Seochon café: oat milk decaf latte and cookie salt bread at Respire

Let me introduce Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon (레스피레베이커리카페 서촌), a café near Gyeongbokgung Station in Seochon that won me over from the outside, the atmosphere inside, and the quality of the bakery. I'm honestly a bread lover, so I always stop by the famous bakery in each neighborhood. I heard Respire Bakery is a salt bread hotspot, so I rushed over. It's the go-to salt bread place in Seochon that people in the know already know about, and a brunch favorite too. Here's my honest review, starting now!

Respire Bakery Seochon: location, hours and parking

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is about a 10-minute walk from Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station, and for parking you can use the Hyoja Public Parking Lot, a 5-minute walk away. The hours are below.

• Location: about a 10-minute walk from Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station
• Hours: Monday–Friday 08:30–18:00, Saturday–Sunday 09:00–19:00
• Parking: Hyoja Public Parking Lot, 5 minutes on foot

It's a walk you finish quickly, browsing the shops along the way after you leave the station. The famous Tongin Market is nearby too, so it's a great stop when you're visiting Gyeongbokgung and Seochon. And being able to park in a public lot close by is a big plus!

Seating and atmosphere at Respire Bakery Seochon: fine for going alone?

The 1st floor of Respire Bakery Seochon is an open space with a terrace, and the 2nd floor has 2-person and 4-person seats plus roomy group seating, so groups and people studying alone all stay here together. Even on the weekend the mood was calm.

First, I was surprised by how pretty the café's exterior is. Inside, the 1st floor opens right onto the terrace, so it feels wonderfully airy. It's not only the 1st floor: go up the stairs and there are seats on the 2nd floor too! Table seats, 2-person and 4-person seats, and plenty of big group seating. When I visited there were quite a few groups, and quite a few people studying on their own as well. Maybe because the space is so spacious, the café felt calm and nice overall even on a weekend. I recommend it both as a group café and a solo café!

Respire Bakery menu: can you swap to decaf or oat milk?

Respire Bakery Seochon serves brunch items such as the signature "Respire Toast," sandwiches and salads, and drinks can be switched to decaf or oat milk. We ordered one iced Americano and one decaf iced latte switched to oat milk.

Looking over the menu to order, there were brunch dishes and drinks that work well as a meal replacement. I liked the drink menu too: there's a decaf option for people like me who can't have caffeine, and you can even swap to oat milk for people who struggle to digest milk! As a latte maniac who practically lives on lattes, I always welcome thoughtful customizing like this. Today I just had a regular latte, but next time I want to try the signature "Respire Latte"!!

Is there plain salt bread on weekends?

At the busy weekend hour when I went to Respire Bakery Seochon, not much bread was left, and the plain salt bread was already sold out. So I picked the "cookie salt bread" and the "garlic cream cheese salt bread" instead.

And our real mission! The salt bread (소금빵, a buttery roll topped with sea salt) famous for the textbook crispy-outside, moist-inside texture,, haha. I originally wanted to try the plainest, basic salt bread, but sadly it was sold out T_T So I quickly grabbed the cookie salt bread and the garlic cream cheese salt bread to make up for it!

How is the 2nd-floor window seat at Respire Bakery?

The 2nd floor of Respire Bakery Seochon is decorated with wooden furniture and subtle props, making it a great space for photos. With our drinks and bread in hand, we settled into a cozy spot by the 2nd-floor window. It was the perfect place for an Instagram-style shot, haha.

How do the cookie salt bread and garlic cream cheese salt bread taste?

Respire Bakery's cookie salt bread is a salt bread baked with sweet cookie dough on top, and its dense, chewy texture was really good. The garlic cream cheese salt bread is generously filled with cream cheese, a sweet-and-salty combo where the garlic flavor really pops.

First I cut up the fragrant salt breads so they'd be easy to eat. The moment I bit into the cookie salt bread, that dense, chewy texture filled my mouth, and it was so good!!!

The garlic cream cheese salt bread was a total cheat of a combination that can't help but be a crowd-pleaser. The moment it hit my mouth, the garlic flavor exploded!!! A salt bread base that's crispy outside and chewy inside, with a sweet-salty-sweet-salty sauce, so moist... The pairing of clean coffee with these salt breads was fantastic. I like sweet things, so I especially want to eat the cookie salt bread again T_T I'm not even lying...

Verdict: who is Respire Bakery Seochon for?

Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon was a place where you can enjoy good coffee and bakery items together in a calm, pretty space. If you're on a date around Tongin Market or Gyeongbokgung and looking for a Seochon bakery café to chat quietly and unwind, I strongly recommend stopping by. Next time I plan to hurry over a bit earlier and conquer the plain salt bread and brunch menu I missed!

By the way, at the time of my visit they were giving away a salt bread for joining the Naver receipt review event, so if you go, don't miss out and grab that perk too~ On a sunny day, go to Respire Bakery with someone special and fill up on that relaxed Seochon mood~~^^