Seocho café evening visit: oatmeal raisin cookie, matcha latte at Mini

Being in Seocho-dong, I end up at cafés a lot — chatting with coworkers, meeting people nearby, or business meetings. Today I want to introduce a Seocho café dessert spot where the coffee, bakery, and dessert were all delicious: Mini Male Roastery & Coffee Bar Seocho Gyodae Branch :)

Hours

8am to 8pm, last order at 7:30pm. Closed every weekend.

How far from Gyodae Station?

It's a 2-minute walk from Exit 9 of Gyodae Station (Lines 2, 3). It's very close to the station, but since it's tucked slightly into an alley off the main street, it wasn't crowded or noisy, which I liked.

Look and atmosphere

This is the inside of Mini Male Roastery & Coffee Bar Seocho Gyodae Branch. There were quite a lot of tables inside, and

overall the interior featured glass, stainless steel, and modular fixtures, giving it a clean yet stylish look.

There are also seats for people coming alone. Emotional music was playing and there were blankets, which was nice.

In particular, this is the only Mini Male branch with a large roasting machine, so they roast beans during weekday daytime — apparently you can watch green beans transform into the freshest roasted coffee.

Menu and signature

This is the menu at Mini Male Roastery & Coffee Bar Seocho Gyodae Branch. There's a wide variety of coffee and tea, and

the signature here is the Helsinki Latte! Apparently it was inspired by a life-changing latte the owner had in Helsinki, Finland, completed with an original recipe carrying a calm Nordic sensibility — and it's reportedly sold over 100,000 cups.

Beyond that, there were various kinds of handmade New York cookies and the new orange pound cake,

plus bakery items like egg tart and pain au chocolat. I went in the evening on a weekday, so this was what was left — if you go in the morning or lunchtime, you'd probably find a wider variety of breads.

There were also coffee bean and cookie sets, plus drinks in plastic bottles, which looked good to buy as a gift before heading to the office.

You can order at the kiosk.

I ordered the Helsinki latte, matcha latte flacheé, egg tart, and oatmeal raisin cookie.

Food & taste review

Everything I ordered — drinks and desserts — arrived!

Helsinki Latte

Let's start with the Helsinki latte, said to have sold over 100,000 cups. The milk and coffee layers are separated, so you just stir it up before drinking.

The Helsinki latte had a heavy, nutty milk flavor that paired really well with the roasted coffee. These days signature lattes are the trend, not just plain lattes, right? If you like that style of latte, you'll definitely love the Helsinki latte.

Egg Tart

And the egg tart! This is roughly the size — the egg filling inside was jelly-like, transparent and moist, and the pastry was flaky as if freshly baked, which I liked.

It wasn't too sweet and was soft enough to eat in one bite.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

And the oatmeal raisin cookie. It's almost hand-sized, and I was really surprised the price was in the ₩3,000–4,000 range.

It's pretty thick too.

The outside was loaded with oatmeal and raisins. I split it in half and there were plenty of raisins inside, which was quite satisfying — and above all, that thickness! The thickness was really great. I've been cutting the cookie into four pieces and eating one piece a day.

The cookie isn't very sweet, and you can feel the distinct oatmeal texture along with a subtle sweetness when you bite into the raisins. If you're on a diet but want a cookie and feel guilty about it, I recommend this oatmeal raisin cookie.

Matcha Latte Flacheé

This is the matcha latte flacheé, which comes in a plastic bottle like this.

The label has the manufacturing date and says to drink it within 3 days. Made with Boseong matcha, it had a deeply concentrated matcha flavor combined with heavy milk taste — much like with the Helsinki latte, you get that same heavy punch in your mouth.

One-line summary

• 2 minutes on foot from Gyodae Station Exit 9
• An alley off the main street, so it's a calm, uncrowded, emotionally pleasant space
• If you like heavy lattes, the Helsinki latte is a must

Overall, nothing was lacking — not the drinks, the bakery, or the desserts — and the staff were kind too, so I could relax comfortably :)