Seogyo-dong café with bar seats for laptop work: Naemyeonui Balgyeon

Today I've got a review of Naemyeonui Balgyeon (내면의 발견), a large café with great vibes in Seogyo-dong. It's really spacious, but the seats are divided up into little zones with their own atmosphere, so it seemed good for quiet conversation, working together in a group, or just doing solo café work.

Naemyeonui Balgyeon: address, hours and parking

• Address: 53 Worldcupbuk-ro 5-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00 – 20:00
• Parking: Free parking available in the café's own lot

What the exterior and interior feel like

The exterior of Naemyeonui Balgyeon felt really unique. I kept stopping to read the text written on it, and overall the white and green tones gave off this clean-but-comfortable feeling, both outside and inside.

The seating inside is really varied too, right?! You can spread out and use the space generously, and since it feels a little partitioned off, it seemed great for spending time quietly, drifting off into your own thoughts, or on the flip side, getting really focused on work :)!

Are the second-floor bar seats good for laptop work?

The bar seating on the 2nd floor of Naemyeonui Balgyeon is quiet and comfortable, so it was great for café work. There's a sign asking you to be mindful of safety, and somehow seeing that made me pay a little more attention. I checked out the QR codes scattered around, starting from the entrance, stopped to read the little text pieces, and generally spent the time relaxing. Then, a bit later in the day, I sat at the bar seats on the 2nd floor and spent some time focused on my work. It was quiet and comfortable, so I got really absorbed in it :)!

On the 1st floor, I sat for a bit while waiting for our drinks to come out, and honestly, it's so pretty ㅠ^ㅠ?! There were quite a lot of people on the 1st floor so we ended up seated on the 2nd, but next time I think I'll spend some time sitting downstairs too.

The coffees picked from the barista's bean recommendations

At Naemyeonui Balgyeon, if you tell them the fruit flavors you usually like, they'll kindly recommend a bean for you. I was a little torn picking a menu item — the signature menu seems to change from time to time. I'd seen online that they had a non-alcoholic cocktail and thought, oh, I have to try that, but by the time I visited, that menu item had changed~! Each bean has a different price, and that info is listed above. What kind of beans do you all like? Most people seem to like nutty-tasting beans, but I tend to prefer acidity, so I especially love Ethiopia Yirgacheffe beans~

That day I felt like trying something different, so I asked for a recommendation — I went with the Panama Koto & Duncan on the left, and my friend, who said they prefer a somewhat floral aroma, ordered the recommended Costa Rica Santa Teresa.

What do Clarity and Cherry Ahn taste like?

They explained that Naemyeonui Balgyeon's Clarity is a latte made using only the clear part refined out of milk. We ended up spending quite a long time there, and finished our coffee faster than expected, so we ordered one more round. That said, it's really not latte-like at all, so if you order it expecting a latte, you might be a bit surprised. It's smoother than water, but definitely far from what we normally think of as milk flavor — a strange, interesting drink. Dipping a piece of dried pineapple in it for a moment made it go down mild and smooth.

My friend ordered the Cherry Ahn, a cherry-flavored drink topped with cream foam, and I stole a sip — I was surprised at how good it was haha. I usually like matcha drinks so I wanted to order a matcha latte, but of all days, they'd run out of matcha powder that day, so the matcha menu wasn't available ㅠㅠ.... After trying the Cherry Ahn, I thought the matcha latte must be really good too~! Definitely have to try the matcha latte next time...! I told myself haha.

Is Naemyeonui Balgyeon the large Hongdae café you're looking for?

I ended up here while looking for somewhere to chat with a friend and also get some café work done. Most cafés in Seogyo-dong feel small and cozy, so finding a large café like this was a nice surprise +_+! If you're looking for a large café in Hongdae, I'd definitely recommend checking this place out!