Hongdae rooftop café with autumn leaf views: Naemyeonui Balgyeon

I was on a date in Hongdae when we found this lovely big café, Naemyeonui Balgyeon (내면의 발견), haha. It has three floors plus a rooftop, and I loved the modern interior 🤍 If you're looking for a café or date course in Hongdae where you can relax, this is my recommendation!!

📌 Hours: daily 11:00 - 20:00 (last order 19:30)

What kind of café is Naemyeonui Balgyeon? Exterior and size

Naemyeonui Balgyeon is a large café spread over three floors. Even from outside, the clean, modern look catches your eye.

There are so many pretty cafés these days, but a big café where you can use a whole building at your leisure has its own charm, right? haha It seemed great for chatting with friends or taking a break on a date in Hongdae ☕️

How is the space divided by floor?

1st floor: ordering area, tables and a mini garden

The 1st floor is where you order, and there are tables too. Inside, it felt much more pleasant and spacious than it looks from outside. The tables are spaced generously so it never feels cramped, and I liked the open atmosphere overall.

The ordering area is incredibly open too, haha. The view opens up wide, so my mood lifted the moment I walked in. In a space like this, even the wait after ordering coffee feels relaxed..

There was also a mini garden on one side 🌿 With the green plants added, the space looked even more upscale and comfortable. Modern interior plus a natural feel made it a pretty spot for photos, haha.

2nd floor: outdoor tables, window bar tables and the Meomchum Room

From the 2nd floor up, you get proper seating areas for spending time. There are outdoor tables and bar tables facing the window, so it looks great for relaxing freely. Quite a few people had laptops open and were working. It also looked good for a quiet study session or a solo coffee 💻

In the middle there's a cozy "Meomchum Room" (멈춤 룸, literally "pause room") too, haha. The sofa looked soft and comfy, the kind where you lose track of time. With the space split up in so many ways, I don't think you'd get bored even staying a long time, haha.

3rd floor: a rooftop with a walking path and outdoor tables

The 3rd floor leads up to the rooftop, and even the way up has a stylish, hip vibe that raised my expectations, haha. It felt like they cared not just about the café interior but the passages between spaces too.

The moment I stepped onto the rooftop, an open view and a walking path greeted me 🌳 Coming outside after being indoors, the openness hit me. On a nice day it would be great to grab a coffee and get some fresh air here!!

The rooftop has outdoor tables too, haha. Sipping coffee in a cool breeze here would be properly healing. It has a different charm from the indoor cafés you usually see in Hongdae, so on a nice day be sure to check out the rooftop 🤍

What did we order? Iced americano, Forest Cloud and Basque cheese brûlée

We took a seat on the 2nd floor. Leaves happened to be falling from the trees outside, and you could really feel autumn had arrived 🍂 Drinking coffee with a view like this may seem like nothing, but it's a surprisingly good change of mood, haha.

Here's what we ordered!

• Iced americano
• Forest Cloud
• Basque cheese brûlée

Forest Cloud seemed to be Naemyeonui Balgyeon's signature drink, so I got curious and ordered it. I liked that you can enjoy not just coffee but a range of drinks and desserts, haha.

What does Forest Cloud taste like?

Forest Cloud is a coconut and matcha drink. It has matcha's signature bitterness with the soft taste of coconut added, and a slightly fresh, tangy finish. It seems like a good pick when you want something different from regular coffee 💚

How was the Basque cheese brûlée?

And the Basque cheese brûlée was totally my style, haha. Cracking the sugar on top and eating it, the sweet, dense, fudgy texture was really good 🧀 Soft cheesecake with the sweet brûlée crunch added, I think anyone who loves desserts would be satisfied. Eating it with coffee, the pairing of sweet dessert and bitter coffee was great too><..

The café is so pretty that photos come out well, haha. Shooting the drinks and dessert looks nice, and so do shots with the view outside, so taking pictures was fun. I liked my photos from that day so much that I changed my profile picture 📸

Prices, payment, and coffee beans and desserts?

Even though it's a big café, prices were about the same as an ordinary café, which was less of a burden than I expected..!!! Big cafés often charge more in exchange for roomy space and pretty interiors, right? It was a fine place to stop for coffee and dessert during a date in Hongdae, haha.

They also sold several kinds of coffee beans ☕️ If you're into beans or brew good coffee at home, it looked fun to browse. I liked that there's a variety to choose from depending on your taste, haha.

They had dessert samples out too 🍰 The kind of display where you come for just coffee and end up adding dessert, haha.

You can pay with Toss Pay too. People who use easy-pay apps can check out comfortably.

They were also running a Naver review event: write a review and you can get a specialty coffee drip bag 🎁

Is there Wi-Fi, merchandise and a brewing class?

Wi-Fi is available at Naemyeonui Balgyeon, so it's worth knowing if you're bringing a laptop or planning to study. The space is big and there are window seats, so it looked fine for working over coffee.

They sell café merchandise too. If you like browsing coffee-related products and goods, it's a nice thing to do while waiting for your drink, haha.

I hear they also run a one-day brewing class ☕️ If you're interested in brewing coffee yourself, check the details on Naemyeonui Balgyeon's Instagram.

Verdict: is Naemyeonui Balgyeon a good rooftop date café in Hongdae?

If you're looking for a big café with a great atmosphere in Hongdae, I'd recommend Naemyeonui Balgyeon 🤍 It has three floors so there's lots of space, and each floor has a different mood, which made exploring fun. The autumn scenery outside the window was especially pretty, and I enjoyed both the Forest Cloud and the Basque cheese brûlée 🍰 If you want coffee and dessert in a lovely café, plus photos and a relaxed break, give it a visit ☕️