Café near Gunja Station, Seoul: black tea milk tea and canelé at Palco

How I found Palco, the café near Gunja Station

Palco (PALCO) is a café on Neungdong-ro, near Gunja Station. While walking to the station, I kept seeing people carrying takeout coffee with the Palco logo on it, and I thought, "Huh? Is their coffee that good? I should remember this place!" That's how Palco, a Gunja café worth knowing, ended up on my list.

What is the atmosphere like inside Palco?

The interior is warm and stylish, with wood tones and calm lighting. It turns out Palco is also famous on Instagram. The moment I opened the door, I felt a peacefulness, as if the busy world outside had been completely shut out.

Palco's menu and bean choices

Here are Palco's menu and prices. As you can see below, you can also choose your beans.

You could see, and taste, how carefully everything is handled, from bean care to extraction. There's also a baking area at the back, so it seems everything is made at Palco and comes out fresh.

The beans and desserts are different from the big franchise cafés. The food and drinks are great, and the cozy, calm mood of the space is just as charming. Palco in Gunja is a precious spot where you can get real rest and a treat for your taste buds at the same time, even in a busy day.

Is Palco's milk tea sweet?

Palco's milk tea keeps the bittersweet flavor of black tea and has a restrained sweetness. On the first sip, the gentle, bittersweet taste unique to black tea wrapped around my mouth, and it was really appealing. The sweetness doesn't come from strong, artificial syrup. It's just pleasantly restrained, not getting in the way of the milk's nuttiness or the aroma of the tea leaves. Because of that, I never got tired of it and finished it cleanly to the last sip. That's Palco in Gunja.

The steamed milk, or the base itself, was very creamy and smooth. The texture slid over the tongue and was excellent, and the milk gently wrapped the astringency typical of black tea. Nicely balanced.

Is Palco's latte acidic or nutty?

Palco's latte is the nutty type, made with beans that emphasize nuttiness and a heavy body over acidity. Palco's milk tea and latte, Gunja.

The beans in the latte emphasized nuttiness and a heavy body rather than strong acidity. The bitter yet nutty flavor of the espresso combined with the natural sweetness of the milk to give an extreme nuttiness. No burnt or bitter taste stood out, and subtle notes like dark chocolate and roasted nuts ran underneath, so the more I drank, the warmer and more comfortable my stomach felt.

I'm often disappointed by lattes with too much milk that taste flat and watery, but Palco's espresso shot balance was excellent, so the coffee still came through clearly in the milk. It was a great latte that hit that tricky middle point of rich yet smooth. Take a sip of the warm latte, then bite into the crisp surface of the canelé, and there's no little happiness quite like it.

What is Palco's canelé texture like?

Palco's canelé (a small French pastry with a caramelized crust) was crunchy outside and custard-moist inside. It cut with a cheerful "crack" at the tip of the knife. The surface is a very deep brown, yet there was no burnt taste at all, and the caramelization was dense and well done. One bite brings a bittersweet caramel flavor across the tip of the tongue, and the texture was crunchy and crisp with not a trace of sogginess, so it's a lot of fun to chew. That's the Palco canelé in Gunja.

Looking at the cross-section of the canelé split in half, dense air pockets were evenly spread through it, holding in plenty of moisture. The moment it went into my mouth, I felt an extreme softness that contrasted with the crisp outside. It almost felt like eating a well-made moist pudding or soft custard cream in the form of soft bread.

Canelé with milk tea or latte?

At Palco, the canelé and milk tea combination went especially well together. After chewing a mouthful of sweet, crisp canelé, take a sip of the cool, fragrant milk tea, and the aromas of both mix in your mouth for great synergy.

The milk tea made a wonderful pairing with the canelé. Personally, I don't like milk tea that's so sweet it hides the tea's aroma, or on the other hand, milk tea with a strong powder taste that feels dry and cloying. From the first sip, you could tell that Palco's milk tea is made by carefully cold-brewing or steeping the tea leaves for a long time.

Palco, a Gunja café I'd go back to 200000%!