Seongbuk brunch spot for two: ricotta on French toast, 37.5 Mia

I was looking for a place to enjoy a relaxed brunch near Mia Sageori Station and Gireum Station, so I stopped by 37.5 Signature Mia Branch.

It serves everything from brunch to pasta, pizza and steak. The interior is bright and clean and the tables are spaced generously, so it looked good for a date, but also for friends or family.

This time I ordered the signature hearty American brunch and the pomegranate ricotta cheese salad, which uses ricotta made in the shop.

With a brunch plate that lets you taste lots of dishes on one plate and a salad full of different fruit, it was plenty for two people to share. A hearty brunch near Gireum Station!

Location and parking of 37.5 Signature Mia Branch

The restaurant is in the Seongjin building behind Hyundai Department Store Mia, right in front of the Lotte Castle entrance. You can spot the 37.5 SIGNATURE sign outside on the first floor, so it wasn't hard to find even on my first visit.

The entrance is done up with big glass windows and yellow lines, which gives it a bright, cheerful feel~ If you come by car, you can use the building's parking lot for free, which looked convenient for family or friends.

• Address: 35 Dongsomun-ro 43ga-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Seongjin Church, B103)
• Hours: daily 09:30–21:00
• Break time 16:00–17:00 / last order before the break 15:30 / evening last order 19:50
• Parking: free in the building's parking lot
• Other: Naver reservations available

Atmosphere and seating

Inside, the interior is mostly white with gold and blue accents. The ceiling and walls are light-colored, so everything felt bright, and plenty of natural light comes in through the big windows.

The blue counter and gold-framed chairs go well together, giving it a more upscale brunch-restaurant feel than an ordinary café. The tables aren't crammed together, so it was easy to chat while eating.

Water and tableware were neatly set out on one side, and there were high chairs and group seating too. It's a Seongbuk brunch spot that works for dates, friends' meetups, family meals and small group gatherings.

What we ordered and prices

We ordered two dishes: the hearty American brunch for ₩18,900 and the pomegranate ricotta cheese salad for ₩18,900. The total was ₩37,800.

The hearty American brunch lets you taste pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs, salad and other sides on a single plate. The pomegranate ricotta cheese salad was made with ricotta from the shop, fresh vegetables and seasonal fruit, with a sweet-and-sour pomegranate dressing.

What's in the pomegranate ricotta cheese salad?

The salad came out first. A big plate was generously filled with assorted vegetables, ricotta cheese, banana, grapefruit, cherry tomatoes, nuts and dried fruit. Bread and the pomegranate dressing came separately on the side.

The ricotta was served in a round scoop topped with nuts and dried fruit. Soft, nutty cheese with crunchy nuts and sweet-tart dried fruit made it far richer than a regular salad of just vegetables.

I piled vegetables and ricotta onto the bread that came with it. The toasty bread and soft ricotta went well together, and with the crunch of the vegetables and nuts, each bite was quite filling. Adding banana and dried fruit brought some sweetness, so it worked like a brunch dish.

The grapefruit was fresh and slightly bitter, which cleanly cut through the richness of the cheese. With banana, cherry tomatoes and several kinds of leafy greens, you get a range of flavors and textures in one plate.

The dressing had a sweet-and-sour pomegranate flavor and was nice in small amounts on the fruit and vegetables. Rather than pouring it all on at the start, I took only as much as I wanted, which let me enjoy the ricotta's own nutty flavor too. With homemade ricotta and so much fruit, it felt closer to a full meal than a light salad.

The hearty American brunch plate

As the name says, a huge plate arrived loaded with all kinds of brunch items: pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, salad and fruit, all together.

Maple syrup and fruit sauce came separately, so you can add them to the sweet items however you like. I liked that instead of eating just one thing, you can alternate between sweet and salty.

Sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs

The sausage was long and plump. It was evenly coated in a glossy sauce, and when I bit in, the inside was springy yet juicy.

It tasted salty and slightly sweet, which went nicely with the scrambled eggs or the salad. The bacon wasn't the thin, crispy style; it was thick and kept a soft texture.

Eating the salty bacon with soft scrambled eggs balanced the seasoning well. The eggs were a vivid yellow and moist and tender.

The seasoning wasn't too strong, so it went well with the sausage and bacon, and adding vegetables made each bite a bit fresher. Putting bacon on top of the scrambled eggs made the soft egg and salty meat blend naturally. It's a great side to nibble on between sweet things like pancakes and French toast, so I never got tired of it.

Hash browns

The hash browns were fried golden and crispy on the outside. When I cut into them with a fork, finely chopped potato inside was moist, and I liked the contrast between the crust and the inside.

Eating them with the avocado that came on the salad side added a soft note to the potato's nuttiness. They were salty enough to eat without any sauce, and they handled the crunchy texture on the brunch plate.

Topping the French toast with ricotta

The French toast, the dessert of the plate, came out golden brown, sprinkled with sliced almonds and powdered sugar. You can pour on the syrup that comes with it as you like, and the sweet syrup soaking into the moist bread made it enjoyable as a dessert.

The outside was golden and a little chewy, and the inside was soft and moist. Eaten with the sliced almonds it gained a crunch, and it went well with the sweet syrup too.

Putting the ricotta from the pomegranate ricotta salad on top of the French toast was delicious too. The nutty, soft ricotta mellowed the sweetness of the toast, and adding dried fruit and nuts made the flavor and texture even richer.

The pancake was also golden, and when I cut it with a fork, the inside was fluffy and soft. A little syrup makes it sweet, and with ricotta or fruit on top it became a slightly fresher combination.

With both French toast and pancakes on the plate, it's a satisfying lineup for anyone who loves sweet brunch.

Was it enough for two to share?

37.5 Signature Mia Branch was a brunch restaurant with a bright, stylish interior and a varied menu. The place is spacious and the tables have room between them, so we could talk comfortably while eating, and free parking in the building was a plus too.

Ordering the hearty American brunch and the pomegranate ricotta cheese salad together filled the whole table. The American brunch has salty, filling items like sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs, while the salad is packed with vegetables, fruit and ricotta, so the two dishes complemented each other.

Between bites of the brunch plate you can add fresh grapefruit and vegetables, and you can put ricotta on the pancakes or French toast, so there are lots of ways to combine things. The portion was ample for two to share, and since it didn't lean toward one flavor, we didn't get tired of it to the end.

So it suits anyone looking for a brunch restaurant near Gireum Station for a date or a lunch with friends. Besides brunch, it also sells pasta, pizza, steak and more, so it looked good for dates, friends' meetups and family meals alike. With its varied menu and clean atmosphere, it's a handy reference when you're looking for a brunch place in Seongbuk.

Final verdict

At 37.5 Signature Mia Branch I tried the hearty American brunch and the pomegranate ricotta cheese salad. The American brunch lets you taste pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns and salad on one plate, so it was as hearty as the name promises.

The pomegranate ricotta cheese salad, with homemade ricotta, fresh vegetables, banana, grapefruit, cherry tomatoes and nuts, was both nutty and refreshing. Putting the salad's ricotta on the bread or the French toast worked well too.

If you're looking for a brunch spot near Gireum Station in a bright, clean space, or a Seongbuk brunch restaurant for dates and family meals, give 37.5 Signature Mia Branch a look~