Gangnam Station café with seasonal fruit cakes: Upper and Under

I wanted coffee and cake near Gangnam Station, so I stopped by Upper and Under. I only meant to get a drink that day, but the showcase had quite a few cakes lined up, so I ended up picking a dessert too. There were a lot of cakes topped with seasonal fruit, and since I love fruit cakes, it was hard to just walk past.

We ordered one fig cake along with an iced americano and a salty cream caramel latte. Besides fig, the showcase also had Earl Grey grapefruit and raspberry cakes, so it seemed like there'd be fun in picking a different dessert each season. Of everything we ate that day, the fig cake was the one that stuck with me most.

What seasonal cakes does Upper and Under have near Gangnam Station?

Upper and Under isn't the kind of café with just one or two cakes sitting out — there were several fruit-topped desserts prepared. On this visit there were Earl Grey grapefruit, fig, and raspberry cakes, each priced at 8.5 (₩8,500). They weren't all made in the same shape either; the look changed quite a bit depending on the fruit used.

The Earl Grey grapefruit cake had a big chunk of red grapefruit flesh set on top of the cream, and the raspberry cake had raspberries on a pink-tinted cake. The fig cake had several slices of well-ripened fig piled on top of the bread and cream, so out of the three, it caught my eye first. I prefer cakes with generous fruit over ones with just a small decorative piece, so we went with fig.

The Upper and Under fig cake, piled with fresh figs

The fig cake we ate was ₩8,500. It's a cake with a fairly thick layer of fresh cream on top of the sponge, topped with several slices of fig. It wasn't just one or two pieces of fig sitting there for show — there was enough that you could scoop some up with every forkful.

With such large pieces of fig on top, it looked appetizing, and the slice itself was thicker than I expected. There was cream layered inside too, so it wasn't just a thick block of plain sponge. Personally, I find fruit cakes disappointing when the fruit is skimpy, but this one didn't hold back on the fig, and I liked that.

What the 8,500 won fig cake tastes like

The fig on Upper and Under's fig cake was softly ripened, so it tasted great together with the cream. Eating a piece of fig with each bite of cake brought the moist fruit and cream together, and it was so much better that way. I do love fig desserts in general, but that day the fig-and-cream combo felt especially right.

There was quite a lot of fresh cream, but with the fig mixed in, it never felt overly sweet. The best bites were the big ones with cake, cream, and fig all together in one forkful. If it had been all cream, it might have gotten a bit much, but the fruit kept showing up throughout, so I enjoyed it all the way to the end.

Why the fig cake pairs well with an iced americano

For drinks, we ordered one iced americano and one salty cream caramel latte. Since the fig cake had plenty of cream and fruit, I kept sipping the iced americano in between bites. Sweet cake followed by a sip of coffee is a combo that never fails.

Iced americano was the easiest drink to pair with the cake. If you're ordering a dessert with a lot of cream, having one clean iced coffee on the table is a good move. Since there were two of us with different drinks, it was nice to pass one cake back and forth while sipping different things.

Upper and Under's salty cream caramel latte, sweet from first look

The other drink we got was the salty cream caramel latte. It came out in layers — latte-colored at the bottom and a thick layer of white cream on top. There was even a biscuit stuck in the top, giving it a completely different feel from the americano.

Since we'd already ordered cake, we deliberately picked two different drinks, and the salty cream caramel latte looked more like a dessert drink than a plain cup of coffee. If you like lattes with a generous cream top, this one's worth a look. Alternating between the fig cake and iced americano, plus this latte, kept the drink lineup from feeling flat.

Worth it for a seasonal fruit cake near Gangnam Station?

What I liked most about Gangnam café Upper and Under this time was, again, the season fruit cakes. Having more than just fig — Earl Grey grapefruit and raspberry too — made picking a dessert fun. I prefer choosing based on whatever fruit is in season rather than eating the same cake every time.

The fig cake I had was piled generously with fig and worked really well with the cream, so I'd order it again if I see it next time. It went well with the iced americano, and adding the salty cream caramel latte made for a nice dessert break for two. This place will probably come to mind on a day when I want to eat a proper cake near Gangnam Station instead of just coffee.