Suwon café for black sesame and strawberry lattes: Jeong Jiyeong

Whenever I went to Starfield Suwon, there was a café I always wanted to stop by at least once. It was Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters Starfield Suwon Branch. Since Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters started in Haenggung-dong, it has felt quite familiar to me for a long time.

I had visited several branches—the Haenggung flagship, Janganmun, Hwahongmun, and AK Plaza branches—but although I passed the Starfield Suwon branch often, this was my first visit. Starfield Suwon has so many hot Suwon restaurants, nationally famous food spots, and stylish places, so it is fun just looking around wherever you go. Still, seeing the familiar name Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters at Starfield made me oddly happy.

Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters Starfield Suwon Branch: location and hours

It is at the entrance to Gourmet Street on the second floor of Starfield Suwon, at 175 Suseong-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon. It is also about 255 m from Exit 1 of Hwaseo Station, so it is fairly convenient by public transportation. Hours are daily from 10:00 to 22:00, with last orders at 21:30. The café is near the start of Starfield Suwon's second floor, by the Gourmet Street entrance, so it was easy to find.

With its neat black-toned atmosphere and open kitchen layout, I naturally found myself looking at the coffee being made, the gleaming coffee machine, and the display case. Since it is inside Starfield, it was also in a great spot for a quick rest while shopping.

I was planning to work inside Starfield that day, and rather than sit in the café for a long time, I thought I would drink while walking around, so I ordered takeaway.

A menu from hand-drip coffee to desserts

Looking over the menu, Americanos started at ₩5,500, and there was a wide range of drinks, from the signature coconut coffee to misutgaru (multigrain powder drink) and strawberry latte. They also had hand-drip coffee, so you could choose the beans yourself.

If you are curious about the beans, I heard you can ask a staff member to smell them. If you love coffee, it would be worth taking a look at the hand-drip menu too.

There were also desserts such as fruit sando (fruit cream sandwich) and cake, which would be nice to order alongside a drink when a drink alone feels a little lacking.

They also sold coffee beans and various items along one side of the shop, so it was fun to browse.

Ordering the black sesame latte and strawberry latte

We ordered a couple of slightly different drinks that day.

• Black sesame latte ₩6,800 (decaf +₩500)
• Strawberry latte ₩7,000

The black sesame latte felt like a menu item I was seeing for the first time at Jeong Jiyeong Coffee, so I chose it out of curiosity. I added ₩500 to make it decaf.

For reference, Jeong Jiyeong Coffee reportedly offers a free decaf switch for pregnant customers. There is usually an extra charge for decaf, so pregnant customers effectively save about ₩500, which I thought was a nice touch. I also heard there is a partnered discount with Millo Archive, so if you are planning to use it, check with the shop when you visit. They said Jeong Jiyeong Coffee customers receive ₩5,000 off.

Black sesame latte, enjoyed without stirring the cream

As we walked around Starfield with our drinks, a staff member told us not to deliberately stir the black sesame cream on top into the latte—just drink it straight through as it was. So I tried it just as they explained.

Oh! The black sesame flavor was richer than I expected, and it was delicious.

The nutty, rich flavor of black sesame came through properly, while drinking it with the cream on top added a soft feel. I generally like black sesame drinks, so it suited my taste really well.

Strawberry latte with pieces of fruit

The strawberry latte was also nice because it had more strawberry pieces than I expected. Sometimes sweet strawberry drinks taste strongly of syrup alone, but this strawberry latte had bits of fruit to chew, which made it more satisfying.

Taking a break by Byeolmadang Library

We took both drinks away and drank them while looking around Starfield; we worked by Byeolmadang Library while having our drinks. After walking around the mall, sitting down for a little work and having delicious drinks was both a treat for the palate and a nice change of pace. Thinking about it, even though I have visited many Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters branches, I do not think I have had a menu item that was a major disappointment yet. It is a brand that started in Haenggung-dong and has expanded to spots all around Suwon, so I was happy to find it at Starfield Suwon too.

Starfield Suwon is especially a good place to take care of shopping, meals, and café time together, so many people look for restaurants or cafés there. After a tasty meal and coffee, or after wandering around Starfield as we did, it would be nice to take away a drink and rest near Byeolmadang Library. If you are looking for a café in Suwon and want to try something a little special, I would recommend Jeong Jiyeong Coffee Roasters as well.