Hapjeong study café with basil tomato ade: Seowon Angil Hapjeong

Today I'm bringing you a review of Seowon Angil (서원안길), a dog-friendly brunch café in Hapjeong! The brunch is delicious, but it's also just a great relaxed large café to hang out in ,,, and it's dog-friendly too! The staff were so x999 kind that I promised I'd come back ⭐️ it was seriously a hidden gem 🥹

Taking everything into account, I think this might be the number-one brunch spot and number-one café in Hapjeong, but it doesn't seem super famous yet ...? Don't get famous ... no, get famous ,,, no, don't get famous 🥹 Still, for the public good ,,, here's my honest review, full of bias 🤍

Where is Seowon Angil Hapjeong and what are its hours?

Seowon Angil Hapjeong is a large brunch café at 34 Jandari-ro 3-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 1st and 2nd floors. It's about a 3-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hapjeong Station, so access is excellent! It's also close to Hongdae and Sangsu, making it perfect for a date course ⭐️

I visited on a weekday evening, so here's my detailed review covering hours, parking, the space, restrooms, menu, prices, recommended dishes, and various tips -!

• Mon–Fri: 1F 09:00–20:00 (last order 19:00) / 2F 11:00–18:00
• Sat–Sun: 1F 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:00) / 2F 11:00–18:00

It was great that it's a brunch café open from early morning, and it's a huge plus that food items can be ordered anytime with no break time 🤍⭐️

Parking near Seowon Angil Hapjeong

Seowon Angil Hapjeong does have parking, but only 3-4 spots max on-site, so depending on the situation it might be hard to get a spot! It's first-come first-served with no reservations, so checking in advance before visiting is a must -!

✔️ If you use a paid parking lot and show your parking receipt when ordering, they'll give you a ₩2,000 discount off your menu to help cover it. Such a thoughtful touch ,,, I recommend the Amano Hapjeong Station Youth Housing lot, the closest one (2-min walk)! (₩3,000/hour, ₩500 per 10 minutes)

Seowon Angil Hapjeong at a glance

• Dog-friendly
• No break time — great brunch spot
• Spacious, beautifully designed two-floor large café
• Also sells wine and beer
• Wide variety of brunch menu items
• Great café for working or studying
• Venue rental available (call the store or DM)
• Wheelchair accessible entrance, restroom and seating

This is the exterior of Seowon Angil, a large brunch café in Hapjeong! From outside it didn't look that spacious inside, but ,,, it's genuinely huge and I was surprised haha

First and second floors: wide windows and plant views

The overall atmosphere of Seowon Angil Hapjeong is lush plants, distinctive tables and chairs, and spaces that can accommodate various group sizes

First up is the 1st floor space! Light pouring in through the wide floor-to-ceiling windows and a lush green plant view ,,, menu, taste, and interior all matter at a great brunch place, but I personally think this kind of window + plant-filled space is the most important point! And the chairs aren't uncomfortable — comfortable chairs plus wide tables make it a place you can happily linger

Go up the stairs to the 2nd floor and a whole different atmosphere greets you -! From long tables to lush window-view seats that fill your eyes with the trees outside!

The interior atmosphere plus the outside view are both so green and pretty ... 🥹 There are also a few comfy sofa seats, which seemed perfect for anyone visiting for true relaxation

Every single object felt so pretty it felt like being abroad. And that window view is really ... I made a promise to myself to come back here on a snowy day!!!!! (already waiting for snow in summer ,,,)

Why Seowon Angil Hapjeong works for laptop work

On one side of Seowon Angil Hapjeong there's a water station and condiments to go with brunch — ketchup, whole peppercorns, salt, hot sauce, and more! The Wi-Fi was also strong, making it a great space to casually work on a laptop or study (personally, I also think it's a great café for reading ...🤍)

The whole space is generally laid out spaciously, so the atmosphere felt quiet and peaceful! The ceilings are also fairly high, so I worried conversations might echo and get noisy — but with such wide spacing between tables, there was no need to worry ,,, and it didn't feel like an echoey café at all, which was even better 🥹

The restrooms were also separated by gender and really clean, even stocked with hand wash and hand cream — amazing 🤍

On one side there's the ordering counter and an open kitchen where the menu items are made

Sourdough bread and the custom salad

Turns out Seowon Angil Hapjeong is also famous for sourdough? They sell sourdough made with French flour and a natural starter, along with marinades and house-made cream cheese spread. Since the brunch is also made with this sourdough, I got even more excited haha

On one side there's also a dedicated corner for ordering custom salads! Salads start at just ₩7,000, which is pretty cheap, right ,,, and being able to mix and match your own toppings 🥹 it's the perfect brunch and diet-friendly menu item!

Drink menu and prices at Seowon Angil Hapjeong

It's a great brunch spot in Hapjeong, but of course you can also just order coffee without any brunch item haha. Drink menu prices were about

• Americano ₩6,000
• Café latte ₩6,800 (can switch to decaf / oat milk)
• Hibiscus / chamomile ₩7,000
• Matcha latte ₩7,800
• Basil tomato ade ₩8,000
• Berry blush smoothie ₩8,500

There were plenty of unique drink options and even ice cream, which was nice 🤍 Plus the currently trendy basil tomato ade ⭐️ Honestly, the drink prices aren't cheap, but at a large café with this kind of interior, you can't really expect bargain prices 🥺 Most importantly, unlike the usual large cafés that are expensive but not that tasty, the drinks at Seowon Angil were genuinely delicious

They also have bottled beer, so it's a good place to enjoy in the evening too! As for the brunch menu

• Salads ₩18,000–20,000
• Open sandwiches ₩11,000–13,500
• Rice dishes ₩18,000–19,000
• Pasta ₩19,000–28,000
• Plates ₩19,000–22,000
• Various snacks ₩9,000–25,000

were about the price range! It felt like every classic brunch dish you could think of was covered, and there were solid, unusual flavor combinations too, so I spent quite a while just browsing the menu 🍀

What two people ordered for 52,000 won

What we ordered was the herb shrimp & arugula open sandwich ₩13,000, creamy egg pasta ₩23,000, basil tomato ade ₩8,000, and blueberry hibiscus tea ₩8,000, for a total of ₩52,000! A photo with the background and all the delicious-looking dishes together ,,, doesn't it just look peaceful?

The tables are spacious and the background is pretty, so photos turned out nice no matter how I shot them. And most of all, the plating of each dish was so pretty ,,,

Herb shrimp & arugula open sandwich, 13,000 won

First, the herb shrimp & arugula open sandwich was a can't-go-wrong combination of Seowon Angil Hapjeong's own house-made sourdough topped with plenty of arugula, seasoned shrimp, and onion

Eating it with carrot rapée (carotte râpée) and baby sprouts made it even tastier and fresher! The shrimp was nice and big, giving a great chewy texture, and the arugula was full of fresh aroma so it genuinely felt like eating a light, healthy sandwich 🍃

Creamy egg pasta, 23,000 won

The creamy egg pasta was an authentic carbonara-style pasta, flavored with bacon, cheese, and egg yolk for a deeper, richer taste! I actually went through a phase of being obsessed with authentic carbonara and made it constantly at home, but it's a dish that takes a surprising amount of effort ,,, so it was so nice to find a pasta place that actually serves authentic carbonara haha

One eating tip! Grinding a ton of whole black pepper over authentic carbonara doubles the flavor and aroma >_< The noodles were cooked just right and the cream was rich and thick, so I was full of happiness with every bite ,,, an open sandwich + pasta combo = the ultimate brunch pairing 🤍

Basil tomato ade and blueberry hibiscus tea, 8,000 won each

The blueberry hibiscus tea was surprisingly, not at all sweet !!!!! but had an intensely strong blueberry aroma?! I don't like sweet drinks but also didn't want a plain tea, so I picked this one, and it turned out to be exactly the refreshing, cool tea I was hoping for

The basil tomato ade was also a truly surprising flavor — this was my first basil tomato ade, and I had it at Seowon Angil ,,, I always thought basil only went into food, but it turns out it pairs surprisingly well with drinks too! In particular, tomato ade + basil aroma = a perfect summer drink haha. It had an herbal note along with the refreshing fizz of fruit and carbonation 🍃🍅

Honest verdict on Seowon Angil Hapjeong

Overall, the quality across every menu item was high, so this is a complete pass as a top brunch spot in Hapjeong ,,, not just a pretty large café, but a genuinely delicious brunch spot where every dish is good!

Space, menu, atmosphere, and taste — nothing was missing at this Hapjeong brunch café! It had none of the noisy, chaotic vibe that's often a downside of large cafés, so I highly recommend it as a great space for conversation and for getting work done 🍀

And the lovely ,,, part-time staff member who was there on the day I visited 🤍 She was so, so, so kind ,,, (kind enough that I wondered if I deserved such a warm welcome) and it was clear she genuinely enjoyed her work, so I left with a ton of positive energy ,,, if the owner happens to see this 🥹 please give lots and lots of praise to that staff member ,,,🤍

That was my honest, bias-filled review haha. Hapjeong is a bit far from my place so I probably won't visit often, but I'm planning to come back once in fall and once in winter, definitely on my own dime 🤍