Hapjeong café for Earl Grey lemon tart: Seowon Angil Hapjeong

I recently found a huge café near Seogyo-dong with such an amazing atmosphere.. My criteria for a café I love are: Is the coffee good? Are the desserts good? Is the menu varied? Is the place spacious? Are the seats comfortable? Is the service good? Something like that^^ There honestly aren't many cafés in Hongdae or Hapjeong that meet all those standards.. But I found one. Seowon Angil Hapjeong (서원안길 합정).

Getting to Seowon Angil Hapjeong from Hapjeong Station

It's about a three-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hapjeong Station. As soon as you come out of Exit 3, just head straight down the alley by the GS25 you can see!

Then you'll come across this big café building. You can use both floors, but please note that the second floor is only open until 6 PM! And dogs are welcome inside ♥︎

The first floor is open until 8 PM, and until 9 PM on weekends.

A spacious interior filled with plants

The inside is absolutely full of plants~ There were more than 20 two- and four-person tables just by counting at a glance.

There are plenty of seats that are great for a solo café session, too. There are even areas divided by partition walls for a more private feel.

A varied menu, from desserts to meals

More than anything, the menu was so varied.. I came in the evening, so there weren't loads of desserts left, but they had an Earl Grey lemon tart that I absolutely love, so I picked one right away.

The pure milk cake and carrot cake looked seriously impressive, too,,

Since they also sell food, they had lots of different alcoholic drinks as well.

And since they were selling my all-time favorite bread, sourdough, separately too, I ordered one!

Half this menu was drinks and half was food. It operates as a brunch café in the morning and as a restaurant in the morning and afternoon, so you can enjoy the café anytime! Just note that cooked dishes can't be ordered late in the evening. You can switch any coffee to decaf or oat milk! You can also choose between nutty beans and more acidic beans.

Maybe because Seowon Angil is also famous for ragu pasta and tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), four middle-aged men were eating so deliciously when we visited haha ㅠㅠㅠ They really scraped their plates clean.. I'm definitely trying it next time..

They even sell Seowon Angil coffee beans, perhaps because there is a roastery in the café.

Sourdough and the drinks we ordered

They sliced the sourdough for us, and at ₩8,000, it was such a generous amount that I ate it all week. I recommend toasting it, or pan-frying it with butter and having it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil!

And here are the things we ordered haha: hibiscus tea, Americano, oat latte, and Earl Grey lemon tart.

As expected.. they made the prettiest latte art on the hot café latte..

Truly fantastic;;

A tart pairing Earl Grey fragrance with lemon coulis

I really love this Earl Grey lemon tart.. Its charm is the little dollops of cream piped on one by one, and the white cream has such a wonderful Earl Grey black tea fragrance.

There's lemon coulis in the middle, with a chocolate genoise sponge and chocolate ganache underneath!! The tart shell was nicely crisp but also moist.. Perfect.

And our drinks to have alongside it.. Since it was evening, I ordered hibiscus tea, and it was richly brewed and delicious. The latte and Americano also had just the right acidity, so they weren't overly bitter and really stayed with me.

If you come in the morning, at lunchtime, or in the early evening, you can order the cooked dishes too. I think it is a huge plus that you can have a meal with pasta or sandwiches, then take care of dessert at Seowon Angil all in one go!

Service 100 / Taste 100 / Atmosphere 100

Most of all, I loved being able to enjoy the café atmosphere in peace and quiet :-) If you're looking for a big café in Seogyo-dong, please do stop by at least once!