Gwangju hanok café with floor seating and baby chairs: Hoyang Horim

Walking around Yangnim-dong is fun because old hanok houses and dreamy cafés pop up everywhere. This time I visited Hoyang Horim, a place whose quiet hanok charm really stands out. Today I'll walk you through the coffee and desserts, plus the special atmosphere that only a hanok café in Yangnim-dong, Gwangju can give you. 🤎

Under a blue sky, the curved tile roof and dark wooden pillars made it feel less like a café and more like stepping into an old hanok house. Being able to feel this kind of quiet, traditional atmosphere right in the middle of the city is exactly the charm of Hoyang Horim, the hanok café in Yangnim-dong, Gwangju. 🤎

What are Hoyang Horim's opening hours?

⏰ Business hours. Before you even step inside, there's a sign near the entrance where you can check the hours.

• OPEN 11:00 AM
• CLOSE 9:00 PM

A quiet hanok + greenery + a relaxed outdoor space — all in one!

The counter and how to order

⭐️ The counter & ordering area. Once you step inside, a counter finished in warm wood tones is the first thing you see. The wooden ceiling beams paired with rattan lighting keep the hanok mood alive while still feeling clean and cozy overall. 🤍

You order at the kiosk set up to the right of the counter!

A showcase full of house-made desserts

🍰 Next to the counter, the showcase was lined with desserts that looked delicious just to look at. 🤎 From lemon and dark chocolate desserts to injeolmi waffles, and down below, a variety of options — plain, apple cinnamon, Earl Grey, yakgwa (honey cookie), candied walnut, and more. Everything was arranged so prettily that I spent a long time deciding what to try. 👀✨

Up top, there were even gift boxes prepared for gaeseongjuak, so it seems like a great option to buy as a gift too. 🎁 If you're looking for a dessert to pair with coffee, start by browsing the showcase. ☕️💕

House-roasted beans and the seating mood

☕ A roastery café with real expertise. Fitting for a roastery café, Hoyang Horim has a well-organized lineup of its own blended beans to choose from depending on your taste.

Heading further inside, a cozy space capturing the hanok mood came into view. Wood-toned window frames paired with soft hanji-style lighting made the whole space feel calm and warm. 🤎 Sunlight poured in through a big window, and the greenery and hanok scenery outside were really pretty. 🌿☀️ Depending on the time of day, the changing light and leaf shadows added even more atmosphere — great for photos too.

There are floor seats, too

There's also floor seating available, with low tables and round cushions, so it felt just like visiting someone's hanok home. 😊

Each seat had a slightly different view out the window, which made deciding where to sit part of the fun. With the traditional mood layered with clean, sentimental interior touches, it felt like a great space to quietly enjoy coffee and dessert while resting. ☕️

When we visited, the place was already fully booked! 😭 We were looking around wondering where to sit, but luckily a couple sitting by the window got up to leave, and we lucked into a seat with great sunlight. ☀️✨

Cushions, blankets and even a baby chair

🧺 On one side, there's a self-bussing area where you can return used cups and trays. 😊 Fitting for a café with lots of floor seating, extra cushions and blankets were generously stocked, so you could freely grab them whenever needed. 🤎 Next to that, a baby chair was ready too, making it convenient to visit with kids. 👶🏻✨ It felt like even the small details were thought through for guests, which made it easier to relax and stay a while.

The restroom is inside the café

🚻 Inside the café, there's a unisex restroom. 😊 It was nicely decorated with a full-length mirror, plants, and moody lighting. 🤎 The café's name, 'Hoyang Horim,' was written on the wall, giving it a mini photo-zone feel too. 📸

What we ordered and what it cost

🍵 Finally, our order arrived

• 💕 Injeolmi waffle (mugwort) ₩9,500
• 🧁 Gaeseongjuak (ang-butter) ₩2,800
• 🥤 Black sesame cream latte ₩6,000
• ☕️ Vanilla bean cream latte ₩5,500

The dishes we'd been waiting for arrived, arranged prettily on one tray. 🤎✨ It all looked so good together that I took a ton of photos before eating a bite. 📸 Now let me walk through the taste of each one. 😋

Deeply nutty: the black sesame cream latte

🖤 The first drink we tried was Hoyang Horim's signature black sesame cream latte. ☕️🖤 It's available ICE only! It comes with a generous layer of cream made from 100% black sesame. The soft, thick black sesame cream paired really well with the bittersweet coffee. 😋 If you love black sesame, this signature drink is worth trying at least once. 👍🏻

Sweet and smooth: the vanilla bean cream latte

🤍 Next up, the vanilla bean cream latte. ☕️✨ A generous layer of soft cream sat on top of the coffee, making it look delicious right away. The bittersweet coffee combined with the subtle sweetness of vanilla and the smoothness of the cream made it easy to drink without feeling heavy. 🤎 If the black sesame cream latte was rich and nutty, I'd recommend the vanilla bean cream latte to anyone who likes sweet and smooth flavors. 👍🏻✨

Both had different charms, so it was nice being able to pick based on mood. Nutty for black sesame, sweet and smooth for vanilla bean! Side by side, they looked great too, so of course we took a photo of the pair. 📸✨

Chewy and sweet: gaeseongjuak with ang-butter

🍯 Next dessert was the gaeseongjuak (ang-butter). 🤎 🍯 Gaeseongjuak..... honestly, before visiting the café I didn't really know what kind of dessert this was. But there was a poster near the entrance wall introducing gaeseongjuak, so I naturally learned about it while walking by. 👀✨

What is gaeseongjuak? A rice cake enjoyed in the Gaeseong region, once the capital of Goryeo — a trendy dessert similar to today's glutinous rice doughnuts.

The glossy gaeseongjuak was topped with sweet red bean paste and a thick slice of butter, making it look adorable even before tasting it. ✨

One bite in, the chewy texture and sweetness unique to juak paired well with the sweetness of the red bean paste and the nuttiness of the butter. 😋 It's small in size, but the flavor feels full. A traditional dessert that was great to pair with coffee, bite by bite. ☕️💕

Full of mugwort aroma: the injeolmi waffle

🌿 The dessert I was most looking forward to this time was the injeolmi waffle (mugwort). 💚 Instead of a regular flour waffle, it's a Korean reinterpretation of the waffle made with rice cake. So the outside was crispy while the inside had a chewy, rice-cake-like texture — really charming. 😋 The subtle aroma of mugwort combined with a generous dusting of nutty injeolmi (rice cake) powder, plus almonds added even more nuttiness. 🌿🤎 Personally, this was the most memorable dessert of the day!

The whole dessert spread

🤎 One more time, to close things out. After tasting each menu item one by one, I couldn't resist taking one more full shot from a different angle. 📸✨

From the mugwort injeolmi waffle to the ang-butter gaeseongjuak, the black sesame cream latte and the vanilla bean cream latte — the menu items matched the hanok mood so well that every angle made for a pretty photo. ☕️🌿

Hoyang Horim let us enjoy traditional desserts with a modern sensibility. 🤎 The atmosphere was great and the desserts and drinks were satisfying, so it was a nice place to relax and unwind.

If you love hanok-style cafés, this one's worth a visit. 💛

Hoyang Horim visitor information

• Location: 1F, 4 Uwolsun-gil, Nam-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
• Ordering: kiosk to the right of the counter
• Seating: floor seating, window tables, outdoor space
• Amenities: extra cushions/blankets, baby chair, unisex restroom inside