Sinnonhyeon café after spicy dakgalbi, raspberry cake: Upper and Under

Why we headed to Upper and Under near Sinnonhyeon Station after dakgalbi

After a big plate of spicy dakgalbi (stir-fried spicy chicken), I headed to Upper and Under, a café near Sinnonhyeon Station, looking for dessert and coffee to cleanse my palate. I had just met up with a friend I hadn't seen in ages, and we cleaned out a seriously fiery dakgalbi!

But you know how it is, right? After stuffing yourself with spicy, hearty food, that tingly heat lingers in your mouth, and you absolutely need something sweet and fresh to calm it down. Otherwise it doesn't feel like a clean finish! So we rushed to a nearby café by Sinnonhyeon Station for sweet desserts, iced coffee and round two of our chat! :)

Where is Upper and Under, and what about parking?

Upper and Under is a large dessert café at 28 Gangnam-daero 102-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, about a 5-minute walk from exit 4 or 6 of Sinnonhyeon Station. This is the place with the huge buzz that we chose to soothe our spicy mouths! It uses the whole building, from the basement up to the 2nd and 3rd floors!

It's also an 8-minute walk from Gangnam Station exit 11, so access is great haha. It's right in the middle of Gangnam, so parking at the café itself is difficult. I'd recommend using a nearby car park :)

Upper and Under interior and the mood on each floor

Upper and Under has a warm brick exterior and a white-and-wood interior, full of minimal, pretty charm! The building stood out from the outside already.

The multi-floor layout makes it spacious and comfortable, and each floor has a slightly different mood, so choosing where to sit is part of the fun :) There's also an outdoor terrace that's perfect on a nice day, and even though it's in the middle of Gangnam it feels relaxed and clean, making it a great café near Sinnonhyeon Station for dates or chatting with friends!

It was quiet that day, so we grabbed a seat on the ground floor.

What did we order at Upper and Under?

At Upper and Under we ordered a pistachio cream latte, a hazelnut americano, raspberry cake and an egg tart. Once we sat down, we looked at the generously stocked dessert case and everything was so pretty that we wanted it all and couldn't decide haha

After much agonizing, we ordered the pistachio cream latte, hazelnut americano, raspberry cake, and an egg tart too!

If you want a full course of pretty, tasty desserts in a roomy, atmospheric space, I sincerely recommend it! Popular items at Upper and Under can sell out fast, so I'd suggest going a little early :)

From the signature cream coffee to the freshly baked dessert lineup, everything looked so Instagram-worthy that I took a storm of photos first haha

How was the pistachio cream latte?

The pistachio cream latte, Upper and Under's signature, is piled with nutty pistachio topping, so it passed on looks alone! When the drinks and desserts finally arrived and I tasted it, the rich, smooth cream filled my mouth, and the balance of nutty and sweet was amazing haha. It felt like the leftover tingle from the dakgalbi just washed away.

How was the hazelnut americano?

The hazelnut americano was also great: a roasty, clean americano base with a gentle sweet hazelnut note, perfect to sip alongside dessert :)

The raspberry cake my friend called the cake of her life

The highlight of the day was the Upper and Under raspberry cake! Not too sweet, with a moist cake layer and berry flavor spreading through, it was the real deal.

Wow! This is seriously the cake of my life!

My friend shouted this the moment she took a bite, haha. She said it was exactly the taste she'd imagined, that she'd never had a cake this fresh yet pleasantly sweet, got super excited and ate almost the whole thing herself ha. Totally great!

Is the egg tart worth recommending too?

The egg tart we added on the side was good too: crisp tart shell, soft and moist filling, a perfect match with coffee, so I recommend it as well :)

Is Upper and Under a good café for cooling down after spicy food?

After spicy food, cleansing my palate with Upper and Under's sweet desserts and smooth cream latte was truly healing and refreshing! The space is so wide and cozy that we chatted away without noticing the time :) If you're looking for a café near Sinnonhyeon Station with fantastic desserts, run over to Upper and Under♥