Chiabatta with truffle oil at Grid Cafe, a Songpa bakery café

Today I want to introduce Grid Cafe, a spot in Ogeum-dong, Songpa, Seoul famous for salt bread, ciabatta and egg tarts. It's already known around the neighborhood as a dessert café with amazing bread. Ever since a friend brought me some once, I'd been meaning to visit and try the freshly baked bread myself — and this was finally my first visit.

Grid Cafe's location and exterior

This is the exterior of Grid Cafe. It sits right next to Seongnaecheon stream in Songpa, near Ogeum Station and Gaeryong Station. The bakery makes ciabatta, garlic bread, cream bread, salt bread, and baked goods like egg tarts, scones and cookies from scratch every morning. If you don't come in the morning at Grid Cafe, the popular breads can sell out before you get a chance.

Hours and parking

• Hours: Tue–Sun 09:00–18:00
• Last order: 17:30
• Closed: every Monday
• Parking: not supported on weekdays; lot behind the store available on weekends only

In October 2023, Grid Cafe appeared on the TV show Semin Gapbu with business consultant Eun Hyun-jang of Jangsaui Sin, and has been operating under a renewed concept ever since.

When does the bread come out?

Here's Grid Cafe's 'bread release time.' Tarts, salt bread, scones, ciabatta and sliced bread mostly come out in the morning. True to its reputation as an Ogeum-dong bread spot, there's a set time when the bread is baked — some people time their visit around it. If the egg tarts and salt bread sell out early, small additional batches are made.

Inside the store and the bread display

This is the interior of Grid Cafe. I visited in the morning, knowing that's when the bread comes out! As soon as I walked in, the whole place smelled deliciously of fresh bread.

Grid Cafe's No.1 seller is the egg tart, and No.2 is salt bread. Scones, ciabatta and sliced bread are also amazing. There are 4 kinds of tarts (egg / chocolate / cheese / corn) and 8 kinds of salt bread (streusel / mocha / pollack roe-gim, garlic butter / crack / melon / cream).

There are 2 kinds of scones (gourmet butter / apple cinnamon), 3 kinds of ciabatta (quattro cheese / red bean and butter / pizza), plus basil pepperoni sandwiches, jambon-beurre sandwiches and more, all lined up in the display case. Since the bread had just come out, it was still crisp and moist on the shelves — I wanted everything while I was choosing.

Salt bread comes in soft and crack styles

Apparently salt bread here comes in two styles. I always assumed salt bread was just moist, but it turns out there's 'soft' and 'crack.' Soft is moist and tender, while crack has a thin, crispy crust. Personally, I think I lean toward soft.

Seating and store-use guidelines

Past the bread display, further inside, there's seating — two-person tables and tables by the window. The interior is clean and pleasant for enjoying dessert. It's quiet enough to chat with friends, and also good for studying or working on a laptop.

At Grid Cafe, each person needs to order at least one drink. If you're studying or using a laptop or tablet, your stay is limited to 2 hours. Wi-Fi is available in the store.

Grid Cafe was also running a review event — if you post a photo review on Naver, they give you a free handmade rusk.

Besides the breads already on display, there was also a spot with bread that had just come out of the oven. That must have been what made the whole shop smell so good. The freshly baked bread looked warm and incredibly tasty.

How to order and the drink menu

You order at the kiosk right next to the bread display. Both dine-in and takeout go through the kiosk, and disposable cups aren't allowed inside the store. There's also a points system for regulars — you earn 2% of your payment back, usable once you have ₩2,500 in points.

This is Grid Cafe's drink menu board. You can choose your beans by preference: Old Dog (nutty), Jaldwaegasina (acidic), or decaf. There are 3 signature drinks, plus coffee, cold brew, fruit drinks, frappés, shakes and smoothies. The kiosk even has photos of the breads, so ordering bread through it is easy too.

Order details: Olive ciabatta ₩4,000 / Pizza ciabatta ₩4,000 / Grid Cream Shot ₩5,500 / Café latte ₩4,400

Today I ordered olive ciabatta and pizza ciabatta, along with the signature drinks Grid Cream Shot and a café latte. When you visit a bread spot like this, you have to try the signature drink too, haha. Grid Cafe's signature drinks are just as famous as its bread.

Olive ciabatta and pizza ciabatta

My drinks and ciabatta arrived. When you order the olive ciabatta, they give you truffle oil and balsamic sauce for dipping. They can also slice it for you so it's easier to eat.

Since I ordered a signature drink, they gave me a card explaining it. I had gotten the second one on the menu, the Grid Cream Shot. They said it tastes best if you don't stir it at first. The Grid Cream Shot is a smooth cream latte combining their signature fresh cream and cinnamon. It's made with the acidic Jaldwaegasina beans, so you get soft cream plus a touch of acidity.

Seeing the bread and drinks all laid out together, it looked so generous — probably because the ciabatta itself is quite large. The pizza ciabatta comes topped with cheese, so they gave me a fork and knife to eat it comfortably. The combination of the Grid Cream Shot and pizza ciabatta was the ultimate sweet-and-salty pairing.

The taste of the Grid Cream Shot and café latte

I chose Old Dog (nutty) beans for the café latte. A sweet café latte instantly put me in a good mood — light yet with a rich coffee aroma, really delicious. The Grid Cream Shot's signature fresh cream is incredible — much richer and sweeter than the cream you get at big bakery cafés. On top of that, a subtle cinnamon scent made even the cream alone delicious to eat.

"Ugh, this is seriously so good..." is what I said while devouring the pizza ciabatta. I already love ciabatta bread in general. On top of the moist, soft ciabatta, they piled on pizza sauce, pepperoni ham, cheese and olives without holding back — genuinely delicious.

I realized the pizza ciabatta was so good simply because the ciabatta bread itself is fantastic. Grid Cafe's olive ciabatta is delicious even cooled down. The outside is lightly crisp and the inside is very soft. Dipped in truffle oil and balsamic sauce, it was a ciabatta that truly needed no more words. The little bursts of tangy olive were a great kick too. I feel like Grid Cafe is the only place I'll want ciabatta from now on. If you're looking for a salt bread, ciabatta and egg tart spot in Ogeum-dong, Songpa, Seoul, I highly recommend Grid Cafe!!!