Mapo dessert café: chestnut Basque cheesecake and Earl Grey milk, Ieo

Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch: location and hours

Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch is at 9 Baekbeom-ro 24-gil, 1F, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 373m from Daeheung Station Exit 3. It's open Mon–Fri 08:00–20:00 (last order 19:30) and Sat–Sun 11:00–19:00 (last order 18:30), and it's pet-friendly with takeout available.

There's a real chill in the wind these days. I came looking for desserts that capture autumn with care, and landed at Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch.

Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch menu and prices

I ordered chestnut Basque cheesecake (₩6,800), walnut pecan chocolate chip cookie (₩3,800), and Earl Grey milk (₩5,500). An extra coffee shot is ₩500, and swapping to oat milk is ₩1,000 more.

• Chestnut Basque cheesecake ₩6,800
• Walnut pecan chocolate chip cookie ₩3,800
• Earl Grey milk ₩5,500

After ordering the cheesecake, I glanced at the counter and the baked goods looked so tempting I sneakily added a cookie too. Non-coffee menu items are as varied as the coffee ones. It's reassuring to hear the beans, syrups, and desserts are all made in-house, and even the milk tea is brewed from scratch.

Drip bag gift sets

Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch's drip bag coffee is ₩1,500 per bag. Buy 3 or more for a 10% discount, and 8 or more can be packed into a gift box — a great option for presents.

Four beans for sale

• Colombia Villa Clara Watermelon: ₩9,000/cup, ₩27,000/200g
• Cameroon Oku Elak Semi-Washed: ₩7,500/cup, ₩23,000/200g
• Ethiopia Sidama Bensa Hamasho G1: ₩6,500/cup, ₩20,000/200g
• Timor-Leste Ermera AAA: ₩6,000/cup, ₩18,000/200g

Beans are also sold here, with aroma, acidity, sweetness, body, and balance all carefully labeled, which makes choosing easy. I liked the simple, tidy packaging too.

Seating and atmosphere at Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch

Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch has a small inner space with one 3-seat table and four bar seats, plus six 2-seat tables across from the counter.

The interior is bright overall — cream-colored tables and wood furniture with a hint of orange tone. And the lighting adds a nice pop of color. My eyes kept drifting to the dark green magnet-shaped light fixture above the counter and the orange lamps over the tables.

Plants on the windowsill, framed pictures, tumblers, and big posters on the wall round out this charming space. They also sell goods here — a T-shirt is ₩26,000.

How was the chestnut Basque cheesecake?

The chestnut Basque cheesecake at Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch beautifully brought out the chestnut's natural sweetness, with a texture that was both dense and moist at once. The owner brought out the dishes personally.

This was the item I was most looking forward to, and it went down smoothly without any dryness — amazing! I wondered if they used candied chestnuts; it held firm under the fork but crumbled softly the moment it hit my mouth. The cream served alongside had a nutty coffee flavor, and it was lovely spooned over the cheesecake.

Warmed walnut pecan chocolate chip cookie and Earl Grey milk

The walnut pecan chocolate chip cookie is packed with big dark chocolate chips and nuts (walnut, pecan). Toasted to hold a gentle warmth with the chocolate slightly melted, it delivers a solid kick. Nutty and crisp — exactly the taste I expected.

Since I came on an empty stomach, I ordered two desserts, and they were substantial — paired with the milk tea's subtle sweetness, it was completely filling.

A Daeheung Station café good for journaling alone

Listening to music playing softly while catching up on my journal (when will I ever not be behind on it? ^_T) — this was the perfect spot for it, Ieo Coffee Roasters Gongdeok Branch. I'll have to go back to try the other baked goods I didn't get to this time.