Yeonnam-dong dessert café with stroopmore and vintage lamps: Pip

🌼 ☕️ 🐸

Such gorgeous weather today! Felt like a gift I had to make the most of, so Daisy Frogy went out for a café outing! Today's destination is a Yeonnam-dong café I fell for on Instagram —

Pip Espresso Bar

Where is Pip Espresso Bar, and what are its hours?

Pip Espresso Bar sits at 5 Seongmisan-ro 29an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, along the residential café street of Yeonnam-dong. Walk about 10 minutes along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, watching the trees and the people, and you'll drift onto a tree-lined residential café street that grows quieter and quieter.

• Address: 5 Seongmisan-ro 29an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: Daily 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM (no closed days)
• Access: 10-minute walk from Hongik Univ. Station / no parking

What the terrace seats under the parasols are like

Pip Espresso Bar's exterior. It's a terrace café with outdoor seating in the yard beside the building — mismatched chairs and wooden tables under a big parasol. I love that it feels natural and relaxed rather than perfectly styled.

The sunlight and breeze were so nice today, so I claimed a terrace seat first!

What we ordered at Pip Espresso Bar and what it cost

A Blue Ribbon spot! Scanning the menu hard at the counter. Since there's so much on it and I couldn't decide fast, the kind owner just said take your time and call when ready, then stepped away!

It's an espresso bar, so... let's drink an espresso! It's known for cream coffee, so... their signature con panna mascarpone! It's a dessert spot, so... I picked the stroopmore, whose name alone sounded intriguing!

There's a wide range of espresso drinks, all pretty reasonably priced. Plenty of dessert options too, like tiramisu and a macadamia platter. What I ordered, and how much it cost:

• Espresso strappazzato: ₩4,500
• Con panna mascarpone: ₩4,500
• Stroopmore: ₩12,000

Inside the converted house

Bigger than I expected. Since it's built out of a converted house, the layout isn't monotonous — it has real character. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in great light and openness, and the interior mood shifts subtly seat to seat, so where you sit changes the whole feel of the café. Every object here has a stylish touch.

Concrete, wood, glass block. On materials alone it should feel cold, but the space doesn't feel cold at all. The reason has to be the lighting!

The Yeonnam-dong café where you can buy the vintage lamps

What sets Pip Espresso Bar apart is the lighting. One on the ceiling, one beside the table, another by the window. Unlike the typical café that repeats the same fixture everywhere, every lamp here differs in shape and material from seat to seat. There's even a dedicated corner collecting and selling vintage lamps. It's not just for looking — if you like one, you can buy it. Basically, a whole lighting boutique has moved into the café.

Each lit lamp subtly shifts the temperature of the space among the concrete and black furniture. On the ceiling, beside the tables, by the windows. Each one glowing differently — I loved them as objects in their own right.

Off, they're like objets; lit, they shape the mood of the whole space. The power of lighting in a space is pretty significant.

"If there's a lamp you'd like turned on, just let us know." Each lamp carries an orange tag with its name and price. Ah... now I want to buy one too...

A concrete space that could easily feel cold instead gains little scenes in every corner once you add lamps of different light and shape — much more atmospheric. Came for coffee, ended up browsing lamps too!

Orange accents hidden around the café

And here's a fun discovery! It's the color orange! ORANGE! 🧡

Orange on the posters. Orange on the little tags hanging off the lamps. Even the plastic blanket basket and the little dot on the wall switch. Orange accents everywhere! At this point, orange must be Pip's signature color!

There were stickers at the counter, so I grabbed a few I liked. A small souvenir from today's café outing.

How the strappazzato and con panna mascarpone taste

And here it is — the sweet-and-bitter coffee and dessert, finally arrived. Little espresso cups and desserts clustered together on a stainless steel tray. Steel-teriors — or should I say steel plating — never disappoint!

That's me~ the woman drinking espresso at a terrace café~~ haha

Strappazzato is espresso topped with cacao powder. One sip and the cacao aroma follows right behind the strong espresso. Nuttiness comes through before bitterness, so even people new to espresso can enjoy this easily.

Con panna mascarpone is espresso topped with mascarpone cream. The cream melts in without feeling heavy, and the balance between cream and coffee is great. A worthy signature for a cream-coffee spot!

The star of the visit: the 12,000-won stroopmore

And today's star, the stroopmore! They're known for tiramisu, but the menu name sounded like a magic spell, so pretty I just had to order it... Two stroopwafels sandwiching a generous helping of marshmallow, served with vanilla ice cream! A stroopwafel + marshmallow + ice cream combo. Cut it with a knife and the marshmallow stretches long. A bite of crisp waffle, chewy marshmallow, cold ice cream all together. As expected, extremely sweet. But it pairs beautifully with a strong espresso!

Terrace or indoors: two very different moods

Moved from the terrace seats to the indoor seats. Wanted to enjoy the mood of that gorgeous interior too...

Outside: wind, trees, and the street view. Inside: lighting and the space itself. Once outside, once inside. The satisfaction of enjoying two completely different moods and spaces.

Paper cups for dogs at Pip Espresso Bar

Found dog-only paper cups on my way to get water. The water bowl for dogs is adorable too. Such thoughtful attention to detail...

Right beside the human water cups, a dedicated spot for dog-only paper cups. One for humans, one for dogs. 💦🐶

A walk along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, a good long browse of pretty lamps, a sip of espresso, a bite of stroopmore. A pretty café makes a human happy...

Final verdict on Pip Espresso Bar

Pip Espresso Bar in Yeonnam-dong was a great spot to linger slowly on a beautiful-weather day.

A stylishly styled space with lighting and objets front and center. You can browse the vintage lamps — and buy them too.

• A wide espresso lineup
• Well-executed desserts across the board
• A Blue Ribbon-recognized spot
• A large, pet-friendly Yeonnam-dong café that even thinks about dog companions
• A terrace café you can enjoy at a leisurely pace

A café outing Daisy Frogy will remember for its coffee aroma and orange glow. 🌼🐸💡🧡