Sinnonhyeon café, stacked fig pie & raspberry cake: Upper and Under

A slice of cake with your coffee is lovely, but there's also fun in putting two different desserts side by side.

This time at Upper and Under, a café near Sinnonhyeon Station, I ordered two drinks and two fruit desserts. ☕️ The order was an iced Americano, a matcha pistachio cream latte, raspberry cake and fig pie. With a green drink, a pink cake and a pie piled high with figs, the table turned colorful 🌈🫶

What is the atmosphere like at Upper and Under?

Upper and Under is a Gangnam Station café where sunlight through the glass windows blends with the greenery outside. 🌿

Tables and chairs are set around the windows, and the chairs, made of thin lines, give the space a light feel.

It's not easy to find a lush, atmospheric space like this around Gangnam Station, so I loved the sunlight at the window plus the green view 🌿

It feels like a short break in the middle of busy Gangnam. I thought it would be just right for a first date, and it's also a good place to drop in alone for a bit of laptop work (what Koreans call "cagong") or to zone out over a coffee ☕️💚

Upper and Under menu: from coffee and cream lattes to baked sweets and cakes

This Sinnonhyeon Station café has a wide range, from basic coffee like Americano and latte to cream drinks such as Einspänner and matcha pistachio ☕️ Besides coffee, you can choose milk tea, chocolate latte, ade and tea.

Desserts run from baked sweets like financiers, canelés and madeleines to raspberry cake and fig pie, all good alongside a drink 🍰

How do the iced Americano and matcha pistachio cream latte taste?

The Upper and Under iced Americano was not sour, smooth and moderately strong, and the matcha pistachio cream latte was nutty and rich, the kind I'd want again. I picked one basic coffee and one latte topped with cream; both are iced, but the color and build are so different that each one's character shows when they sit side by side.

Iced Americano

The iced Americano came in a clear glass printed with the "UPPER AND UNDER" logo. The dark brown of the coffee shows through the ice, and it's clean, with no extra decoration. With cake and pie also on the table, it was the most basic drink of the set.

Not sour, smooth and moderately strong: an iced Americano nobody would dislike 🤎

Matcha pistachio cream latte

The matcha pistachio cream latte has layers: green at the bottom and a bright cream color on top. The cream isn't a thin layer; it generously fills the top of the cup, with crushed pistachio sprinkled over it.

Nutty, smooth and rich, the kind of taste you want again 💚

What does the Upper and Under raspberry cake taste like?

The Upper and Under raspberry cake is a square cake wrapped in pink cream, with a fresh and sweet taste at once. 🩷

The raspberry cake is a square cake with a thick layer of pink cream on top. Small grains can be seen on the cream's surface, and in the center sit a deep red raspberry topping and a green herb garnish.

The raspberry cake was delicious, both fresh and sweet 🩷

With the tang of raspberry coming through the sweetness, you really feel the charm of a fruit cake. Raspberries on top of pink cream look pretty, and they suit the fresh-sweet taste too.

Pairing it with the iced Americano was a nice combination: enjoy the cake's sweetness and sip coffee in between ☕️🍰

Upper and Under fig pie with figs stacked high

The Upper and Under fig pie is a dessert with layers of cream and fig pieces piled high on a round pie. 🤎

On the fig pie, cream and fig pieces are stacked in layers on a round pie. It isn't one or two thin slices of fruit; many pieces are piled up high.

The red flesh of the cut figs, the pale inner skin and the dark outer skin blend naturally. White cream shows between the fruit, and the golden, flaky layers of the pie are visible at the bottom.

If the raspberry cake is low and neat, the fig pie has height. Both are fruit desserts, but their shapes and builds differ, so a single plate doesn't feel monotonous. With the fig itself as the star of the look, it's worth a glance for anyone interested in fig desserts.

Who is Upper and Under recommended for?

Upper and Under is a Sinnonhyeon Station café that suits people who want to enjoy drinks and desserts at leisure in a green atmosphere, or who are looking for a first-date or dating spot, or a place to study alone. 🌿☕️

I was glad to find a place in Gangnam Station where you can rest while looking at such lush scenery 🌿 The atmosphere was nice, and the drinks and desserts I ordered were delicious, which made me even happier. With coffee and the matcha pistachio cream latte, plus fresh-sweet raspberry cake and fig pie, the table felt full.

It's good for a first date or a date, and also for a day when you want to do a little laptop work alone or zone out looking out the window. If you're looking for a Sinnonhyeon Station café, enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee with tasty desserts at Upper and Under ☕️💚

📍 Upper and Under: 28 Gangnam-daero 102-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul