Sachang-dong dessert café: 3 crop breads & seed hotteok, Eopcheonri382

What kind of café is Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch?

Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch (읍천리382 충북대점) is a retro-style café near the back gate of Chungbuk National University, with a wide range of drinks and desserts. Today I was out in Cheongju with Poksshu after lunch, and the sun was so harsh that we went looking for a café to rest in. That café was Eopcheonri382 🩷

It's a 3-minute walk from the university's back gate, so it's also a handy stop if you're on a date around Sachang-dong.

Inside Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch: atmosphere and seating

The interior is built around wood, with classic lighting and antique props, so it feels warm and vintage. It's like visiting a grandmother's house in the countryside, right in the middle of the city, which is why it's a franchise I personally love.

There's a long bar-table seating area by the window, and tables for bigger groups are spaced comfortably inside. It's good for an indoor date, and plenty of people come to study here too.

Every power outlet has a cute little drawing like an Easter egg, so hunting for them is surprisingly fun haha

Stand up at the photo spot

There's a lovely photo spot that's perfect for pretty pictures. When I shot sitting at the table, Poksshu came out looking like a turtle, so I recommend standing up for your photos haha

Eopcheonri382 menu and what we ordered

Eopcheonri382 isn't just coffee: you can get retro drinks, meals and desserts all in one place.

Poksshu and I both love the sandwiches here, but we'd had a big lunch, so we sadly skipped them and ordered mostly sweet, chewy desserts :)

How the americano and signature latte taste

The two drinks came first. The americano is clean and no-fuss, the kind that wipes out thirst and tiredness in one go. The signature latte is an espresso base with smooth milk plus Eopcheonri's own special recipe, giving it a deep, well-balanced flavor.

Yep... you know whose hand that is. Second appearance after lunch haha The signature latte isn't very sweet, just pleasantly sweet, so it goes well with desserts and is easy to sip on its own.

While we sipped the americano and latte, the subsistence-crop breads, seed hotteok and yakgwa all arrived~~! They told us it would take about 10 minutes, and everything came out warmed up and piping hot 🥰

Doesn't it look incredibly generous all spread out on the table? haha Subsistence-crop bread (guhwang-jakmul bread, made to look like potatoes, sweet potatoes and chestnuts) isn't sold in many places, so picking several kinds along with traditional desserts at Eopcheonri382 was a lot of fun.

Potato, sweet potato and chestnut breads: how do they taste different?

The subsistence-crop breads at this branch come in three kinds: Potato Field, Sweet Potato Field and Chestnut Field, so we picked one of each. Each has a slightly different taste and charm, so they're great to order together and share. Doesn't it look like it was just dug out of the field? So cute.....🫶

Sweet Potato Field: sweet filling and chewy dough

We had just done a sweet-potato-themed photo booth session (four-cut photos), so the sweet potato goes first 😋🍠 It's the purple sweet potato bread: chewy outside, packed with filling inside, and it cuts smoothly.

You can see all the bean paste and filling inside, so even cutting it was fun. The packed sweet potato filling brings the sweetness and the dough around it brings the chew, so the more you chew, the sweeter and chewier the sweet potato flavor gets.

The shape, smell and taste are clearly sweet potato, but with the chewy dough added the texture is so fun! 😖

Chestnut Field: the sweetest of the three

Next is the Chestnut Field. It looks like a freshly roasted, crumbly chestnut, but inside the same chewy dough is a fragrant filling with that classic chestnut aroma.

The Chestnut Field became Poksshu's favorite, and it's the sweetest of the three breads. The fragrant chestnut flavor spreads gently and the soft, sweet filling spills out. So good,,

The colorful look and round shape are cute too, so it's visually satisfying even before you eat it. With the americano it finishes clean, and with the signature latte the sweetness gets richer, so it went well with either drink.

Potato Field: a plain bread where the main ingredient shines most

The Potato Field is practically a round potato in both shape and taste! It's the one that matches its real-life counterpart best, and like the others it has a soft potato filling packed inside a chewy, mild dough.

The taste is like eating chewy potato salad? It's the bread where the main ingredient comes through most (Poksshu agrees). It's mild, nutty and only very faintly sweet.

They say it's even tastier with Parmesan cheese powder and ketchup, and honestly, when I have no appetite and want a light meal replacement, I think I could slurp down two of these by myself.

What does Eopcheonri382's seed hotteok taste like?

Seed hotteok (ssiat-hotteok, a stuffed pancake) is a traditional hotteok that's crispy outside and chewy inside, packed with honey and seeds. Cheongju is famous for hotteok too, so it felt a shame to leave without trying it, and we ordered it.

See how sweet honey syrup and nutty seeds pour out the moment I cut the golden hotteok in half with a knife,,, It's crispy outside and chewy inside, and the nuttiness bursts out as you chew, so it was perfect as a snack 🫶

I'm the one who took the exam, so why are you the one collapsing haha (the joke is that the sugar rush floored Poksshu) Here's Poksshu's hand, down for the count after the sugar hit 🙋‍♂️

Yakgwa to take home

Dinner time was coming up, so I packed the Eopcheonri382 yakgwa (traditional honey cookie) to eat at home. Poksshu ate them one by one whenever his mouth felt bored haha One bite and the sticky, sweet grain-syrup (jocheong) flavor is chewy and dense, so it seems great for a quick sugar recharge.

Who should visit Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch

We'd been walking around Cheongju after lunch and wanted to escape the sun for a bit, and a cold drink with sweet desserts was the perfect combination.

They also neatly packed the leftover desserts so we could eat them at home, and Poksshu and I had a relaxed, happy time 🩷

If you're on a date near Chungbuk National University in Cheongju and want a place to rest for a while, or you're looking for a Cheongju café with a wide range of drinks and desserts, I recommend Eopcheonri382 Chungbuk National University Branch, with its roomy parking and cozy photo spot 🥰❤️