Suwon café with brownie and iced coffee: Hongrad Mangpo Station

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch basics and how to get there

Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch is open from 10:00 to 23:00, seven days a week, and is located on the fourth floor at 1529 Deogyeong-daero, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Starting from exits 6 or 7 of Mangpo Station, head into the Mangpo Station restaurant alley.

In particular, you can find the café easily if you look for the building with Yangsimso~

When I visited, the brown standing sign and the smiling “Hongrad Coffee” really caught my eye~ There is an elevator beside the sign. Since it is on the fourth floor, I recommend taking it.

An interior with vintage décor and spacious seating

My first impression on walking in was that this was a space decorated beautifully with the owner’s sensibility. The mix of paper posters and stickers, along with plants and props that somehow looked mismatched yet worked together, seemed to make the café’s vintage character stand out even more.

The restrooms were also separate for men and women, and they were private ones inside the café rather than shared building facilities, so they were convenient to use and very well maintained.

There were also cute items such as key rings and buttons for sale in the middle of the café. If your head starts hurting while studying or working, it is nice to browse here and recharge a little~ These little pieces also do their part in creating the café’s charming atmosphere.

There was a boat attached to the white wall, which was so interesting that I took a photo~ haha

There is also a dedicated space in the left corner where you can charge your phone. I used it for a bit myself because of a battery issue.

The brown tones, woody tables, and rugs gave the café an old-fashioned feel, and as you can see in the photos, the sense of openness was seriously no joke. The elevator was small, so I expected the café to be a moderate size, but it was at least twice as big as I imagined~ There were also around 10 one- and two-person seats for working or studying, so it seems like a good place to visit during exam season or whenever you need to focus on studying.

Ordering the Hongrad Brownie and Americanos

When I first went to order at the counter, there were some very cute cat badges on display~ Apparently, you can receive one of these cute cat pin badges if you write a Naver visit review.

Here is the Hongrad menu. Items marked with a ★red star★ are the BEST items. Every coffee drink can be changed to decaf for an extra ₩500. Adding ice cream to a dessert costs ₩2,500.

We ordered an iced Americano (₩5,500), a decaf iced Americano (₩6,000), and the Hongrad Brownie (₩7,500)~ One drink per person is required! We debated which dessert to have, but ended up ordering the brownie with “Hongrad” in its name. I think dishes named after the place, a bit like Grandma Kim OO’s gukbap (rice soup), are that establishment’s signature menu haha. I also noticed that the pager had thoughtfully gathered the information most people would probably be curious about~

Banana, brownie, and vanilla ice cream together

When the dessert arrived, the Charlie Brown decoration was just too cute. My wife would not even let me touch it and kept taking photos and videos haha. The banana, brownie, and vanilla ice cream combination was especially photogenic, gave us a real sugar boost, and went so well with coffee.

I was torn between this and the Ex-Boyfriend Toast (cream cheese + blueberry jam + ice cream), but I was happy with the Hongrad Brownie, so I should come back next time to try something else.

After trying it, the ice cream was so tasty that I thought I might pay ₩2,500 to add ice cream next time. I am usually an ice-cream person haha. Maybe because I am not good at drawing, but I was amazed to see such a pretty Charlie Brown drawn on the ice cream with a chocolate pen.

A Mangpo Station café that works for both studying and chatting

Hongrad is only in Suwon! It has the Mangpo Station Branch, Haenggung Main Branch, Yeongtong Branch, Ingye Na Hye-seok Branch, and Suwon Station Branch. If you live near Suwon, I recommend visiting this distinctive café that exists only in Suwon at least once~ The Mangpo Station Branch in particular was great for studying, working, or reading, making it a good place to visit alone. When I visited, it felt as though the larger tables for couples and friends to chat at and the spaces for solo concentration were naturally separated.