Counter Window Sitter · 13 stories

Window Counter, Seoul

I write about restaurant meals and small dining stops around Seoul. · Writes about: Restaurants · Cafés · Bars

PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju Heyri dessert café: snowflake bingsu & mugwort donut, Heuksadang

Heuksadang is a Blue Ribbon dessert café in Heyri Village, Paju, known for 100% milk snowflake bingsu (shaved ice) and its many donut flavors. The writer went back to Heuksadang on a weekend with her husband for injeolmi (roasted soybean rice cake) snowflake bingsu, a mugwort donut and a decaf iced Americano, and found the parking lot right next door and the large two-floor café with big glass windows convenient. As the weather warms up, Heuksadang's bingsu and donuts are worth recommending for a Heyri Village date.

Written Apr 23, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGoyang, GyeonggiRestaurants

Ilsan pasta restaurant for hangover Pesce and spicy aglio: Millepollie

Millepollie is a pasta restaurant on Bamlidan-gil in Ilsan (Ilsan-ro 286beon-gil, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang). On a brunch-style daytime visit with her husband, the writer had olive focaccia as starter bread, Gamberi Aglio (a spicy oil pasta with shrimp, garlic and flying fish roe) and Pesce (a spicy seafood pasta in tomato broth). Both dishes were good enough to order again, and she recommends Millepollie as a Bamlidan-gil date spot.

Written Nov 13, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju sunset date café on a weekday, star-shaped pizza: Four & More

Four & More (포앤모어) is a five-floor brunch café on Soraji-ro in Paju, Gyeonggi, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Han River and a rooftop. On a weekday evening, the writer watched the sunset from a window seat at Four & More over a star-shaped Stella Margherita pizza, shrimp Toowoomba pasta (creamy, mildly spicy pasta) and lemonade, and was struck by the palace-like interior and generous spacing between seats. Timed for sunset, Four & More is a Paju date café where the view, the mood and the food all deliver.

Written Apr 24, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju brunch café: fist-sized homemade ricotta salad at Brick Rouge

Brick Rouge (브릭루즈) is a large bakery and brunch café on Jimok-ro in Paju, Gyeonggi. On a weekend, the writer and her husband shared a homemade ricotta cheese salad, roast chicken pasta and a yogurt blueberry smoothie, and from the bakery she recommends the salt bread, onion bagel and garlic stick. Brick Rouge satisfied not only with its bread but also with its pasta and salad, making it a weekend brunch spot worth the trip.

Written Nov 12, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiRestaurants

Yadang, Paju Korean restaurant: smoky jjukkumi wraps, Eomma-ui Ttuksim

Eomma-ui Ttuksim (엄마의뚝심) is a home-style Korean set-meal restaurant near Yadang Station in Paju, Gyeonggi. The writer and her husband ordered the Ttuksim Jjukkumi Set for 2. They wrapped smoky, direct-fire pork bulgogi and stir-fried jjukkumi (baby octopus) in fresh lettuce, chose cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) over doenjang stew, and finished every bowl of rice. With generous banchan (side dishes) and real fire flavor, Eomma-ui Ttuksim is a Yadang lunch spot worth coming back to.

Written Nov 10, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSuwon, GyeonggiRestaurants

Maetan-dong burger shop, Suwon: Classic Pose set + The Mushroom, 666

666 Burger Main Branch (666버거 본점) is a handmade burger restaurant in Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, open daily from 11:00 to 24:00. The writer stopped by for lunch with a burger-loving younger sibling, ordered a Classic Pose Burger set and a single The Mushroom Burger, and enjoyed the juicy Korean beef patties and fries fried to order. A regular who has visited 666 Burger since it first opened in Maetan-dong sums it up: everything is cooked to order, so it tastes great every time.

Written Nov 9, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju evening date café under chandeliers: pescatore pasta, Mokushura

Mokushura French Café (모쿠슈라 프렌치카페) is a large four-story bakery café on Gigok-gil in Jori-eup, Paju, Gyeonggi. A couple who have visited more than 10 times came for an evening date and ordered pescatore pasta, a steak panino and a blueberry yogurt smoothie under the sparkling chandelier lights. Mokushura French Café takes dining orders until 7 PM, which makes it a good big café for a restaurant-style dinner in Paju.

Written Nov 8, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiRestaurants

Packed weekend Chinese spot in Unjeong: smoky ganjjajang, Mimi China

Mimi China (미미차이나) is a Chinese restaurant in Unjeong, Paju, Gyeonggi, at 71-1 Cheonjeonggu-ro, opened with the know-how of Yongmun Gaekjan (용문객잔), a long-running restaurant in Icheon. On a weekend visit, every table at Mimi China was full, and the ganjjajang (dry-stir-fried black bean noodles) had a gentle smoky wok flavor, the Sinmi jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) was spicy and refreshing, and the pork loin tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) was thick with no gamey smell. Mimi China is worth remembering in Paju when you're craving spicy jjamppong and crispy tangsuyuk.

Written May 13, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju bakery week-long freezer haul & pain au chocolat: Boulangerie Tan

Boulangerie Tan Unjeong Main Branch is a bakery on Chorongkkot-ro in Unjeong, Paju, that cold-ferments its natural sourdough bread for 14 hours and bakes and sells everything the same day. On a repeat visit, a regular customer tried the Maron de Gongju chestnut bread for the first time and took home a week's worth of bread, including pain au chocolat and croissants that taste like Paris, plus ciabatta, freezing the rest and thawing it at room temperature. Boulangerie Tan is an Unjeong bakery whose sandwiches, pain au chocolat and ciabatta are must-tries, and the taste is the same every visit.

Written Jun 1, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiRestaurants

Paju Heyri pasta café revisited: pesto risotto date, Mokushura Table

Mokushura Table is a European-style pasta and brunch café-restaurant in Heyri Village, Paju. On a second visit, the writer sat in the European-style ground-floor room and ordered the scallop oil pasta, the new chicken basil pesto risotto and an orange sherbet, then made a date of it with a garden stroll and a kouign-amann from the bakery. For anyone looking for a date restaurant in Heyri, Mokushura Table's oil pasta is the reason to come back.

Written Jun 9, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiRestaurants

Korean BBQ in Yadang, Paju: grill the egg roll with pork, Haetteuljip

Haetteuljip (해뜰집) is a Korean BBQ restaurant serving gochujang pork belly and LA galbi on Soricheon-ro near Yadang Station in Paju, open daily from 4:30 pm to 5 am. The writer ordered the gochujang pork belly couple set for two, plus cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) and bibim naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles), and was pleased with the smoky gochujang pork belly that arrives already cooked, the double-portion heaped rice and the cheonggukjang boiled fresh to order. With the windows open, Haetteuljip feels like an open-air street-side spot, making it a good pick for dinner and drinks in one go near Yadang Station.

Written Oct 13, 2026Sponsored
PlacePaju, GyeonggiCafés

Paju rainy-season café: first mango bingsu, 10% off, Fruit Forest

Fruit Forest Paju Direct Store (과일의숲 파주직영점) is a fresh-fruit bingsu (Korean shaved ice) café on Dolgoji-gil near Simhaksan in Paju, Gyeonggi. On a hot rainy-season evening after dinner at Simhaksan, two people tried their first mango snow bingsu at Fruit Forest for ₩28,000. It came covered edge to edge in fresh mango, with a side of house-made mango purée, and felt every bit as good as a hotel bingsu. A receipt from Tteurak, the restaurant next door, gets 10% off the whole Fruit Forest menu, making the café a good second stop after a Simhaksan meal.

Written Jul 13, 2026Sponsored