Suwon café with outlets at every seat near Ajou Univ: Jo Hui-tak

What time can you get a seat at Jo Hui-tak Coffee on a weekend afternoon?

If you're looking for a café near Ajou University in Suwon to enjoy coffee and dessert while reading or working on your laptop, I'd recommend Jo Hui-tak Coffee. I visited around 1pm on a Sunday and stayed for about two hours. When I first walked in, I could pick a seat fairly easily. But by the time I left around 3pm, it was so full I could barely find an empty seat. If you're planning a weekend afternoon visit, go a little earlier.

Jo Hui-tak Coffee hours, last order and refills

• Address: 12 Ajuro 47beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00
• Last order: 21:30
• Parking: Store parking is limited; nearby Uman 2-dong public parking lot recommended (cheap)
• Recommended for: decaf coffee available, wide range of desserts, outlets at every seat, good for studying/laptop work

Outlets at every seat: inside Jo Hui-tak Coffee

The interior overall pairs bright wood tones with calm gray walls. Tables aren't cramped together — there are two-person tables, seats for larger groups, and a long bar table running along the wall that's good for sitting alone, so you can pick seating to suit your purpose. There were little illustrations on the wall reminiscent of comic book pages, giving you something to look at, and the understated interior made it a comfortable place to stay a while.

What I liked most was that every single seat has an outlet. You can charge your devices at the wall bar table as well as most other seats, which made it great for getting homework or work done on a laptop. In fact there were quite a few customers sitting alone with laptops open — conversation noise wasn't too loud, and the music playing in the store suited the atmosphere well and made it easy to focus.

I'd gone looking for a good café and dessert spot near Ajou University, and rather than just a quick coffee and out, this turned out to be a good place for the kind of day when you want to sit back, read a book, or get some study café work done.

Decaf iced Americano and seasonal fig cake

What I ordered that day: a decaf iced Americano and the fig cake, which is in season right now. It was nice that decaf coffee was available, so I could drink it in the afternoon without worry. The decaf iced Americano was the best decaf coffee I've had so far ♡ It paired cleanly with the cake and helped balance out the cake's sweetness.

The fig cake had quite a lot of figs packed between the soft cream and moist sponge layers. There were nicely ripened figs on top too, so it looked seasonal from the first glance, and one bite brought out the fig's subtle sweetness and its little pop of texture. The cream wasn't heavy, so it didn't mask the fig's flavor, and the sponge, cream, and fig combined into a clean, well-balanced whole.

After tasting the cream, I can already imagine how good the various fruit sandos in the display case must be. I'll have to come back and try one next time.

And! If you order one drink per person, you can get one Americano refill, and there's a Naver review event that gets you a handmade chocolate chip cookie! They also sell coffee beans, just so you know~

Getting to Jo Hui-tak Coffee near Ajou Univ, and parking tips

Jo Hui-tak Coffee is on the 1st floor at 12 Ajuro 47beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. If you need coffee, dessert, and a space to focus for a while near Ajou University, Jo Hui-tak Coffee is a good choice. Seats fill up fast on weekend afternoons in particular, so if you want a relaxed seat, I'd recommend visiting right at opening or in the early afternoon.