Rainy-day basil tomato ciabatta near Gyeongbokgung Palace: Respire

It's a day of pouring rain. I stopped by Papier Frost Seochon to buy a diary as a gift.

Since I was in Seochon, I dropped by Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon

I thought it was a parking lot because it looked so huge, haha, but it wasn't. Just so you know, parking in front of the store isn't allowed, and there's no store parking lot.

This terrace seat is a famous photo spot, and with the nice weather it was packed with people. It gave me Portuguese tourist-town vibes — warm, harmonious, just lovely. I couldn't sit outside because of the rain, but the outdoor terrace is really wonderful too.

1st and 2nd floor seating

There are seats on the 1st floor too.

This is the 2nd floor. You can sit like a group table, and the bar seats here are so pretty. No one was around today, so I got to sit at the bar.

Respire's menu board, bread types and prices

Basil tomato ciabatta, chocolate salt bread, potato cheese ciabatta, mentaiko (spicy pollock roe) potato salt bread, chocolate cream cheese ciabatta, and more.

Maybe because it was afternoon, all the bread was 30% off. But a lot had already sold out, so there wasn't much left ㅠ_ㅠ so disappointing.

Please check the pet policy notice.

Signature drinks and choosing decaf

The signature menu includes the Salt Summer Latte, Caramel Cream, and Respire Latte. Since I went in the afternoon, I ordered a decaf latte. The Salt Summer Latte comes topped with ice cream, which seems perfect for midsummer — when it's hot, ice cream is exactly what you crave. Decaf options include Rich Chamomile Tea, Baby Latte, and Rooibos Provence. The Baby Latte is so cute, haha.

What I liked best was that ordering one drink per person gets you a free Americano refill. If you show your receipt they give you an Americano — I thought it would only be hot, but they made it iced for me, which was such a nice surprise.

This is what I picked for bread. The brunch menu was sold out this time so I couldn't try it. Instead, since all the bread was 30% off, I got it at a great price haha.

There's a takeout event too. There's also a receipt review event where you can get a free salt bread — make sure to join in.

After ordering, instead of a buzzer, a KakaoTalk notification comes through. I decided to eat the basil tomato ciabatta right away. Please warm it up.

The Bukaksan and Gyeongbokgung Palace view from the 2nd-floor bar seats

The view of Bukaksan and Gyeongbokgung Palace was so beautiful. Bread with a gorgeous view like this... pure happiness.

It was raining a lot that day so I felt a bit gloomy, but delicious bread and a cup of coffee turned my mood right around. Doodling in my Analog Keeper diary made me feel like I was living my best life.

How the basil tomato ciabatta tastes

The basil and tomato combination inside works so well together, and you get a nice whiff of basil aroma. It didn't taste like pizza bread — probably because it's a ciabatta, it was soft and fluffy.

The decaf latte was also nutty and delicious. I loved that you could switch to decaf. The regular latte isn't too sweet, so it has just the right amount of sweetness to pair with a sandwich — recommended. After finishing everything, I got a free refill as an iced Americano and slowly wrote in my diary while enjoying the view. It had been so long since I had this kind of leisure time.

How to reheat the bread you take home

After freezing the bread, the reheating recipe says to use an air fryer at 180°C — 3 minutes for salt bread, 5 minutes for ciabatta. I really like places that attach reheating instructions and precautions right on the packaging like this. Even after hearing the instructions, once I get home I always forget how I was told to do it and have to look it up twice, so having this info sheet was so convenient.

Sitting at the 2nd-floor bar seats and seeing the palace view of Gyeongbokgung made me so happy. If I have a reason to come to Seochon again, I'd love to stop by once more. I officially declare this a must-visit for Seochon brunch and café lovers, haha.