Mapo brunch café with tomato shrimp oil pasta: HEOD Gongdeok

HEOD Mapo is a pet-friendly terrace café where you can enjoy all-day brunch and kind service alongside delicious food, right by Gyeongui Line Forest Park.

HEOD Gongdeok basics and window seats

• Address: 24 Gwangseong-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Open year-round, Monday–Sunday 11:00–21:00
• Break time: 15:30–17:00 / last order: 19:50
• Parking: Paid public parking nearby
• Pets welcome / high chairs available
• Window seats are assigned in order with a Naver reservation

It is the season when I wake up already in a good mood, so I find myself wondering where to go each week. A brunch café with a terrace is exactly the thing.

Honestly, I have not settled on a regular brunch café lately, so I searched hard and found HEOD Gongdeok. I was so satisfied that I would absolutely visit again on my own dime.

It is a five-minute walk from Exit 4 of Daeheung Station, and looking around the neighborhood made the walk fly by. The café sits right in front of Gyeongui Line Forest Park, so the view is lovely—and naturally, the window seats are popular.

For visitors with pets, the window seats are perfect because their little ones can comfortably sniff the outside air while they eat :) Just note that window seating is assigned first come, first served!

Luckily, I visited during a quiet weekday afternoon and was able to get a window seat. I had initially been assigned an inner table, but I was touched when the kind staff member thoughtfully moved a chair to make room for a stroller.. • ᴗ •̥

Events that make it a nice anniversary spot

Personally, I thought HEOD would be a great place for an anniversary or special day because it had so many events.

• Birthday event
• 50% off all menu items with verification of active-duty military service
• Separate seating available for blind dates
• Family gatherings welcome; baby tableware provided
• Wedding-invitation gatherings and corkage available

I have occasionally seen that the owners are a very young, lovely couple, and I got the sense that they are extremely attentive. There was not one bit of inconvenience during my visit.

How to order and set menus

You scan the QR code at your table to order, then pay afterward when you leave. That also means you can write your receipt review and show it on the way out :) 🍊🍊 In exchange for leaving a review on Naver or Catchtable, you could choose an Americano or orange juice; I went with coffee because I needed an iced-Americano infusion.

Please check the attached menu photos for the full menu. The lunch set is available on weekdays only, from 11:00 to 13:00.

Sets for one through three people, plus a steak set.

Two- to four-person fan steak gnocchi sets, and two- to four-person gnocchi sets. The dinner sets are called dinner sets, but you can order them anytime.

Dinner A through Dinner C; the mains include steak, pasta, salads, and more.

Drinks include coffee, non-coffee drinks, tea, beer, and so on.

Tomato shrimp oil pasta and French toast

Even when I visit alone, I like trying a variety of things, so I chose one main and one dessert. HEOD French Toast is so famous that I had to see what it was like. It costs ₩12,800. 🍅🍅 For pasta, I chose the popular tomato shrimp oil pasta, and its substantial shrimp made me very happy. Once I had ordered, I looked around the café.

With bar tables, tables for two and four, window seats, and group seating, the space was used so well that it almost felt like I was in Australia.

I am grateful that you can find this kind of atmosphere in Korea.. ♡ Aprons and wet wipes are set out at the counter, so just take what you need.

The dishes are brought out one by one as they are ready. Since the French toast had a later-serving option, I asked them to start making it when the main arrived :) The timing was perfect, so I really appreciated that option :)

The pasta plating was so pretty, and it was piled high with plump shrimp. It would be great for two people to share, while someone with a good appetite like me can easily finish it all.

You could tell the French toast had been carefully cooked on both sides, and the gently rising butter aroma with the whipped cream was a combination that simply could not taste bad. I ate it like Giyoungie with a banana..

Even the coffee had HEOD lettering on it. I was curious about the meaning, so I checked: it means “the sun rises.” What a fitting meaning for weather like this, right?

Everything at HEOD Mapo (Gongdeok) was delicious, and the staff's kindness made me feel so good. I sincerely recommend it.