Suwon café with Wednesday olive cheese ciabatta: Caffeine Focus

Came to Haenggung-dong for a date with Obok's dad and was trying to figure out where to go, and ended up at Caffeine Focus! There are so many pretty cafés in Haenggung-dong, but Caffeine Focus is such a pretty one that it felt a shame to keep it to myself...! Let me introduce Caffeine Focus, a fortress-wall-view café right by Hwaseong Haenggung Palace!🤗

What kind of café is Caffeine Focus? Three floors facing the fortress wall

Caffeine Focus in Haenggung-dong sits right in front of the Hwaseong Fortress wall, in a standalone 3-story building! It's not a huge café — each floor has a reasonable number of tables so it wasn't noisy at all, and everyone was enjoying the view over quiet, relaxed conversation, which I really liked! There were also solo customers🤗

There's also a mirror photo zone right in front of the shop :) My outfit was kind of a disaster so I had AI change it into something that actually matched haha (TMI...)

Why the ciabatta is on sale on Wednesdays, the day after closing

Caffeine Focus bakes everything in-house every day! Their ciabatta is a sourdough made with naturally fermented levain, low-temperature fermented for 12 hours in-house, so originally they didn't sell it on Wednesdays. But because it's such an easy-on-the-stomach, delicious bread, customers asked for it, so now they knead the dough even on their Tuesday day off just to have it ready on Wednesday :) An owner who can't even rest on their day off...😢 Thanks to that, I got to eat this delicious bread today, on a Wednesday...? Thank you so much🙇‍♀️

I ordered an avocado smoothie, and Obok's dad ordered a vanilla bean latte! And of course we couldn't skip the easy-on-the-stomach naturally fermented ciabatta, could we!? We also ordered the olive cheese ciabatta, full of fragrant olive and cheese flavor🫶

The 2nd floor at Caffeine Focus: fortress view and baby chairs

Blankets, cushions and water for a longer stay

The moment I got up to the 2nd floor at Caffeine Focus, an involuntary "whoa, amazing" came out of me. The view was so pretty I was shocked, sent photos to my friends and bragged that this place is super pretty, and they all said what is this, is it a picture frame, a painting, why is it so pretty haha

There's a baby chair too!! I thought it'd be nice to walk up the stairs one step at a time holding hands with baby Obok, look at the beautiful view together, and share some tasty, healthy bread🥰 And on one side there was also water, blankets, and cushions!

3rd-floor window seat and terrace with the Hwaseong Fortress wall view

And then we went up to the 3rd floor, and honestly my jaw just dropped!!! There's a terrace space too..! There are blankets and water on the 3rd floor too, so you don't need to go back down to get them👍

And what is this, ugh, why is it so pretty ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I sat down at that window seat without hesitation!! I really, truly recommend this as a Hwaseong Haenggung fortress-view café. Please just look at this view...

Ugh, my emotions are going crazy...

You can even spot hot air balloons from Caffeine Focus..!! Unfortunately no balloon was up while I was there😢 But with the sun starting to set a little, if a balloon were floating up there when the sunset comes in... this view would seriously be out of control, right...?

How the olive cheese ciabatta, vanilla bean latte and avocado smoothie taste

While I was sitting there marveling at the view for a moment, the bread and drinks I ordered arrived! With the wide-open view and nothing blocking the sight — blue sky, green grass, and the beautiful Hwaseong Haenggung fortress wall — I think it'd also be great to sit here quietly by yourself and just clear your head😊

And the ciabatta, made with low-temperature natural fermentation, carried the fragrant flavor of olive and cheese so well that I ate it happily☺️

The vanilla bean latte had a generous amount of actual vanilla bean settled at the bottom, giving it a rich sweetness that was clearly different from the usual syrup-based vanilla latte, which I loved, and the avocado smoothie feels like it'd be nice and gentle on the stomach when you're really hungry😆

Caffeine Focus, with its beautiful view of the Suwon Haenggung fortress wall! Both the drinks and the bread were so delicious, and the view and the place itself were so pretty that it just put me in a good mood🥰 Except for their Tuesday closing day, they're apparently open as usual during Chuseok holidays too! Definitely make a visit and take in this view for yourself😊