Mugyo-dong bakery café floor-by-floor guide with apple pie: Lemangdoré

I was looking for a nice-vibe café around Gwanghwamun or City Hall and ended up at Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun! It's a bakery café located in Mugyo-dong, between Seoul City Hall and Cheonggyecheon.

Where is Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun and how big is it?

Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun was easy to get to — close to City Hall Station and walkable from Gwanghwamun. And on top of that, it runs as a café from the 1st all the way to the 3rd floor, so it was bigger than I expected.

Cafés around Gwanghwamun or City Hall these days often have no seats left once lunchtime hits, so it was nice having space on every floor. Of course, it still got crowded during lunch hour haha.

What's on the first-floor bakery display?

A nice-vibe bakery café in Gwanghwamun — clean and stylish even from the outside! Once I stepped in, breads and desserts were lined up in a row. Just looking at them made me want to try one of each.

Lemangdoré especially had a wide variety of baked goods and pastries like madeleines and financiers. There were a lot of items that go well with coffee, like cardamom buns, croissants, scones, and apple pie. Everything looked so pretty overall! It was hard to just walk past... With such a wide bakery selection, this is the kind of place where you come for a simple coffee and end up ordering dessert too.

1st floor space

What is second-floor seating like at Lemangdoré?

After ordering, I headed up to the second floor!~

2nd floor space

Each floor had a different mood! The space at Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun itself was pretty impressive, and the 2nd floor had lots of big tables that looked good for chatting.

Apple pie and coffee on the second floor

The bread looked so good that I ordered it, and this apple pie was so tasty! T_T lol The coffee was delicious too, of course haha. After chatting for a while, we went up to check out the 3rd floor too.

The third-floor Fritz Hansen lounge

The 3rd floor of Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun is apparently decorated as a lounge space in collaboration with the Danish furniture brand Fritz Hansen. Maybe that's why the interior felt more upscale and refined than your typical bakery café. Every chair and table caught my eye.

It had a great atmosphere for relaxing with a coffee! The floor-to-ceiling windows let you see the view outside, so it didn't feel stuffy at all. Even though it's right in the middle of the city, it felt like a moment of calm getting away from it all. Good for chatting with a friend, and it seemed like a decent date spot too. I kind of regretted not sitting on the 3rd floor from the start haha.

Is Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun worth a visit?

★Overall★ The space at Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun itself was quite nice, and since each floor has a different mood, you can pick a spot depending on how you feel! Especially, the coffee and bakery combo was great!

Lemangdoré had a wide range of drinks too, from americano to latte, coffee of the day, and ice cream floats. And of course, since it's a bakery café, the bread was a must! The pastries were crisp on the outside with a nice layered texture. It paired really well with coffee. Rather than desserts that were just plain sweet, there were a lot of items that were good to eat slowly alongside coffee. I wanted to come back and try the other breads one by one next time!

Personally, what I liked about Lemangdoré Gwanghwamun was that it wasn't just about good bread — it's a café where you can enjoy the space and atmosphere too. There was fun in exploring each floor from the 1st to the 3rd. The clean yet upscale interior was great too! It was also a good stop when I had plans around Gwanghwamun or City Hall. Since it's close to Cheonggyecheon, it'd be nice to take a walk there after coffee too. This is a place I'd want to visit again whenever I want to relax with tasty bread and a cup of coffee!