Seochon salt bread café with no Sunday wait: fresh lemonade at Respire

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon: hours, parking and basics

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is open 08:30-18:00 on weekdays and 08:30-19:00 on weekends. There is a takeout discount, and groups, takeout and reservations are all possible. For parking, use the Cheongwadae Sarangchae parking lot (₩3,000 for the first 60 minutes).

I'd been here once before and loved it so much that I came back on the day I went to Seochon. Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon gives off total cozy café-in-the-European-countryside vibes.

Is there a wait at Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon on a Sunday?

When I got to Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon around 5pm on a Sunday, there was no wait and seats were available. It's a standalone building, so there are seats on the 2nd floor as well as the 1st.

It's a standalone building, and there are seats on the 2nd floor,

and seats on the 1st floor too. Last time I came around lunchtime, it was packed with people and I barely found a spot on the 2nd floor. This time, around 5pm on a Sunday, there was no wait and I got to sit somewhere comfortable. The place is rumored to have great brunch, so I guess that's why it gets so crowded at lunch.

How to order and which breads Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon sells

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon has a separate bread section on the 1st floor. Take the bread you want to the counter and order your drinks at the same time.

They sell a range of breads, mainly salt bread (soteumppang, a buttery rolled bread with a salty crust) and ciabatta: salt bread, garlic salt bread, chocolate salt bread, chocolate cream cheese ciabatta, cheese olive ciabatta and more. Last time I had the ciabatta, and it was delicious!

How much is the salt bread? ₩3,000 for 1, ₩5,000 for 2

Salt bread at Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is ₩3,000 for one or ₩5,000 for two. I'd read reviews calling it a salt bread hotspot, and they honestly looked delicious to the naked eye, so I picked two, one each. Lots of places charge a ton for salt bread these days, so this is great value.

Brunch closed, so iced lemonade and rooibos instead

They have brunch items too, but we were told everything was sold out. Last time lots of people were having brunch, so next time I'm definitely trying it. We ordered both the lemonade and the rooibos iced! Apparently if you order one drink per person, you can get an Americano refill too. Crazy!

On the 1st floor there's a self-serve bar with water, paper cups and so on, so take what you need.

Our drinks and bread came out. They even serve it on pretty dishes!

How does the fresh lemon lemonade at Respire taste?

The lemonade at Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon has three fresh lemons in it, so it isn't too sour and is full of lemon aroma. I'd had a coffee earlier in the day, so I ordered caffeine-free lemonade for the evening. They also have lots of caffeine-free teas, though, so ordering tea would be a good idea too.

Not too sour, just pleasantly tangy and full of lemon aroma~ Cold and delicious. They really put three whole fresh lemons in, so you get the natural lemon scent, and it looks so pretty and tastes great!

Is Dammann Frères rooibos worth ₩7,000?

My friend's rooibos was ₩7,000 and came in a big cold stainless steel pitcher. A glass was already poured too, so for ₩7,000 the amount is very generous.

And wait, it's rooibos but it had a slight vanilla scent and was so good that I checked the label, and it was Dammann Frères. I'd never heard of it, but the tea bags are pricey and it's a high-end French tea. Seriously seriously good........!!!! Other places often use cheap tea bags and still charge several thousand won, but here you get really high-end, delicious tea, so ₩7,000 actually feels cheap! I really recommend the tea here. I want to try the other teas too.

Is the salt bread at Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon really that good?

The salt bread at Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon has a crisp bottom and plenty of butter aroma, so it earns the salt bread hotspot label. One salt bread per person. Salt bread is everywhere now and every bakery sells it, but good salt bread places are rare. The bottom should be baked super crisp so the butter aroma fills the air, but so many places serve soggy ones. Here it looks crisp, and just from the look of it you can tell it's delicious.

When you slice it with a knife, the crust cracks open and you can see the butter inside, and the butter aroma comes pouring out.

The salt bread is so good....!!!! This place is insane, T_T everyone, eat this! Salty, buttery, crunchy on the outside. Crazy. So delicious!!

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon revisit: final verdict

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is a pretty café with a lovely atmosphere and tasty drinks, and especially the tea... the high-end tea bags are so good. And the salt bread, what can I say, it's really so delicious. Next time I definitely want to try the brunch!