Suwon wall-view café, decaf avocado coffee as lunch: Caffeine Focus

Today I'm introducing Caffeine Focus (카페인포커스), a Haenggung-dong bakery café with a Suwon Hwaseong fortress wall view that's just perfect right now. Haenggung-dong is packed with cafés with great atmosphere and tons of good restaurants, which is why people nickname it "Haengridan-gil"!

Want a light coffee lunch near Changnyongmun?

For the first stop of our autumn outing in Haenggung-dong, I picked Caffeine Focus, a bakery café with a lovely fortress view near Changnyongmun (창룡문) gate. I was wondering what to eat first, haha, and decided to keep lunch light with coffee so I could eat lots of good food at dinner!

The view right in front of Caffeine Focus lets you really feel the Suwon Hwaseong fortress wall, and if you walk a little further you can take in Changnyongmun, the Dongjangdae archery spot, and the Lone Ginkgo Tree all in one go.

Where do you park at Caffeine Focus?

If you're lucky, you can park about 2 cars in front of Caffeine Focus (CAFE IN FOCUS), and the resident-priority parking zone along the fortress wall across the street is also usable until 18:00. Parking in Haenggung-dong is really hard, so being able to park by the wall made things much easier.

I also visited around lunchtime on a weekday and parked in the resident-priority space. Just remember it's only allowed until 18:00, haha. If even that doesn't work out, you can use the Changnyongmun parking lot.

What kind of café is Caffeine Focus?

Caffeine Focus on the Haenggung-dong fortress path is a three-story standalone building and a bakery café famous for its ciabatta and sourdough. The 1st floor is for ordering and terrace seating, and there are seats on the 2nd and 3rd floors plus a rooftop.

Drink menu and the signature avocado coffee

The menu offers decaf, and the drinks range widely: non-coffee drinks, smoothies, ades and teas. I especially recommend the avocado coffee, one of the signature items. It's an avocado smoothie topped with espresso, so it's really filling enough to replace a meal. (Decaf is available too.)

Ciabatta, sourdough and desserts

Caffeine Focus in Haenggung-dong is known for naturally fermented ciabatta and sourdough with deep flavor, so I really recommend trying them. There are lots of kinds, and I'm told the ciabatta has less sugar than other bakeries', so it's a healthier treat. They also sell hearty sandwiches, plus Basque cheesecake, egg scones, carrot pound cake, banana muffins and more.

If you get ciabatta, definitely add the balsamic olive oil (₩1,000) to dip it in! The flavor is so much better. I also heard that if you write a Naver receipt review after paying, you get granola, so go ahead and show your review to get some!!!

Which floor is best for seating at Caffeine Focus?

2nd floor: fortress-view window seats

After ordering, I went up to the 2nd floor. It's a space with an appealing view of the Suwon Hwaseong fortress wall, and there was a group table reservation too~ The window seats are popular as well.

3rd floor: the most popular window view

On the 3rd floor of Caffeine Focus you get the most popular window view, but it was already full, haha. There were a mother and son, and some people working alone while enjoying coffee. It's a really nice space for drinking coffee quietly.

3rd-floor terrace: Paldalsan sunset view

The 3rd-floor terrace at Caffeine Focus faces the opposite side from the fortress, so you see downtown Haenggung-dong. You can see Paldalsan (팔달산), Suwon's signature mountain, and I'm told that at sunset the moment the sky turns red is overwhelmingly beautiful. If you visit at sunset, I recommend the 3rd-floor terrace! It's especially popular with couples and a great seat in autumn.

I settled in on the 2nd floor, and if you're lucky, from the 2nd- and 3rd-floor window seats you can see the Flying Suwon helium balloon going up, which is fun to watch, haha. Watching people walk their dogs along the Haenggung-dong fortress and the foreign tourists is also a lot of fun.

Pretty view of the Haenggung-dong fortress, right? Haha. I came for this view, hahaha.

What I ordered at Caffeine Focus and the prices

• Iced latte ₩6,000
• Avocado smoothie coffee ₩7,500 + ₩500 for decaf
• Squid ink cheese ciabatta ₩5,300
• Balsamic olive oil ₩1,000

How do the squid ink cheese ciabatta and latte taste?

The squid ink cheese ciabatta at Caffeine Focus isn't dry: it's moist, soft and mild, with bits of cheese dotted through it so it never gets boring. Dip it in the olive oil balsamic dressing and it goes down endlessly without being overpowering. The latte is nutty and tasty too! Still, if you visit Caffeine Focus in Haenggung-dong, I really recommend the avocado coffee.

Is the decaf avocado coffee filling enough to replace a meal?

The avocado smoothie coffee at Caffeine Focus isn't too sweet and has great avocado flavor. Adding decaf coffee kept it from feeling heavy, and I really enjoyed it. No wonder avocado coffee and the avocado smoothie are the signature items. My mom, who doesn't usually like avocado, exclaimed that it was delicious after a single bite.

It's very filling even as a meal replacement. Great view and filling too~ a café I was happy with!

From Caffeine Focus to the Changnyongmun Dongjangdae archery range

Leaving Caffeine Focus, it's a short walk to the Changnyongmun Dongjangdae traditional archery (gukgung) experience area, so we went to look~ I thought about trying the archery too, haha, but the timing was awkward so I passed, hahaha. The archery experience runs every 30 minutes, so if you have time I recommend trying it.

Caffeine Focus: 15 Changnyong-daero 80beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon / Closed every Tuesday / Open 11:00–20:00 / Takeout and group reservations available / Parking along the fortress path in front (limited)