Plant-filled Sokcho café: glass ceiling & tissue bread, Cafe Neorae

What is Cafe Neorae in Sokcho like?

Cafe Neorae (카페너래) is a large café on Wonamhaksapyeong-gil in Sokcho where you can enjoy a view of Ulsanbawi Rock. I stopped in Sokcho during a trip around Gangwon-do and went to have coffee with that view.

A view you can only get in Sokcho!! And on top of that, the interior of Cafe Neorae is pretty too, so I liked it far more than I expected.

The 1st floor of the building is a soft tofu (sundubu) restaurant, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors are the café and rooftop. You can have a meal and then a café stop in one building.

My goal was this big Sokcho café, Neorae. I took the elevator up to the 2nd floor.

Cafe Neorae opening hours and parking

Cafe Neorae in Sokcho is open daily 09:00-18:00 and closed on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. There is a parking lot in front of the building.

The lot is fairly large, and there's a parking attendant who was very kind. It was a really windy day, and he held my car door so it wouldn't fly open and hit another car. Kind people of Gangwon-do! ^_^

What is the plant-filled interior like?

Cafe Neorae is decorated in a "planterior" style, using plants and nature. As soon as you open the door, greenery is all around, which feels fresh.

I came expecting the Ulsanbawi view, but the café space itself was so pretty that I just wanted to slow down and stay a while. Even the area leading up to the other floors is nicely decorated at this big Sokcho café.

The glass-ceiling room is the main photo spot

What impressed me most at Cafe Neorae was the room with a glass ceiling that lets you see the sky. This must be the main photo spot of Cafe Neorae in Sokcho.

Ulsanbawi view through the big windows

Even without any decoration, the mountain and sky outside the window become the interior. One window was like a frame holding a pretty landscape.

At Cafe Neorae you can look at Ulsanbawi through the floor-to-ceiling glass. I liked being able to sit comfortably and take in the great mountain ridges.

There are baby chairs too. I visited on a weekday, and quite a few families were out.

What breads does Cafe Neorae have?

Let's start with the bread. I had already eaten a meal, but there's a separate stomach for rice and a separate one for bread, right?

Cafe Neorae doesn't have a huge variety of bread, but most of it, like salt bread, Mont Blanc and croissants, is half air, half flour, which is just my taste.

After a long time deciding, I ordered an iced Americano, Neorae Pudding and tissue bread.

What does Neorae Pudding with biji crunch taste like?

Neorae Pudding is Cafe Neorae's signature dessert: banana pudding topped with either biji crunch or choco chips. It was the one thing I really wanted to try at this big Sokcho café.

Yes, biji is the leftover pulp from making tofu. Since I'd come all the way to Gangwon-do, the land of tofu, I picked biji crunch without a second thought.

The banana pudding has a strong cinnamon scent, and with the crispy biji crunch on top, the texture was fun too.

What is the tissue bread texture like?

True to its name, Cafe Neorae's tissue bread is a loaf you tear off one sheet at a time. It was impressive too. If you like bread that pulls apart along the layers, definitely try it.

The first sheet or two were crisp like a cracker, and the texture changes as you go inside, so you get soft, fluffy bread too. With a faint butter aroma and a slightly salty note, it was a clean-tasting bread.

Tissue bread topped with banana pudding

Tissue bread is good on its own, but topped with sweet banana pudding it feels like eating a whole new menu item. This combo is amazing, and a total coffee thief (it makes you finish your coffee fast).

Getting both the signature Neorae Pudding and the crispy-yet-fluffy tissue bread made this big Sokcho café even more satisfying. It was bright, so it was warm, and I thought I'd get a blood sugar spike after eating so much, but maybe because it was banana, I dodged it. A perfect tea time!

How is the iced Americano at Cafe Neorae?

The iced Americano at Cafe Neorae had a slight acidity, and since I usually enjoy acidic coffee, it suited me.

Tea time with a great view during a Sokcho trip. That short break was healing in itself. You need a relaxed moment like this at least once on a trip, right?