café Latte
- ₩7,000
- Vanilla Latte
- ₩7,200
- Cold Brew Americano
- ₩6,800
- Cold Brew Latte
- ₩7,200
- Einspänner
- ₩8,000
- Pistachio Cream Latte
- ₩8,000
- Salty Caramel Cream Latte
- ₩8,000
- Matcha Pistachio Latte
- ₩9,000
- Matcha Cream Oat Latte
- ₩9,000
as written by the visitor on Sep 8, 2026
Today's post is a review of Upper and Under, where I had a meal in Gangnam and then went for dessert!
There are really so many cafés around Gangnam and Sinnonhyeon, but on weekends it's crowded and finding a seat can feel like finding a needle in a haystack — this place, though, is a large café, so it's spacious and had plenty of seats, which I really liked!
Upper and Under, which I visited this time, was a Gangnam Station café with a wide range of desserts, from cream coffee to canelé and egg tarts, and the canelé in particular — which I ordered without much expectation — was so good it completely won me over!!
Both the coffee and the desserts were satisfying at this Sinnonhyeon Station café, so let me leave a detailed review :)
Location and parking at Upper and Under
A 5-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 6, and a 10-minute walk from Gangnam Station Exit 11. Upper and Under sits between the two stations, and it was an easy walk from either.
It's a good spot for a second stop after eating in Gangnam, or for a date-café visit if you're around Sinnonhyeon. We came after eating nearby too, and the accessibility was really convenient.
Parking
Since it's right in the middle of Gangnam where parking is a nightmare, there's no parking available — I'd recommend coming by public transit rather than by car!
From basement to 2nd floor: the interior and seating
The interior spans from the basement level up to the 2nd floor. It's decorated cleanly in mostly white tones, giving off a bright, aesthetic vibe overall. Since each floor is a separate space, there were more seats than I expected.
There's terrace seating on the 1st and 2nd floors too, which was perfect for sitting outside on a nice day like this! Spring and fall really are the best,,
It's a great atmosphere to take a break with coffee and dessert right in the middle of Gangnam. If you're looking for a Sinnonhyeon Station café for a date, this one seems like a solid choice too :)
Menu and prices
- Americano ₩6,500
- Café Latte ₩7,000
- Vanilla Latte ₩7,200
- Cold Brew Americano ₩6,800
- Cold Brew Latte ₩7,200
Upper and Under really had a wide variety of drinks — from coffee to cream coffee, cold brew, non-coffee drinks, ades and teas.
- Einspänner ₩8,000
- Pistachio Cream Latte ₩8,000
- Salty Caramel Cream Latte ₩8,000
- Matcha Pistachio Latte ₩9,000
- Matcha Cream Oat Latte ₩9,000
What especially caught my eye was the cream coffee! There was a whole lineup of menus built around cream.
Bakery menu
On top of that, there was a wide variety of desserts that go well with coffee, like canelé and egg tarts. The desserts here were way better than I expected, so I'd especially recommend this to anyone looking for a Sinnonhyeon dessert café!
The canelé especially was insanely good, so if you're torn on which dessert to get, I highly recommend the canelé!!!
What we ordered: pistachio cream latte and canelé
Since this place is known for cream coffee, we ordered an Americano, pistachio cream latte, egg tart, Earl Grey canelé and caramel canelé!
Pistachio cream latte
First off, the pistachio cream latte was gorgeous just to look at! There was a generous layer of cream on top, finished with crushed pistachio, so it looked nutty and rich even before tasting it.
The cream was soft and nutty, giving it a completely different charm from a regular Americano. If you like cream coffee, this one's worth trying at Upper and Under :)
Earl Grey canelé and caramel canelé
And the thing I really fell for was the canelé!!! I ordered the Earl Grey canelé and the caramel canelé, and honestly, this place is a true canelé spot haha. The canelés are pretty large in size, and the outside is genuinely crispy while the inside is completely chewy!
That crisp-outside, chewy-inside texture was spot on — I was surprised how good it was from the very first bite. It was also fun switching between the Earl Grey and caramel flavors, and pairing them with the Americano was a perfect match.
We ordered an egg tart alongside everything else, but personally, the canelé was the overwhelming winner of the day!!
Final thoughts on this Gangnam/Sinnonhyeon dessert café
If you're looking for a café with great desserts around Gangnam or Sinnonhyeon, I'd recommend Upper and Under. With so many cream coffee options, there's fun in choosing what to try, and above all, it's a Sinnonhyeon dessert café where the canelé was truly delicious! If you especially love canelé, I definitely recommend giving it a try here :)
Where it is
28 Gangnam-daero102-gil, B1, 1F, 2F, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 강남구 강남대로102길 28 지하1층, 1층, 2층
