Mangpo Station café with big-window daylight & latte art: Hongrad

Hongrad, a café at Mangpo Station with a lovely vibe and honestly delicious coffee ☕️

What kind of café is Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch?

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch (홍라드 망포역점) is a retro-style café on the 4th floor of the building right in front of Mangpo Station, and I went with my family of four. I heard it had just opened, so we gave it a try, and it's the first café in a long time that I really loved near Mangpo Station 👀

Nice atmosphere, tasty coffee, not too noisy, and great for staying a long while. Here's my honest review of Hongrad. It ticked every box: a spacious, comfortable space with a lovely mood too~ We went as a family and fell for it, so from now on, for cafés near Mangpo Station, it's Hongrad for sure~

Where is Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch, and where can you park?

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch is right by the station, less than a minute on foot from Mangpo Station Exit 6. You can't park in the building itself, but there are the Mangpo Station public parking lot, resident-priority parking lots and the private Toya parking lot nearby.

It's a shame there's no parking in the building, but I hear the Mangpo Station public lot is free on weekends and the resident-priority lots are free from 8:00 to 16:00! So you can visit without worry. One tip: enter the café through the back door on the Nonghyup (bank) side.

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch opening hours

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch is open daily from 10:00 to 23:00, so please plan your visit around that. No closing day is a big plus, and being open late is great too.

Take the elevator up from the back door of the building and Hongrad is right there on the 4th floor. The café is the first thing you see as you step out of the elevator, which was so convenient. And the retro vibe the moment you walk in is no joke.

It's about a one-minute walk from Mangpo Station, so it's really easy to find! That makes it a no-fuss spot to come study alone, get some work done or meet up with someone. Inside it's quieter and more relaxed than I expected.

Daylight and interior at Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch

Being on the 4th floor with floor-to-ceiling windows, Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch feels wide open, seriously. I visited in the daytime and the natural light coming through the windows was so pretty, and the open view felt refreshing 🤍 I'm someone who thinks light matters a lot in a café, so this was a big plus for me.

Lots of trendy cafés these days are dark, windowless and harshly lit, but at Hongrad the natural light itself feels like the decor, and I loved that 〰️

I loved the retro feel of Hongrad too. I think atmosphere matters quite a lot in a café, and a subtle retro mood is blended into every corner of the space, so the vibe was great. It's retro but not tacky, which I like 🥹

Lots of sofa seats with generous spacing

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch has really a lot of sofa seats where you can sit comfortably. There were plenty of people studying or working on laptops ("cagong") and groups meeting up. The spacing between seats is quite roomy, so you hardly notice the conversations at the next table~!

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch menu and prices: what our family of four ordered

• Iced Americano ₩5,500
• Summer latte ₩7,000
• Café latte ₩6,000
• Strawberry latte ₩6,500

There were four of us, and this is what we ordered! I hear the toasts are delicious too, so I'd like to try toast next time. We ordered a bit of everything, and the coffee and drinks were all so good that we drank them all up, which was the trap.

Iced Americano: rich aroma, balanced acidity

Our four drinks arrived. I started with Hongrad's iced Americano, and can you believe even the Americano is this good? The coffee aroma was lovely and the acidity was just right, which really impressed me.

Warm café latte: latte art and soft milk foam

The most impressive thing at Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch was the warm café latte! There are lots of pretty cafés these days, but surprisingly few that do lattes well, and Hongrad's café latte stood out from the look of it. The steaming is so smooth, and the latte art is seriously so pretty, can you believe it? Once I drank it, the milk foam was just pure bliss 🥹

Summer latte: a latte topped with vanilla ice cream

This is the summer latte my younger brother drank and was really happy with. It's a café latte topped with vanilla ice cream, and I liked it from the looks alone, it's so pretty. It's good eating the ice cream separately before it melts, and the taste when it melts and mixes into the latte is delicious too, sweet without being too much.

Is Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch worth a return visit?

Honestly, there are quite a lot of pretty cafés these days, but many have lovely interiors and disappointing coffee or drinks. At Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch the coffee is delicious~ The space is emotional and comfortable, and the coffee is good on top of that, so I've become a regular. A totally certified good-vibes café at Mangpo Station.

100% planning to come back to Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch! It's right by Mangpo Station, and the big windows are so pretty. It's the place where I felt, for the first time in a while, that a cup of coffee was really good~ I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to sip coffee quietly and relax near Mangpo Station.