Seocho vegan sandwich cafe on a weekend: Melanzane and Patata

Hi, this is MEMO :) Today I went to Seocho and stopped by a sandwich place that always sells out of ingredients and closes early. Even though it was a weekend a bit past lunchtime, this healthy sandwich spot was still packed.

• Hours: Daily 07:00 – 16:00
• Closed: 1st and 3rd Monday of every month

Where Focaccia Cucina is and where to park

Focaccia Cucina is at 51 Banpo-daero 21-gil, 1st floor, Seocho-gu, Seoul. If you drive, the building offers free parking.

Takeout is available, and the vegan menu is a special feature here. This place would really suit anyone eating vegan :)

Inside Focaccia Cucina and how kiosk ordering works

Inside Focaccia Cucina there's even a small home-bar seat for enjoying a meal solo. The atmosphere is comfortable.

Since Focaccia Cucina's motto is making healthy food, the good ingredients on display really stood out.

Ordering is done through a kiosk. It's a one-person operation, run solely by the owner, but thanks to kiosk ordering there's less hand contact between cooking and handling cards, so I really liked how clean everything stayed.

You can see the tomato sauce too. I loved that they serve it beautifully plated on a cutting board. That cleanliness of making it on your own dedicated board and serving it straight to the plate! Boards that get reused tend to get dirty, but this felt clean.

The Melanzane sandwich, 7,500 won

The Melanzane (eggplant + tomato sauce) is ₩7,500. Inside the focaccia there's a generous amount of tomato sauce, eggplant, and mozzarella.

I think the one on the left was the Margherita. The sauce inside wasn't salty, and had great flavor. The cheese was delicious. Because the bread is dark in color you'd think it'd be dry, but I was surprised it wasn't dry at all — it was really soft and moist. It looked firm and hard on the outside, though.

There was so much cheese inside that even a small bite filled me up. They seem to use good quality cheese. If you're curious, try the vegan sandwich here 😁

What does the four-cheese Patata sandwich taste like?

The Patata sandwich is loaded with four cheeses — grana padano, mozzarella, cheddar, and gorgonzola.

Grana padano, mozzarella, cheddar, gorgonzola — four cheeses piled in, plus potato. It's a delicious sandwich type with a nutty, savory flavor.

Can you see the cheese overflowing? Potato and cheese pair really well, so the combination worked great. It's a light yet richly cheesy flavor. Again, the bread being moist and soft makes it delicious.

A cafe with no coffee: the fresh banana golden latte, 3,900 won

The Fresh Banana Golden Latte is ₩3,900. It's a sugar-zero banana milk that brings out the natural sweetness of 100% banana.

You have to come in the morning for the widest menu — by the time I got there, the cashew chickpea latte was already sold out. I wanted to try the chickpea + cashew latte made with health-conscious soy milk, which was a shame. But I spotted bananas ripening nicely off to the side, so I ordered the golden latte instead.

There's no sugar in it at all, yet it was really sweet and delicious. The clean, refreshing finish made it obvious this was natural sweetness without sugar — it's that good and healthy a juice. This place is notable for having no coffee at all. It's a health drink, but a hundred times tastier than the sugary drinks you find in stores.

The complimentary barley tea

This is barley tea the owner brews fresh every morning. It's so cool and delicious — she has magic hands. Genuinely refreshing!!

Focaccia Cucina's menu and its 18-hour cold-fermented bread

I think the secret to the soft bread is the 18-hour cold fermentation.

Next time I want to come early and try the Caesar sandwich, which was sold out this time.

Anyone looking for vegan food should visit Focaccia Cucina for something healthy. I recommend it :)

Is Focaccia Cucina worth a visit?

If you're looking for a sandwich that's easy on the stomach, this is a Seocho-gu sandwich spot worth stopping by at least once.