Daegu café birthday cherry bingsu with mascarpone: Otter Rabbit House

Where is Otter Rabbit House Jongno Branch, and what are the hours?

Otter Rabbit House Jongno Branch is a brunch café at 57 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu (1F), right next to Jongno Manggyeonggwan. It's open 11:00–22:00, and you can park at Manggyeonggwan Parking Lot No. 2 (paid).

• 📌57 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu (1F)
• ⏱️11:00–22:00
• 🅿️Manggyeonggwan Parking Lot No. 2 (paid)

Finding the café: the storefront on Jongno

I visited Otter Rabbit House, a well-known brunch spot in Jongno, Daegu. It's right next to Jongno Manggyeonggwan, so I think most people passing by have seen it at least once!

You can check out the menu board before heading inside~ We'd just eaten a meal so we were craving something sweet, so we decided to go for a cool cherry bingsu haha.

What's on the menu at Otter Rabbit House Jongno Branch?

Otter Rabbit House Jongno Branch has a wide range of brunch dishes, plus drinks, desserts and even wine. For dessert there are two options: cherry bingsu and brownie.

• Brunch menu: mushroom cream chuck-eye steak, lasagna, jambon arugula pizza, pepperoni pizza, jambon butter pasta, spinach shrimp oil pasta, clam broth pasta, bulgogi shrimp salad pasta, bolognese ragu pasta, ragu tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes), bacon French toast
• Dessert menu: cherry bingsu, brownie

Inside the Daegu brunch café: mood and seating

The inside has a cozy, warm feel. I think the lighting, wood furniture and brick walls do a lot of the work haha. The seats are spaced widely apart too, so there's no discomfort while eating. And I loved that the windows are big and can be opened and closed!!

Cherry bingsu, ₩23,000, with birthday candles on top

Cherry bingsu (₩23,000). Just looking at the cherries put me in a good mood, and I had quiet expectations — but when I actually tried it, it was even better than I thought!

My friend brought candles for my birthday and we blew them out over the bingsu >< thanks bestie, love you.

The cherries are placed whole on top, so you just spit out the pits as you go — the cherry flesh had a quietly sweet, deep flavor that was delicious! It went really well with the mascarpone cream on top haha.

Taking a spoonful, I could taste the soft, mellow flavor of the snow-flake milk ice. The milk ice melted smoothly in my mouth, light and with a subtle cherry sweetness. Then the distinct sweetness of cherry naturally came through afterward. I'd expected cherries to taste mostly tart, but in this bingsu it wasn't the tartness that stood out — it was the sweet, understated cherry aroma and flavor at the center, which made it delicious haha.

Why the cherry bingsu never got too sweet

Personally, the most important thing I look for in a bingsu is whether it's too sweet. Even a delicious bingsu can get old fast after just a few spoonfuls if the sweetness is too strong. But with Otter Rabbit House's cherry bingsu, the plainness of the milk ice seemed to keep the cherry sweetness in check just right, so I kept going back for more!!

The first spoonful had the softness of the milk, then as I kept eating, the sweet cherry flavor came up quietly, and mixing in the cherries themselves added yet another layer of sweetness. That's why I could finish it cleanly all the way to the end!

For a Jung-gu, Daegu brunch spot, having brunch and then finishing with cherry bingsu for dessert at Otter Rabbit House seems like the perfect combo 🍒