Quiet café for reading alone in Yeonsinnae, Seoul: lap cats at Leju

Leju, a new café in Yeonsinnae, and I went in for the cats

Leju (레주) is a new dessert café near Yeonsinnae Station in Galhyeon-dong, Eunpyeong-gu. A café I'd never seen opened in my neighborhood, and when I walked past there were cats inside, haha. As a devoted cat lover, I couldn't not go.

+) Fair warning: the cats are very, very cute, so this post is packed with cat photos ^^

It's close to home, which makes it a great spot for a solo café afternoon on the weekend. I dropped in during a walk on a Saturday, after sleeping in late.

Getting to Leju and opening hours

From Yeonsinnae Station, it's a bit over a 10-minute walk from Exit 6 or 7. Since it only just opened, the hours are still changing, so I'd check Naver or their Instagram account first.

Leju in 3 lines

• A Galhyeon-dong café with three pretty, adorable resident cats
• A dessert café near Yeonsinnae Station with gelato you pour espresso over, and several kinds of tiramisu
• A great Yeonsinnae tiramisu spot for quietly healing while watching cats

What are Leju's atmosphere and seats like?

Inside, Leju has a warm interior of white and wood, with sunny sofa seats by the window. I went during the day and the sunlight was just right, so I took a window sofa seat. After ordering coffee and desserts, I looked around the café.

In a warm interior of white and wood,

three very, very cute cats caught my eye right away (^_^). They look alike, so I think all three are Maine Coons. I was quietly adoring them from a distance when my order came out.

What I ordered at Leju

• Iced americano
• Riso Gelasso
• Caviar tiramisu (not real caviar, of course, it's chocolate balls)

What kind of dessert is Leju's gelasso?

Leju's gelasso is gelato with espresso poured over it, and the owner pours the espresso for you. Starting with the gelato, no, the gelasso: it was my first time trying one.

The gelasso with espresso poured over it looked pretty (though the cats behind it are prettier, haha).

Riso (rice) gelato is my favorite gelato flavor, and it goes really well with espresso. You'd think it would be like an affogato, but maybe because it's gelato, it melted much more slowly and was chewier, which made it even tastier. You can bite into tiny grains of rice, which makes this riso gelato even better.

Leju's cats come to you

If you sit still, Leju's Maine Coons may come up on your table, the chair next to you, or even your lap. While I ate my gelasso, I watched the cats busily grooming themselves.

All three grooming at the same time is just too cute! They went at it for a good while, and then

suddenly one hopped onto my table and another onto the chair beside me (O_O)

And the kitty next to me was showing lots of interest in me. Oh my gosh (Positive)

It climbed right onto my legs..! (I love it) Cute, cute, cute. Such a pretty face.. a real beauty.

The cat toy the owner handed me

It sat beside me for a while, wandered off, and then came back up onto the table. It showed interest in my coffee and dessert, so I kept blocking it with my hand in case it tried to eat something (can't let a cat get sick, so careful). Then the owner gave me a cat toy.

Two cats showed interest right away. So cute..b Judging by how eager they were for the toy, they seem like young cats. One even lay right down, totally focused on catching it, which was adorable.

I played with the other one that had been curious too~ Both of them were so full of curiosity haha (^_^)

How Leju's caviar tiramisu and iced americano taste

Leju's caviar tiramisu is a tiramisu topped with chocolate balls, moderately sweet with a strong coffee flavor. After playing with the cats (honestly, I was the one getting healed), I ate the tiramisu with my iced americano. It's called caviar tiramisu, but it's really tiramisu with chocolate balls on top. The cake layer inside was very moist and delicious.

The americano was clean, with little acidity and no burnt taste, which is just my taste.

Is Leju a good café for reading alone?

Leju was quiet and the background music was good, so it was a perfect café for reading alone. The pretty kitty (with especially lovely light green eyes) had taken the seat beside me again. It looked like the cats' rest time, so I opened the book I'd brought. One goal for today was enjoying a book alone in a café.

+) The book I started yesterday is one of Keigo Higashino's mystery novels, 'You Killed Someone' (당신이 누군가를 죽였다). It's so absorbing that even without reading for long, I'm already about two-thirds through. I loved Higashino's books as a kid, and he really is the best mystery writer (sad that he's gone, he was such a prolific author T_T)

But then a little rascal (Very Positive) suddenly came close and interrupted my reading. So curious, haha. Too cute.

The other cat I'd played with earlier came back to my seat too. Its head tilt is unbelievably cute (O_O). It touched the toy I'd set aside again, so I played with it once more. I sent the video to a friend right away and she went wild about how elegant it looked.

Definitely a Maine Coon.. an elegantly pretty beauty b

I was focused on my book again when one came down behind me along the shelf next to me, ta-da, and startled me, hahaha (so interested in books, aww).

When I'd finished my coffee and dessert and was about to leave, it climbed back onto the table and started grooming. So cute! I almost couldn't leave the café..

Tips for making friends with Leju's cats

At Leju, rather than approaching the cats first, I recommend enjoying your coffee and playing with them with the toy when they come close. When I sat quietly drinking coffee, the cats seemed to sneak up on me.

Don't rush up to the cats; enjoy your coffee, and when they come near, play with them using the toy haha

I'll end this story of the new café Leju with a photo of the most eager, cutest beauty! I'll definitely visit Leju again because of these pretty cats. The gelato and tiramisu are good too, haha. I'm glad to finally have a neighborhood café I really like.