Seocho dessert café: buckwheat salt bread and levain cookie, Mini Male

I was near Gyodae Station and stopped by Mini Male Coffee Roaster Gyodae Court Branch (미니말레 교대법원점) for coffee and dessert. This Gyodae café has a wide range of desserts, and even a buckwheat salt bread I'd rarely seen before, so it turned out to be quite fun.

Is Mini Male Gyodae Court Branch easy to find from Gyodae Station?

It's a short walk from Exit 7 of Gyodae Station. The sign is black with a white logo, and the front of the shop is all glass. There's also a small table set out by the entrance.

Mini Male Gyodae Court Branch interior and seating

The interior is done mainly in black and white. The tables and chairs are black, and long vertical lights run along the wall. It's a simple look, but I liked that feel.

Posters introducing the coffee and bakery were up on the wall. The counter had several coffee machines and grinders, which looked just like a roastery café should.

Besides regular tables, there's a seat for 6 people at the back. There are window seats too, and a more varied mix of tables than I expected. I thought it could work as a blind-date café in Gyodae, since the space is bright and there are spots to sit face to face and talk.

Mini Male coffee menu and bean choices

Mini Male uses beans it roasts itself. The coffee list ranges from americano to latte, cold brew and einspänner (coffee topped with cream). You can choose from Balance, Dunkel or decaf beans. Besides coffee, they also sell milk tea and ades.

Dessert café near Gyodae: what's in the Mini Male bakery?

The bakery at Mini Male Gyodae Court Branch had financiers, salt bread, babka, scones and levain cookies. I'd come looking for Gyodae café desserts, so I browsed the bakery first. The financiers came in several flavors, from plain to apple crumble and even bacon jalapeño. It's not all sweet stuff.

Next to those were salt bread, babka and scones. The levain cookies had plenty of variety too, from original to matcha and oatmeal raisin! After some agonizing, I picked the buckwheat salt bread and the original levain cookie. For drinks, I ordered a strawberry ade and an iced Helsinki latte.

Original levain cookie ₩4,500

Mini Male's original levain cookie is thick and dense inside. It's pretty chunky, right? You can see chocolate and nuts on the outside, and when I broke it in half there was quite a lot inside too. It feels different from a thin, crispy cookie. The inside is tight and heavy, so even one is a decent amount.

Buckwheat salt bread ₩3,900: where's the buckwheat?

In Mini Male's buckwheat salt bread, the buckwheat is stuck on the outside, not baked into the bread. This was the one I was curious about from the name alone! At first I thought there'd be buckwheat inside too, but no. Since it's on the surface, you get a crunchy bite as you eat. The inside is soft like regular salt bread, and you only taste the buckwheat on the outside. The texture was a little different from the salt bread I usually eat, which made it special.

Strawberry ade ₩4,800

The strawberry ade was really deeply colored. You can see strawberry pulp at the bottom of the glass, and it's packed with ice. Stir it with the straw and the pulp mixes into the drink, which looks refreshing too! If you don't drink coffee, a fruit drink like this is a good pick.

Iced Helsinki latte ₩5,400

I also ordered the Helsinki latte, said to be Mini Male's signature. Unlike a regular café latte, the milk sits at the bottom and the coffee forms a layer on top. The glass shape is unusual too, isn't it? I was torn on what coffee to get near Gyodae Station and went with the signature, but next time I'm curious about coffee brewed with other beans.

Overall verdict on Mini Male Gyodae Court Branch

I originally planned to just have coffee, but I ended up ordering two baked goods too. Mini Male has plenty of coffee choices, but browsing the bakery is half the fun. I picked a cookie and salt bread this time, so next time I'd like to try the babka. I found Mini Male while searching for Gyodae café desserts, and I'll stop by again the next time I'm around Gyodae.