Gangnam café sweetness test: flan vs lemon cake, Upper and Under

A café that's guaranteed to give you a genuinely good memory — Upper and Under, a large café recommendation near Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station. From the outside to the inside, there isn't a single spot that isn't pretty — totally my kind of vibe café!

And on top of that, the coffee, drinks, and desserts are all delicious. It's also a really good spot to visit when you want to gift someone dessert.

🕰️Hours: Mon–Sun 11:00–22:00 / 🚗Parking: Not available / 🎊Appeal: A place where you can enjoy quality drinks and desserts alongside specialty coffee — one of the larger cafés on Gangnam's café street

Seating floor by floor at Upper and Under: a whole building, 1st to 3rd floor

Upper and Under takes up the entire building, from the 1st to the 3rd floor. The 1st floor has seating only, and orders are taken on the 2nd floor. Upper and Under, the go-to spot near Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station for a bit of healing in the city, also has outdoor seating.

Look how spacious the seating is!!! With such a clean interior, it feels like it'd be easy to focus if you were here getting things done.

There's a women's restroom on the 1st floor, check! You can head up to the 3rd floor via the stairs on the right (there's no elevator, sadly).

Coming up to the 3rd floor, you find an even bigger space than the 2nd floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows make it feel super airy! There's a women's restroom on the 3rd floor too, check!

The 3rd floor also has terrace seating. Perfect for enjoying now that it's not too hot and not too cold.

Upper and Under's menu: coffee, ades, teas and signature drinks

Menu board time!! Upper and Under sells a wide range of drinks, from coffee to ade to tea.

They've even got seasonal signature drinks ready to go! Since these are drinks you can't find anywhere else, I was even more curious about them.

The dessert counter: from baked goods to yellow cheese Basque cheesecake

Let's head to the dessert corner! The smell of freshly made desserts wafts through the air.

Upper and Under, the go-to Gangnam Station / Sinnonhyeon Station large café recommendation.

The menu names and prices are written clearly, so it's easy to see at a glance what ingredients went into each item and what kind of baked good you're looking at.

Next to the baked goods there are cakes too. Beneath the plain-looking cheesecake there's also a yellow-cheese Basque cheesecake. Cheese lovers will love this one!

The café already has a nice, calm mood of its own, and with the desserts laid out too, it looks perfect for Instagram photos.

Cakes waiting in the fridge! Tiramisu, lemon, grapefruit, raspberry, fig — a lineup of seasonal fruit flavors plus steady sellers, all lined up neatly.

We went and grabbed the refreshing lemon cake!

What we ordered: decaf americano, pistachio cream latte, crème brûlée flan, lemon cake

Our picks at Upper and Under: a decaf americano, the signature pistachio cream latte, and a crème brûlée flan plus a lemon cake.

Everything was plated so nicely it was easy to eat too. So satisfying — great dessert combo~~~~

The signature cream latte unique to Upper and Under, the Gangnam Station / Sinnonhyeon Station large café — the pistachio! Sweet cream topped with pistachio.

Need I say more — the americano lets you taste the bean flavor most deeply.

Not cloying at all — the lemon cake was actually refreshing.

Crème brûlée flan: a generous layer of vanilla bean custard cream

Upper and Under's crème brûlée flan is a dessert loaded with sweet custard cream. It's packed with vanilla bean custard cream, so as a cream lover, this one gets a pass from me. Shouldn't a dessert have this much cream in it, honestly?

Take one big bite and the sweet, nutty cream spreads through your mouth. Then the sweet, crackly top layer crunches and melts right into the cream. This is it — this is the stuff!

Lemon cake: refreshing instead of heavy

If Upper and Under's crème brûlée is a bit heavy and sweet for you, I'd recommend the lemon cake instead. A refreshing option you can enjoy instead of a heavy dessert! The whipped cream layer especially didn't taste cheap at all — it was delicious.

Pistachio cream latte: cream on its own first, then stirred in

The drink I was most looking forward to — the pistachio cream latte!! They gave us a spoon so we could stir it well and also eat the cream separately.

Take a bite of the thick cream first, then mix it in well, and you get a nutty, delicious latte! If you want a bit of nuttiness and sweetness instead of a bitter coffee taste, the pistachio cream latte is the one to get.

Wrap-up: who is Upper and Under in Gangnam best for?

Close to Gangnam Station, with a wide range of unusual desserts on offer — Upper and Under, the go-to large café near Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station. Beyond financiers, canelés, madeleines, and bâtonnet, it was fascinating to see unusual dessert flavors like pistachio, corn, and salted chocolate.

• A vibe-filled atmosphere from the exterior onward
• The entire 3rd floor is café space
• Each floor has its own mood, plus a terrace

Go check it out before it gets even colder!!!