Haeundae café for a family beach walk: Suwolgyeonghwa

When you travel to Busan, you always end up visiting at least one café with an ocean view, right? This time, while wandering around Songjeong Beach, I was looking for somewhere to take a little break. The moment I sat down and looked out the window at Suwolgyeonghwa, I thought, ah, I picked a good café today.

Even the name has a certain mood to it, doesn't it? Suwolgyeonghwa (수월경화) is a fusion tea house near Songjeong Beach in Busan, where you can enjoy traditional tea and desserts together. Above all, what I loved was the ocean view 💕

Seats with views of Songjeong Beach and the beach train

The sea fills the view outside the window. The café is on the fourth floor, and when I went in, Songjeong Beach spread out in front of me through the floor-to-ceiling windows. And it was not just the sea. You can also see the beach train passing by, so every time it went past, my eyes naturally followed it 🥰

Since I went with my child, my child watched the sea, then watched the train whenever it passed. I looked up once while drinking, then again while eating dessert—and I thought, this is travel, haha. The huge windows meant the room never felt stuffy, even indoors. It felt even more comfortable in person than it had in the photos I saw while looking up Suwolgyeonghwa.

When we arrived, all the front seats with direct ocean views were already taken. That was a little disappointing, so we sat at the long table in the middle. But once we settled in, this side was actually more comfortable with a child. There was plenty of space, and it was easy to look after my child.

There was no need to wait a long time just because the front seats were full, either. People left sooner than I expected, and seats opened up quickly. I thought there was no need to feel too disappointed if you cannot get a seat right by the sea.

Why we ordered both Hyeonwol Hojicha and Hojigabae

Traditional tea and pretty desserts, too. That day, we ordered Hyeonwol Hojicha and Hojigabae. We had come straight after lunch, so at first I debated whether to have coffee or tea. For some reason, though, I was really drawn to warm tea that day.

As I slowly drank the Hyeonwol Hojicha, it seemed to ease some of that rich feeling left after lunch. Drinking it while looking at the sea also made me feel more relaxed. When you travel, those moments of simply sitting and doing nothing are surprisingly nice, aren't they? Even when I drink tea at home, I tend to rush through it, but that day I found myself sipping slowly while watching the sea outside.

But then I still missed having a latte, haha. So we ordered a Hojigabae as well. This one suited my taste quite well, too. It was not so sweet that I got tired of it quickly—just lightly sweet, so it did not feel overwhelming. Tea and a latte in one visit; in the end, I was glad we tried both.

The Dalbodeure Box my child picked from, too

And of course, we could not skip the Dalbodeure Box. The name is cute, right? When we opened it, it included gamtae (seaweed) and pollack roe financiers, whole red bean ang-butter monaka wafers, ganache monaka wafers, black-rice sulppang (rice wine bread), and injeolmi (roasted soybean powder rice cake). Set out one by one, everything was so varied and pretty that I had to take photos first.

Whenever I see pretty desserts, I always take at least one photo before eating, haha, so I saved one that day too. Overall, they were on the sweet side and went well with tea 👍 Best of all, my child enjoyed them.

When you go to a café with a child, sometimes you order lots of things for the adults and the child only has a few bites, right? But that day, my child picked at this and that. Thanks to that, I could enjoy the desserts comfortably too. They had a traditional feel, but the flavors were familiar rather than difficult or unfamiliar, so they were good to share with a child 💕

Calm, yet completely like being on a trip

I also liked that Suwolgyeonghwa gave detailed descriptions for each menu item. There were several kinds of traditional tea, so the names alone could leave you wondering what was what, but it was easy to read the descriptions and choose.

The space had a lovely atmosphere overall, too. It was not so quiet that you felt self-conscious, but it was not chaotically noisy either. I saw people on dates and quite a few who seemed to have dropped in while traveling. It was also the kind of atmosphere where families like us could stay comfortably with a child.

Since we were traveling, we did not stay for long. We had another stop planned, so we had tea and dessert, rested a little, and left. As we walked out, though, I suddenly wondered what it would feel like at night. In the daytime, the blue sea through the floor-to-ceiling windows made it feel cool and refreshing, but I imagine the mood would change once the sun set and the lights came on. If I come back to Songjeong, I would like to stop by in the evening too.

A walk from the café to Songjeong Beach

And it would be a little disappointing to end things there, right? We left the café and walked straight to Songjeong Beach. It is about a five-minute walk from Suwolgyeonghwa, so it was an easy stroll. Instead of getting back in the car, I just held my child's hand and walked toward the sea.

Even though we had already looked at the sea to our hearts' content from the café, it felt different once we got down to the beach. With the sea breeze and a slow walk, my child was happy and I felt even more like I was on a trip. A cup of tea at the café, pretty desserts, and a walk by the sea—this route was quietly so nice.

What made Suwolgyeonghwa memorable on this Busan trip was probably not just the drinks and desserts. The time we spent taking a break, looking at Songjeong Beach through the huge windows and watching the beach train pass, fit perfectly with the mood of that day’s trip.

I really love that feeling of becoming a little more relaxed simply by having a cup of tea while looking at the sea, without doing anything special. If you are looking for a café near Songjeong Beach, this is one to remember for ocean views alongside traditional tea and desserts. Pairing a café break with a short walk to the beach, like I did, makes for a really nice little course.