Late-night café in Yeonnam-dong for a vanilla bean latte: Sideway

Sideway in Yeonnam-dong: opening hours and basic info

Sideway is a Yeonnam-dong café at 30 Donggyo-ro 51an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (1st floor). It is open Sunday to Thursday 12:00–22:00 and Friday to Saturday 12:00–23:00, and closed on Mondays. There is no parking of its own, so you will need to use a public parking lot, and the restroom is unisex and inside the café.

• Location: 30 Donggyo-ro 51an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Sun–Thu 12:00–22:00 / Fri–Sat 12:00–23:00 (closed Mondays)
• Parking: public parking lot
• Restroom: unisex, inside the café

If you want a café for late after dinner in Yeonnam-dong

At the far end of Yeonnam-dong, behind Kong Café (콩카페), a new café has opened: Sideway, a cozy spot only people in the know will find. It is open until 10 pm every day except Monday, and until 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so even after dinner there was plenty of time to enjoy some café time.

How to find Sideway and what the space feels like

Facing Kong Café, turn into the alley on the right and you will find Sideway inside a side path lined with gray walls. The Sideway sign is posted, so you can spot the café right away. It has the feel of a converted house, with the main floor (maru, the traditional wooden-floor hall) opened up with full glass windows for an airy feel, and you can also sit on the terrace.

An open kitchen lets you watch the coffee and desserts being made

The counter and kitchen sit at the front of Sideway, separated from the rest only by the floor tile, so it is a fully open kitchen and you can watch the coffee being brewed and the desserts being made. Even with an open kitchen, the mood is calm and cozy, so I think I will be dropping by often!

Seating, from a 6-person shared table to 2-person seats

From the 6-person table to the big sofa in the middle of the café, there are not many tables, but most of them are set up as shared spaces.

There are also 2-person seats here and there, so it is fun to pick the colorful chairs and tables you like. I liked the open feeling, so I sat at the 6-person shared table, and it was super comfortable!!

What's on the Sideway menu, and how much is it?

Sideway in Yeonnam-dong does not only sell coffee. It also has desserts, wine, whiskey and snacks that go well together, so it looked like a good second stop after dinner.

• Espresso ₩5,300
• Americano ₩5,300
• Café latte ₩5,800
• Cappuccino ₩5,800
• Vanilla bean latte ₩6,300
• Side latte ₩6,800
• Goyo | Sandeul ₩5,500
• Goyo milk tea ₩6,500
• Sandeul iced tea ₩6,000

One unusual thing was a tea called Chamin (차민), which started out of Muhaean (무해안). Goyo (calm) and Sandeul (breeze) are blends made by a Korean medicine doctor, and the brand is said to help restore body and mind. The scents and flavors felt healthy enough to drink every day.

Ordering the Basque cheesecake and vanilla bean latte

What I ordered at Sideway that day was the Basque cheesecake (₩8,500) and the vanilla bean latte (₩6,300).

A latte with house-made vanilla bean syrup: rich but not heavy

Sideway's vanilla bean latte is made only with house-made vanilla bean syrup, so it was rich and nutty. It was not light at all, and you could really taste a refined depth of flavor. I don't usually drink lattes, but Sideway's vanilla latte was definitely rich, yet I didn't feel bloated or weighed down after finishing it.

Basque cheesecake with strawberry cream whipped to order

They say Sideway bakes all its desserts in-store, so I ordered the Basque cheesecake, the one that tempted me most. It goes really well with coffee and other drinks, and with sweet strawberries and a cream made with strawberry jam, it had a softer flavor than plain cheesecake alone. The strawberry jam even seemed to be homemade, and when I saw them whip the strawberry cream with that jam fresh each time an order came in, I thought, this is the real deal!

Sideway is a Yeonnam-dong café full of Yeonnam-dong atmosphere, likely to become a hangout for residents of Yeonnam-dong, Yeonhui-dong and Seongsan-dong, and good at winning over people who come to Yeonnam to play.