Diet-friendly café in Hagik-dong, Incheon: no-sugar matcha, Tiny Dot

Where is Tiny Dot, the Hagik-dong café?

If you keep going from Cheongsuok toward Juan Hanshin, a white standalone building suddenly appears, and the whole building is Tiny Dot, a big café in Juan. I was searching for cafés in Hagik-dong and Juan when I found a big Juan café with great reviews, so I went. Wow, when did a café like this open here...? This entire building was Tiny Dot...

Okay, in we go! The reviews were so good that I went in with high hopes, and it beat them. The taste, the quiet space...

What did we order at Tiny Dot? Menu and prices

At Tiny Dot I ordered one millstone matcha latte with less sweetness (₩6,000), a decaf americano (₩4,500), Deulkkae Dot (₩6,500; a perilla-seed cream coffee) and a Basque cheesecake (₩6,500). The counter is on the 1st floor, and apparently every dessert is made in the shop rather than brought in from a factory.

And a matcha latte made by grinding on a millstone? Hmm.... Apparently it's a popular item at Tiny Dot, using Hadong matcha rather than powder. I don't like sweet drinks, so I ordered the millstone matcha latte without sugar, and even though I'm on a diet... I was tempted by the claim that there's no flour, so one Basque cheesecake added, please.

Tiny Dot building layout: four floors, restrooms on every floor

Tiny Dot uses the whole four-story building, and every floor has a restroom. The 4th floor is for space rental and reserved seating, so it looked good for group gatherings.

Can you adjust the sugar in Tiny Dot's millstone matcha latte?

Yes. Tiny Dot's millstone matcha latte is made by grinding Hadong green tea in-house, so the sugar can be adjusted. It even has a photo on the sign, so it's clearly a signature item. I felt I'd ordered well.

Lots of other cafés make matcha lattes with ordinary powder, and they always say the sugar can't be adjusted. But this big Juan café grinds Hadong green tea itself, so!!!!!!! the sugar can be adjusted. Huge applause for that.

Tiny Dot has so much charm. I can't believe such a good café was here all along.. I'm going to be a regular from now on..

What is the 3rd floor of Tiny Dot like on a weekday afternoon?

With big windows full of light, cute items and potted plants everywhere, Tiny Dot is so green that it doesn't feel stuffy at all, even indoors.

The 3rd floor is decorated the same way. Visiting on a weekday, I got that weekday big-café mood... neighborhood locals ordering one coffee and chatting in low voices + a relaxed feeling... hahahaha. I only just found out about this place, but maybe it's famous as a Michuhol café, because even at an awkward time (3 p.m.) on a weekday there were quite a lot of customers.

Tiny Dot 4th-floor reserved seating

And this is the 4th floor of Tiny Dot. I couldn't go in, so I stuck my camera lens in from the entrance and clicked. There's a blackboard and a long desk, so is it for meetings!?

The drink tray shelf inside the elevator

Tiny Dot has an elevator, so even though I sat on the 3rd floor, fetching drinks was no trouble at all. And inside the elevator there was a shelf where you can set down your drink tray. Wow, what a thoughtful touch... the owner really thinks about customers.

How do Tiny Dot's americano and millstone matcha latte taste?

And now our long-awaited drinks. The cream coffee at the very front is the Sesame Dot (Chamkkae Dot), then the americano and the matcha latte.

The americano at Tiny Dot had a moderate acidity from the beans, so they seem to use very good beans...

That matcha latte is really green tea. Not fake green tea, like, actual green tea. As a tea lover, I was moved by Tiny Dot's matcha latte: no matter where else I drink matcha lattes, there are almost no places where I can taste that bittersweet, nutty character of green tea, but Tiny Dot tasted like truly finely ground tea + milk. If you want to taste real matcha, I strongly recommend the option with all the sugar removed!!!!

Tiny Dot's flour-free Basque cheesecake

Tiny Dot's Basque cheesecake was made without flour, yet the cheese was still thick and dense. How did they make it like this without any flour?

What I felt coming to Tiny Dot is that the owner is serious about ingredients... the healthy-yet-delicious taste was a total pass. I definitely don't mean it tastes bad! This Basque cheesecake is crazy rich and nutty.

What is Sesame Dot?

And this is Sesame Dot, an Einspänner (cream-topped coffee) that captures the nutty flavor of sesame in the cream. I stole a sip and slurped it, and I could really taste the nuttiness of sesame. Did they grind sesame in? Tiny Dot, a Michuhol café, brings out the flavor of its raw ingredients so well that I got curious how every drink is made.

Reading on a weekday afternoon at Tiny Dot

It was quiet, so with drinks and tasty desserts in front of me, I enjoyed a leisurely weekday-afternoon read at this big Juan café for the first time in a while. (I read 10 pages and closed the book.)

It's an honest-tasting Hagik-dong café that I'll visit often. Cafés like this are rare.... I'll probably be going all summer!! Next time I'll come try the milk tea they say they brew in the shop.