Nowon food hall café that lends power banks: Jeong Ji-young Roasters

While in Nowon, I wondered what to eat and ended up taking a loop through the renewed basement-1 Food Avenue at Lotte Department Store Nowon. Bottom line: there's a lot to eat, but for a dessert lover like me, it's just hard to walk past. Pretty cakes, coffee, and dessert stalls are all clustered together in the center, so just browsing already makes time fly.

And that day I stumbled on an unexpected tip too. My phone battery was about to die right when I needed to keep taking photos. Panic. But turns out — I asked at the service desk and they lent me a thick, high-capacity power bank. Thanks to that I could stop worrying about battery, browse all the sweets I wanted, and get my coffee sorted too.

If you're looking for a good café at Lotte Department Store Nowon, here's a rundown of the useful tips I picked up while browsing Food Avenue, in the order I actually walked it.

What is the renewed Food Avenue at Lotte Department Store Nowon like?

Heading down to basement 1 at Lotte Department Store Nowon, the whole floor definitely felt cleaner and more polished. What caught my eye most was the dessert corner.

Colorful, pretty cakes lined up one after another in every showcase — cakes topped with strawberries, shine muscat grapes, cakes piled high with fruit. Even if you're not buying, you have to look. I'm not the only one who does this, right?

What I especially liked was that the dessert shops are clustered in the middle of Food Avenue, so it was easy to check out several stores at once. Even if you didn't come with a set plan of what to eat, you can walk the loop and pick as you go. That made me think Food Avenue would be a great one-stop spot for anyone wanting to check out several Nowon café options at once.

How to borrow a power bank at the Food Avenue service desk

Honestly, the most useful thing I learned that day wasn't about food at all. I checked my phone and the battery was running dangerously low. I still had photos to take and was worried the phone would just die on me. Ugh. But while browsing Food Avenue, I spotted a SERVICE DESK sign.

I asked if I could charge my phone there, and after filling in some basic personal info — ta-da!

They lent me an entire chunky power bank. It was heavier and higher-capacity than I expected. The one I got even came with a cable, so I didn't need to carry my own charging cord — just plugged it straight into my phone. On a no-battery day, this thing was a real lifesaver.

Instead of leaving your phone at the desk and waiting, you can carry the power bank around and keep using it, so I kept browsing Food Avenue, drinking coffee, and shopping while charging.

After renting it, a return-time notification came straight to my messages. On the day I visited, I was told to return it to the designated spot by 7:30pm, or 8pm on extended-hours days. Operating hours and return times may vary by day, so it's best to check on-site.

If you're out browsing for a good café at Nowon and your phone battery runs low, don't panic — just ask at the service desk. For someone like me who takes a ton of photos, this was a genuinely useful Lotte Department Store tip.

Finding Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters inside Food Avenue

Battery problem solved — now it was time to actually eat, guilt-free. While browsing the rows of desserts, Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters (정지영커피로스터즈) is what caught my eye.

It fit well with the clean, polished feel of Food Avenue. Looking at the menu, there was a good range of coffee — Americano, café latte, vanilla latte, hazelnut latte, and more — and you could choose your beans between dark, medium, or decaf.

And right next to it, the signature coconut coffee stood out. I can't walk past something like that.

According to the signage, it's their patented, signature flagship menu item! With over 1.1 million cups sold, I figured I had to try it. Straight for the signature coconut coffee!

How does the signature coconut coffee taste?

When I got it, there was white coconut milk on the bottom and whipped espresso layered on top. The look alone was clearly different from a regular latte. I stirred it together and took a sip — oh. Nutty and sweet. But what I liked was that the sweetness didn't linger heavily in my mouth.

You could taste that distinct coconut nuttiness, but it wasn't cloying at all, so it went down more easily than I expected. I like sweet coffee but get put off by anything too heavy, so this hit a pretty good balance for my taste.

I picked it out of curiosity since it's a patented signature drink, and it really was a different flavor from my usual latte — glad I chose it. If you're looking for a good coffee spot at Lotte Department Store Nowon and want to try something a bit different, the coconut coffee is worth a look.

Why I added yakgwa to my coffee order

The problem is that Food Avenue has way too many desserts. I meant to just drink my coffee and leave, but I kept browsing the cakes, and browsing some more.

The cakes were so pretty. Eating aside, just looking at them was fun enough that time went by fast. And in the end, one yakgwa made its way into my hands.

The coffee was already sweet, and now yakgwa too. Sugar overload, fully loaded!!! One chewy, sweet bite of yakgwa followed by a sip of coffee — that combo was so good. I guess this is why people come to Food Avenue.

Coffee beans and goods on sale at Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters

On one side, they had goods on display — caps, T-shirts, pens. "NO COFFEE NO WORKEE." The phrase was cute and the colors were pretty, so I felt a creeping urge to buy something. I came in for coffee and ended up browsing the merch for a while too.

They also sell beans in dark, decaf, and other options, so if you brew coffee at home, browsing this section would be fun too. I went in for one cup of coffee and came out having tried the signature drink, checked out the merch, and browsed the beans. There was surprisingly a lot to see.

Looking for a café at Lotte Department Store Nowon? Start at Food Avenue

This time, I was in Nowon anyway and stopped by, ending up spending way more time than expected at the renewed Food Avenue. Being able to walk through a bunch of trendy dessert and food stalls all in one space is really the advantage of a department store food hall.

I was especially stuck that day with a dead battery, so renting a power bank at the service desk was a genuine lifesaver. I got to walk around comfortably while charging, browse all the pretty cakes I wanted, and have a nutty, sweet coconut coffee at Jeong Ji-young Coffee Roasters. Plus the yakgwa — total sugar overload, but hey, it was delicious, so no complaints.

If you can't decide on just one café at Lotte Department Store Nowon, it's a good idea to walk through the basement-1 Food Avenue first and pick whatever you're craving that day. Especially if you love dessert like I do. And don't give up on photos just because your phone battery is dead — check the service desk first. That was the most practical tip I walked away with this visit. And if you're just browsing, don't forget you can get a parking coupon through the Lotte app.