Songpa café for crack salt bread and rich egg tarts: Grid Cafe

Salt bread and egg tarts in Ogeum-dong

My old neighborhood, Ogeum-dong~! It’s a place full of memories, and I heard there was a bakery café around here famous for its salt bread and egg tarts, so I went to check it out.

Honestly, the location is a little awkward no matter whether you come from Ogeum Station, Gaerong Station, Bangi Station, and so on... But buses run here, and there’s a Seongnaecheon walking trail right beside it—maybe that’s why? While we were having coffee and bread inside, people kept coming in to buy bread to go... It made me think, once again, that a good restaurant really isn’t all about location.

Apparently it was even featured on a TV program called Seomin Gapbu. It looks like they use Fritz Coffee Company beans. I think I’ve actually had more coffee brewed with Fritz beans at outside cafés like this than at Fritz itself...

Bread schedule and display menu

The standing sign in front of the shop kindly shows which breads come out at what time. If you visit too early in the morning, there might not be much bread out yet? We came after running a lap around Olympic Park, at around noon, when all the bread should have been ready.

The number-one egg tart!! Along with the original, they sell plenty of variations, including corn, chocolate, and cheese egg tarts. There were also salt bread, crack salt bread, and different kinds of ciabatta on display.

They’re both salt bread, but the texture is completely different. I love a crunchy texture, so if there’s a regular one and a crack version, I go for the crack one first! This place really nails that thin, crisp texture.

What are the seating and ordering like?

There are quite a few seats inside, but after lunchtime it filled right up with people...!

You can order both coffee and bread at the kiosk. Since it’s a neighborhood café, it seems like it would be nice to come alone on weekdays for a quiet study session or to pass the time, but keep in mind that those visits have a two-hour limit! Coffee was around ₩4,000–₩5,000.

They also have salt breads filled with various creams, but today I went with the original!

Ordering crack salt bread, egg tart, and red-bean butter ciabatta

We ordered the supposedly most popular crack salt bread, an egg tart, and a red-bean butter ciabatta.

For coffee, we got vanilla cream cold brew and a vanilla latte! They were lightly sweet, so they went well with the bread. A café with good coffee too—approved, approved.

The combination of vanilla cream and cold brew was so good! If you go, you really have to try this coffee!

The red-bean butter ciabatta was large, and it was packed with red bean paste and butter, so it felt substantial enough to replace a meal rather than just be a snack..! The mild bread and filling went so well together.

The regular ciabatta looked like it would be delicious too, but when I looked again as we were leaving, it was sold out, so I couldn’t buy more... Such a shame...!

The crack salt bread was so crisp... It didn’t split apart with the exact crunchy crack I had imagined when breaking it in half... but you could definitely feel the crispness...!

An egg tart packed with filling

Wow, this was the one that made me want to buy a whole box after eating it at the café. Look at the thickness of the filling when cut in half... The filling-to-tart ratio was so much higher, making it feel incredibly rich!! If you visit Grid Cafe, you absolutely have to try this.

By the time we finished and were about to leave, the café was full..! Lots of customers came just to take bread away, while lots of others ordered coffee and bread to enjoy together. If the shop were closer, I think I’d want to come every day! If you’re looking for a good café in Ogeum-dong, make sure to visit Grid Cafe!!