Paju juice café: 1+1 fresh mango juice and croffle set, Fruit Forest

I really love a book café in Paju called "Forest of Wisdom" (Jihye-ui Sup). But then I found out there's a "Forest of Fruit" too?! I wondered just how much fruit it could have, so I went to see.

Fruit Forest Paju Direct Store: Basic Info

Fruit Forest Paju Direct Store (과일의숲 파주직영점) is a fresh-fruit café that uses floors 1–3 of the building at 144 Dolgoji-gil, Paju, Gyeonggi, and it's open daily from 10:00 to 20:00. It has its own parking lot, and customers of the nearby restaurant Tteurak get 10% off the whole menu.

• Location: 144 Dolgoji-gil, Paju, Gyeonggi, floors 1–3
• Hours: daily 10:00–20:00
• Parking: private lot available
• Perk: 10% off the whole menu for customers of the nearby restaurant Tteurak

They say Fruit Forest takes part in the first auction every morning at dawn, picks only high-sugar fruit it has seen and tasted itself, and cuts the fruit the moment a customer orders. Apparently they insist on 100% fresh fruit, with no frozen fruit and no syrup.

How to Get to Fruit Forest, and Parking

Fruit Forest, a great spot for mango bingsu (shaved-ice dessert) in Paju, sits on the Simhaksan restaurant street. Right next door is a restaurant called Simhaksan Tteurak, and if you eat at Tteurak and then stop by Fruit Forest, you get 10% off.

The whole building is the Fruit Forest café, and there's a big parking lot on the 1st floor. You can also park in the neighboring Tteurak's private lot, so after a meal at Tteurak you can walk over without moving your car.

Fruit Forest Interior and Seating

The café space is on the 2nd floor, and as soon as you walk in, a showcase of fresh mangoes and fruit grabs your eye.

Fruit Forest's philosophy is simple: only top-grade fresh fruit. The moment you step inside, the sweet, fresh scent of real fruit hits your nose, and in front of you are ripe yellow mangoes and colorful fruit spread out everywhere.

With its natural, tidy interior plus that fresh fruit aroma, just being in the space refreshes you. "Healing space" is exactly the right phrase for the vibe.

It's roomy, with floor-to-ceiling windows, so it feels really open. And the sofa seats were really comfortable and nice.

Fruit Forest Menu and Prices

This Simhaksan café has a huge range of menu items: fresh-fruit bingsu, of course, plus coffee, fruit juice, tea and even desserts like waffles. Snow bingsu is ₩28,000 for 2–3 people, and fresh mango juice is ₩8,000.

• Fresh mango snow bingsu, 2–3 people: ₩28,000
• Peach snow bingsu, 2–3 people: ₩28,000
• Melon snow bingsu, 2–3 people: ₩28,000
• Injeolmi red bean bingsu (with roasted soybean-flavored rice cake), 2–3 people: ₩25,000
• Americano: ₩5,000
• Fresh mango juice: ₩8,000

• Waffle: ₩5,000
• Croffle (croissant waffle): ₩11,000

Signature Fresh Mango Snow Bingsu (2–3 people, ₩28,000)

The fresh mango snow bingsu is Fruit Forest's signature and the top reason this place became a hot spot. The sight alone leaves you speechless: fresh mango slices wrap the surface so densely that you can't even see the milk ice. The mango is cut thick, not thin, and when you scoop up a big spoonful, the rich flavor of well-ripened mango meets the soft milk ice and melts like cotton candy. It's not an artificial sweetness but the fruit's own refined sweetness and mango aroma, fully alive. It's so well made that people say it's the most satisfying mango bingsu they've had, hotels and cafés included.

How Were the 1+1 Fresh Mango Juice, Apple-Kale Juice and Croffle Set?

When I visited, Fruit Forest was running a 1+1 deal on fresh mango juice. An ₩8,000 item, no less... how could I not get it, right? I really wanted to eat that fresh mango, so I ordered the mango juice. And I also ordered the healthy apple-kale juice and the croffle set.

Fresh Mango Juice

Fruit Forest's fresh mango juice is really sweet, rich and delicious. It's so fresh it felt like I was at a café in Vietnam, not Korea. It came as 1+1, so I got to drink mango juice to my heart's content.

Apple-Kale Juice

The apple-kale juice wasn't very bitter at all, and the sweetness of the apple tasted really good. With the freshness of the kale, I felt healthy. If the mango juice is sweet, the apple-kale juice balances it out with a refreshing tang.

Ice Cream Croffle and Banana Brûlée

It's a dessert café, so the desserts were good too. The croffle came topped with ice cream, and eating them together made it even smoother.

The banana was a banana brûlée with a light coating of sugar on top. The banana was fresh too, so eaten together it was very sweet and delicious.

Fruit Forest Paju Direct Store: Final Thoughts

The fresh fruit scent that brushes your nose the moment you walk in, the fresh fruit filling your view, and the rich fresh-fruit flavor that fills your mouth with each spoonful. If you want to experience Fruit Forest, head to Fruit Forest at Simhaksan in Paju.