Sinnonhyeon café, fresh mango cake & Earl Grey canelé: Upper and Under

I heard there's a lovely café in Gangnam where you can have coffee with really pretty desserts, so I went to Upper and Under (어퍼앤언더)!! From baked sweets to cakes, the dessert selection is huge, so you can get your hopes up! All you bread lovers, listen up!

Getting to Upper and Under, opening hours and parking

Walk about 5 minutes from Exit 6 of Sinnonhyeon Station and you'll spot Upper and Under!

• Location: 28 Gangnam-daero 102-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (it's a big café spanning B1 to 2F)
• Hours: daily 11:00–22:00
• Parking: not available, so use Yeoksam Cultural Park Public Parking Lot No. 2!

What's the 1F atmosphere like on a weekend? There was a wait

The 1st floor of Upper and Under has the bakery section and the order counter. Maybe because it was a weekend, it was so crowded that I couldn't take a photo of the seating, it was totally packed! We waited a little before getting a seat. There are outdoor seats too, so keep that in mind. The air conditioning was blasting, which was great!

The drink menu at Upper and Under has sooo many options, from coffee to non-coffee drinks, tea, ade and more.

Upper and Under bakery selection: baked sweets and cakes

The baked sweets are the first thing you see when you walk in! There were sooo many that I browsed for ages. Financiers, madeleines, canelés (small French custard cakes), pies and more,

and even the trendy ube and yellow cheese (hwangchijeu) Basque cheesecakes. So many cakes here too... amazing, right? I'm a total dessert addict, so choosing was so hard. I won't forget the combination of green trees seen through the big windows and desserts. It put me in such a good mood.

The indoor showcase had mango, raspberry, lemon and yangzhi ganlu (mango-pomelo-sago) cakes on display. From new releases to steady sellers, Upper and Under misses nothing, and I totally fell for it!!!

What we ordered at Upper and Under

After much deliberation, here's what we ordered!

• Americano (hot)
• Matcha cream oat latte
• Mango cake
• Two canelés (Earl Grey and matcha)

I'll go through them one by one below, along with the drinks!

How does the Upper and Under Americano taste?

The Americano at Upper and Under is nutty with no acidity! Americano with cake needs no explanation, it's the golden rule.

Is the matcha cream oat latte very sweet?

The matcha cream oat latte at Upper and Under isn't very sweet, so it went down easily! The bitterness of rich matcha with the nutty oat milk cream was amazing. If you like matcha, you have to try it!!

Does the Upper and Under mango cake use fresh mango?

The mango cake at Upper and Under has real fresh mango and I enjoyed it so much. Can you see the cross-section..!?!?! There's plenty of mango purée inside and big pieces of fresh mango on top, so every bite was full of mango. The smooth, rich mango cream layered in between went really well with the moist sponge. If you like mango, you'll be satisfied!!

What's the texture of the Earl Grey and matcha canelés?

The Earl Grey and matcha canelés at Upper and Under were filled with cream all the way to the end, so I enjoyed them down to the last bite! Crisp outside and moist inside, they were crisp-outside-moist-inside (gyeotbasokchok) personified. Personally, I think they'd be even better slightly frozen, since the cream would get thicker and denser.

How was Upper and Under as a Sinnonhyeon dessert café?

If you like desserts, this is a café to save for sure! Upper and Under has such a wide range, from baked sweets to cakes, that choosing was half the fun, and the drinks pair well with the desserts too, so satisfaction was top-notch!!! The space is spacious and stylish, perfect for a date, a café tour with friends, or relaxing alone. If you're looking for a great dessert spot in Sinnonhyeon, I highly recommend Upper and Under~~!