Seoulsup café: mango soufflé instead of bingsu, plus Oregrasse at 5to7

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch is a big Seoulsup café with a forest view that's perfect for zoning out at the greenery.

A mango dessert instead of mango bingsu (shaved ice) — a big Seongsu café where the forest view is just an option: 5to7

5to7 in Seoulsup, wrapped in green on all sides, is a comfortable large café and my number-one summer spot for staring at greenery. I hadn't been in a while, and I'm sharing this review because the look and taste of the mango soufflé I ordered knocked me out.

Is 5to7's mango soufflé worth ordering instead of mango bingsu?

The mango soufflé at 5to7 Seongsu Main Branch costs ₩23,000 and comes with half a large mango sitting on top whole. Personally I think it's a better summer dessert than mango bingsu. I'd agonized over the soufflé menu and ordered it as a bit of a challenge, but when I went to pick it up, the look of it surprised me.

Like the size of a big Seongsu café, a huge half mango sat on top whole, and the other half was topped on one side too.

I suspect they just scored the mango half and plated it to show off "a whole mango on top," but at ₩23,000 I still think it beats mango bingsu as a summer dessert.

The sweetness of a fully ripened whole mango

I prefer eating mango whole like this rather than sliced, and some desserts come with underripe mango, but the mango on 5to7's soufflé was fully ripened, soft and silky, with sweetness at its peak. It was my first taste of real fruit sweetness in a long time.

Three tiers of soufflé and milky whipped cream

The mango dessert at 5to7, on my first visit in a while, had a plump three-tier soufflé covered in lightly sweet, milky whipped cream.

The soufflé was still melt-in-your-mouth soft yet springy inside. It was baked so well that it vanished into my stomach in no time.

Dutch americano and Oregrasse: easy drinks for coffee beginners

For drinks at 5to7 Seongsu Main Branch I tried the Dutch americano and the Oregrasse. The Dutch americano had no acidity, just a nutty richness and no bitterness, so it was easy for a coffee newbie like me.

I picked the Oregrasse because it was described as a condensed-milk latte; it wasn't strongly sweet and tasted like smooth coffee. Both were easy for us coffee newbies to drink.

Inside 5to7 Seongsu Main Branch and the forest-view seats

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch is known for its scale, with the 2nd and 3rd floors, a rooftop and outdoor terrace seats, but it's also a place surrounded by trees where you can zone out at the greenery.

2nd-floor window forest view and solo bar seats

Across from the 2nd-floor ordering counter there's a floor-to-ceiling window with a forest view, solo bar seats by the kitchen, and a green zoning-out corner inside; wherever I shot, the photos came out fresh and pretty.

On the way up to the 3rd floor there's a sliding door, and thoughtfully, furniture is placed where you open and close it so you can set your tray down.

The 2nd floor also had a terrace with great outdoor atmosphere.

3rd-floor seats and restroom

The fresh summer forest view from the 3rd-floor stairs.

The wide 3rd-floor interior of 5to7 Seongsu Main Branch had plenty of seats, from group tables to 2-person tables, but as befits a signature Seongsu dessert café it was almost full of customers.

The 3rd-floor restroom was clean and pleasant.

The rooftop, my first time up there

This time I also went up to the 5to7 rooftop, which I couldn't see last time. With big green trees as a backdrop it's a perfect spot for summer photos, and with nobody else there I could enjoy it at leisure.

The rooftop also has a shaded zone good for moody Instagram shots, so it's worth a quick stop for photos before your soufflé comes out.

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch soufflé and drink menu

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch is famous for its signature dessert, the soufflé. There were 6 kinds: the fruit ones, fresh mango soufflé and fresh strawberry soufflé, plus the new ube soufflé, pearl cream brûlée soufflé, tiramisu soufflé and matcha soufflé.

The drink menu was as follows.

• Dutch americano
• Moka pot americano
• Café latte
• Vanilla latte
• Oregrasse (condensed-milk latte)
• 5to7 Einspänner (custard cream on a vanilla latte)
• Cream cheese matcha
• Cream cheese strawberry
• Cream choco latte
• Milk tea
• Passion fruit tea
• Hibiscus tea
• Lemon myrtle
• Sunny peach tea
• Chamomile tea
• Passion fruit ade

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch location and parking

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch sits at the far end of the Seoulsup café street, with good access from both Seoulsup Station and Ttukseom Station. Being near Seoulsup, it's also easy to take a dessert away for a picnic.

It's near the Seongdong-gu Citizens' Sports Center car park, so parking is fairly easy, and there's also the good-value Seoulsup public car park. It's not a bad stop for coffee and dessert after a Seoulsup outing, and a good spot for weekend family get-togethers or meeting friends.

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch hours and discounts

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch is open daily from 12:00 to 21:00. Takeout drinks seem to get a discount, but I'm not sure, so you'd need to ask, and on Naver Place there's also a 10% drink coupon for Wednesday and Thursday if you set up notifications.

It has appeared on several food shows, including "Saturday Is for Rice" (토요일은 밥이 좋아), and with Wi-Fi available it's a good place to spend time zoning out.

Verdict: mango soufflé and a forest view before summer ends

5to7 Seongsu Main Branch, on my first return in a while, was still a Seongsu hot spot. If you're a mango-dessert nomad, I'd recommend the mango soufflé, and if you want to unwind in a forest view at its lushest, why not visit before summer ends?

Anywhere in the roomy space you can see green leaves swaying in the wind, and it's a lovely backdrop for photos, so I recommend it if you're after both a photo of a lifetime and a great dessert.