Gimpo café for a solo lunch of rosé shrimp risotto: The Nillai

Where The Nillai is and when it opens

The Nillai is a large bakery and brunch café at 80 Yangchon-yeok-gil, Yangchon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, on the G floor. It's open 10:00–20:00 on weekdays and 10:00–21:00 on weekends, with a weekday brunch break time of 15:30–16:30. Parking is available in the space right in front of the store.

I had an errand on the Gimpo side during a weekday lunch hour, so I stopped by The Nillai to have a leisurely lunch and coffee on my own. The Nillai is a space where you can take in the bakery, brunch, media art and an indoor garden with a water feature all together, so it's better suited to visiting with plenty of time rather than just popping in. I usually go to cafés with my kid, but maybe because I was there alone this time, it somehow felt even more relaxed.

There's parking space right in front of the building at The Nillai, so it was convenient to visit by car too.

Why The Nillai is on the G floor, and the camping shop upstairs

If it's your first visit, the label 'G floor' might feel a little unfamiliar — but that's where the café is. On other floors you can also browse camping gear related to Kazmi, so if you're into camping like me, it's perfect: coffee and brunch, plus browsing camping gear!

The Nillai's bakery counter and desserts

True to its reputation as a brunch spot, they sell a range of brunch menus like pizza and risotto, along with coffee and bread :)

Everything from basic baked goods like salt bread and croissants to desserts was well stocked, so it looked good for picking a dessert after a meal, or, like me, for picking a bread as my actual lunch.

Ice roll and brownie at The Nillai

The first bread I picked was an ice roll packed with cream~ Cream breads are usually heavy, but this one was soft and moist, perfect with coffee.

The brownie was great when you're craving a rich chocolate dessert, and the ice roll was soft and easy to eat thanks to the cream filling.

For coffee I picked an iced café latte, and it was just right as a dessert after the bread and brunch :)

Rosé shrimp risotto from a chef who cooked at the 63 Building

For reference, The Nillai is run by a chef who used to work at a restaurant in 63 Building, and it showed — it tasted better for it. It wasn't overly seasoned, and the usual thick, rich feel of risotto was light rather than heavy.

What I ordered for lunch that day was the rosé shrimp risotto. The Nillai is a café, but it has quite a variety of brunch menu items, so it's not just a coffee spot — you can take care of lunch here in one go, which I liked.

With pizza, pasta, risotto and other meal options on the menu, it seems like a good spot to visit with friends or family too, since everyone can order what they feel like. Since I was alone, I just picked one risotto and two kinds of bread, but it ended up being a surprisingly filling lunch.

The soft, savory flavor typical of rosé sauce combined with shrimp made for a solid, simple café lunch.

Seating areas and the green view through The Nillai's tall windows

Unlike your typical large café packed wall-to-wall with tables, each space here had a slightly different mood, so it was fun just to walk around and look.

Especially with the outside scenery coming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, it didn't feel much like a basement level, and sitting there looking out at the green view was surprisingly comfortable.

With such a green backdrop, plus coffee and risotto, it felt relaxed and healing! The café itself is so spacious that even if it's crowded on weekends, I don't think you'd have to worry about finding a seat at all.

The Nillai's quiet media art room

Another thing that stood out about The Nillai was its media art space. When you go to a large café, you usually expect pretty interiors or a photo zone at most, but here there's even a media art space, so it didn't feel like just a quick coffee-and-go visit.

The media art space in particular is one I'd recommend if you want to read quietly while sipping coffee. Rather than typical media, it had a calm, gentle feel.

Since I visited alone that day without my kid or husband, I ended up enjoying the café much more slowly than usual. Next time I'd like to bring my kid along and check out the media art space together, and try some other bakery items too. If you want to take care of lunch and coffee in one place in Gimpo, or you're looking for a spacious spot to spend some relaxed time, The Nillai is worth a visit.