Gimpo brunch café for pasta and bakery browsing: The Nillai

My close friend and I were looking for somewhere to have lunch and catch up, so we headed to The Nillai, a large café in Gimpo :) I’d heard it had a lovely atmosphere and had wanted to visit for ages, and then I found out it’s run by a chef from 63 Restaurant. Ohh, then the food should be worth looking forward to too, right? That settled it! haha

The Nillai location and visitor information

• Address: G Floor, 80 Yangchonyeok-gil, Yangchon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 10:00–21:00 / Last order 20:00
• Brunch break: 15:30–16:30
• Parking: Large parking lot in front of the café

You can tell from the outside alone that it’s enormous, right? The building was so substantial that as soon as we arrived, I thought, “Ohh, this is properly a big Gimpo café!” haha. The whole building isn’t the café, though—it shares it with Kazumi.

Inside, the space around the counter was roomy and decorated in green, so it felt clean but still really pretty.

There’s also a cute The Nillai merchandise corner on one side. Mugs, pouches, keyrings, stationery—so many little things! The duck character was so adorable that I found myself looking at everything one by one, haha. We came for a café visit and nearly ended up shopping for merch too, haha.

They had several high chairs ready too. When you go to a café with a child, high chairs are one of the first things you check for, so this kind of thoughtfulness is so nice!

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, with lush green views too, so it felt wonderfully open rather than stuffy. There were lots of soft sofa seats, perfect for sitting comfortably and chatting away with my friend, haha.

A café with media art, water, and plant spaces

The Nillai wasn’t simply a large Gimpo café. Further inside, there was a media-art space where the mood changed completely! With videos and lighting filling the dark room, it felt like a little exhibition hall had been tucked inside the café. It made for pretty photos and was fun to look around, so it was quite fascinating.

Then we went into another space, and the atmosphere was a total contrast! It was decorated indoors with water and plants, and for a moment I was like, “Wait, is this really a café?” haha.

Ordering was easy at the kiosk.

There were so many choices that we spent ages deciding, but as you’d expect from a café run by a chef from 63 Restaurant, it had more than just coffee. There was quite a range of meal options, from salads to pizza, pasta, and risotto. It was perfect for us since we’d come for lunch, haha.

There was also a Naver receipt-review event running when we visited. You could receive a free cold brew for writing a receipt review, so it might be worth checking out, haha.

There was a bakery section on one side too. From croissants to sweet breads and cookies, as I looked through them one by one, my eyes naturally wandered to the bread even though we’d come for a meal, haha.

They also had colorful drinks that children would probably love. Adults can choose coffee and children a character drink, so it seemed like picking from the menu would be easy for families too, haha.

Pasta and bakery treats from the two-person set

While waiting for our pasta, we couldn’t just walk past the bakery corner, so we picked two breads too, haha. Honestly, after ordering two pastas and then choosing bread as well, we said, “Aren’t we making lunch a bit too grand?” But when there’s delicious food in front of you, those worries can wait for a moment, haha.

We ordered the two-person set for lunch. It comes with two Americanos and two main dishes, which was just right for lunch for two. We chose grilled seafood oil pasta and rosé shrimp pasta, with refreshing iced Americanos for both drinks.

A sip of cold iced Americano with lunch was, as expected, such a perfect match! It wasn’t overly bitter or heavy and went down cleanly, so it paired well with both the pasta and bakery treats.

The rosé shrimp pasta had plump shrimp in a rich, smooth rosé sauce. Its creamy flavor with a slight kick kept me reaching for more. Personally, this one was more my style out of the two, haha.

The grilled seafood oil pasta looked generous too, with clams, shrimp, and other seafood. The seafood went beautifully with the light yet savory flavor typical of oil pasta, and the arugula made it easy to enjoy without feeling too rich.

We had a delicious lunch and chatted to our hearts’ content at The Nillai, a large café in Gimpo. Each area had a different mood, which made it fun to explore. It was convenient to have pasta, bakery treats, and coffee all in one place. If you’re looking for a Gimpo brunch café with a lovely atmosphere, it could be worth a visit!