Yeonnam-dong coffee shop with open window seats: Jitheunsan

Location — exterior and interior — menu and prices — review, the story of making a friend — bathroom

This isn't a European trip or anything, so the odds of getting friendly with the person next to you at a Korean café and ending up swapping travel stories are basically zero, right??? Not a cult or anything, but that's exactly what happened to me today at Jitheunsan.

I don't really think going to a café in Korea can give you that traveling feeling, you know? But this is a café I wanted to visit just because of its concept. 📍Jitheunsan (짙은산) ⛰️? Yep, that mountain haha

The concept is so cute!!!!!! And when I go to a café, dessert matters a lot to me too. Coffee matters, obviously, but on a day like this, that open, breezy feeling matters just as much!!

I took a half-day off just to come here. But haha, I never expected to make a friend I clicked with so well here... let me break it all down.

What Jitheunsan looks like inside and out, and how busy the Yeonnam-dong café gets on a weekday

Jitheunsan is a café in an alley off Seongmisan-ro 29an-gil in Yeonnam-dong. When I got there a little past 1pm on a weekday, there were almost no seats, but by the time I left around 4pm it was quiet. The neighborhood itself has such a relaxed, easygoing vibe.

The exterior had the windows fully opened like this and it was so nice. The neighborhood itself is quiet and relaxed, and from the outside you can only see the front window seats so I thought, is there really no seating? But once I went in, it was actually pretty spacious? There are inner seats too. The space is genuinely generous.

It's decorated in a cute way without feeling cluttered haha. There was a cute Santa on the wall so I snapped a photo. "The three essential nutrients of modern people: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol" hahahaha so true so true.

Jitheunsan menu and prices

Wow, the menu is really varied. So much delicious-looking stuff!! And it seems like a lot of regulars come here. That's exactly the vibe. There were plenty of people quietly reading by the window, and there was a coupon box and a guestbook too, so it was fun to look around.

What is a terrine cake?

A dessert made mainly with chocolate and butter, without flour

Coming all this way, there's no way I couldn't try a terrine. Had to order one haha. There were so many kinds, and after debating between fig (seasonal), raspberry cream cheese, and sweet potato, I went with the fig since it's only available seasonally!! (I guess I really like figs...) Lately I keep eating anything with fig in it.

• Fig cream cheese terrine cake ₩9,500
• Iced Americano ₩5,500

How does Jitheunsan's fig cream cheese terrine taste?

Okay, this terrine was so good I have to review it first hahaha. I went in thinking it would be like a butter bar, and it's similar, but this one has cream cheese mixed in so it's denser and has a rich cheese flavor.

The sweetness was just right for pairing bite by bite with the Americano. If you like cheesecake, you'll unconditionally like this flavor. It's less like bread texture and more like an actual cake — dense and melting!!

You could bite into fig pieces here and there and the density was high. There was a lot of nutty flavor coming through, and it tasted exactly as its name suggested. True to being a fig cream cheese terrine, the cheese flavor really came through!!! And since there's no flour in it, it somehow felt even better^^

Ah, now I'm curious about the other flavors. Especially the chocolate and the ssuk-jeolmi (mugwort rice cake), I got so curious I'll definitely come back to try them...

The coffee was nutty too

Making a friend at the next table in Jitheunsan's window seats

Alright, let me tell the story now hahaha. Even for me this was a first. The cake arrived and the plate and the whole visual were just so pretty, obviously.

As they brought the cake over, the person next to me and I both said "wow, so pretty" at the same time and made eye contact?? hahahaha And for some reason, without even thinking, I just blurted out, "Do you like cake?" hahahaha No, seriously; I'm a total introvert and I've never done anything like that, but the weather was nice, the café was nice, sitting by the window was nice, and I guess that whole atmosphere that day just got to me hahaha.

Then, since I'm on a diet and figured I'd end up leaving some cake, I just blurted out, "Want to share it with me?" (I don't even know why I did that either?) They might have thought, what is this, some kind of cult recruiter.

But see, this is the café's fault. The atmosphere was just too good!!! Anyway... they were pretty flustered, but I grabbed a fork and handed it over, saying I'm not a weirdo, I'm just dieting so I'll only eat half, please try some hahaha, and we just ended up talking, like meeting someone while traveling. Anyway, that's what happened. But maybe because we're both the type who likes this kind of atmosphere (given that we were both there), our tastes were so similar... and we became friends!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahaha, even for me this was a first-time experience... The owner even said from behind, "Oh, are you two friends?" (Nope...) hahahahaha. I've had this happen before when traveling alone in Europe and meeting a Korean person, but never in Korea, so it was so surprising but also really nice. Anyway, I had a great time at Jitheunsan ⛰️ — the desserts are so good, the space is great, and if you're heading nearby I'd recommend it haha. The space just has such a comfortable feeling.

Jitheunsan's restroom and the monthly takeout dessert discount

Oh, and the bathroom was decorated so nicely too. Fun to look around.

I also found out there's a monthly discount when you get desserts packaged to go!!! Learned that in the bathroom hahahaha. The staff seem to get along really well. I think I saw in another blog post that it's run by siblings, so maybe that's why the owners and staff get along so well~~~ The space is comfortable, there are lots of tasty desserts, it's a totally perfect café to make into your hideout!!

And the receipt says "Wandeung!" (완등, like "summit reached") which is also so cute hahaha.