Goyang rooftop café over a hydrangea garden: melon bingsu, Baedagol

I finally made it to Baedagol Bakery House, a Goyang café I'd been dying to visit in summer! It's a Wondang café famous for its hydrangea garden, and I'd had it saved in my café-tour list for ages. When I got there, it turned out most of the flowers filling the garden were panicle hydrangeas (moksuguk), the signature flower of summer. Let me tell you about this place, with its pretty garden and the delicious fresh melon snowflake bingsu (shaved ice dessert).

Baedagol Bakery House location and parking

Baedagol Bakery House is at 123 Hoguk-ro 1121beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea. It's open daily 10:00-21:00 (last order 20:30) and has parking. Wondang in Goyang has pretty, well-known cafés tucked into every corner, and this one, famous for its hydrangea garden, is where I went.

I'd been wondering why it's called Baedagol, and as soon as I arrived at the parking lot I saw tons of pear trees across the way. "So did it go from Baebat-gol (pear orchard valley) to Baedagol?" I guessed to myself, but it turned out I was totally wrong. 😂

The 1st parking lot in front of the café was already full, so I parked in the 2nd lot across the road. You only cross one small road and you're right there, so it wasn't hard, and there's even a 3rd lot in case the 2nd is full, so I don't think you need to worry much about parking.

On the way to the café building, trumpet vine (neungsohwa) greeted me first. It's another classic summer flower and it was pretty, but the garden full of panicle hydrangeas really left an impression.

What the name Baedagol means, and the café layout

The café is a curved standalone building that blends naturally into the garden. And I finally found the meaning of the name! Baedagol means "the village where boats dock." So much for my theory about the pear farm out front... embarrassing, haha. It began as a farm in 1970 and grew into today's Baedagol Bakery House, and earlier this year they also opened Baedagol Bakery Fore, themed around gardens and forest.

The hydrangea garden at Baedagol Bakery House is huge and really well kept, so I'm curious what the vibe is like at Baedagol Bakery Fore. I'd love to go there next time.

The 1st floor has the bakery showcase, the ordering counter, the women's restroom and regular tables. The 2nd floor has the men's restroom, room-style seats, regular tables and the rooftop.

Even at 4:30pm on a weekday, the 1st floor was almost full, and the 2nd floor had just one seat left, which I barely got. By the time I left after about an hour, a lot of people had gone, but I honestly never expected an out-of-town café to be this busy on a weekday at that hour.

Menu and ordering: the Fresh Melon Wareuk series

I originally wanted to try the mango bingsu, but sadly mango season had just ended. So I ordered the seasonal Fresh Melon Wareuk snowflake bingsu (₩25,000) and a salt bread (₩3,000). I'd had coffee earlier and really needed a cold dessert.

The menu had a wide range of coffee, with a choice of beans and the option to swap in oat milk or almond milk. I was also impressed that if you ask for a lighter drink, they give you the shot separately.

There are lots of non-coffee and fruit drinks too, so people who don't drink coffee have plenty of choices. In summer they have the Fresh Melon Wareuk series, which includes not just snowflake bingsu but smoothies, lattes and ades, so if you love melon you can enjoy it however you like.

How were the melon snowflake bingsu and salt bread?

Out came the Fresh Melon Wareuk snowflake bingsu, with a cute name to match. Round scoops of melon, a scoop of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and a heap of milk snow ice.

Drizzle the condensed milk served on the side and you're ready to eat. It had been a while since I'd had melon bingsu, and it was sweet, a real sugar boost, and I felt my fatigue melt away.

My daughter, who wouldn't touch bingsu until last year because it was "cold," seems to have discovered its charm and ate the snowflake bingsu with gusto.

The salt bread was lightly warmed in the oven next to the 1st-floor counter, and the buttery flavor was rich and really good.

There's a wide variety of other breads too, so next time I'd like to try several bakery items together.

The hydrangea garden seen from the no-kids rooftop

The rooftop beside the 2nd-floor tables is a no-kids zone, so I went up by myself for a bit, and the hydrangea garden seen from above looked like a scene from a fairy tale.

There are outdoor tables too, and I thought a cup of coffee up here in autumn, with a cool breeze, would be wonderful.

1st-floor seats and a stroll through the garden

When I came down after finishing the bingsu, many customers had left, so I took my time looking around the 1st floor. It was actually cozier, and the hydrangeas outside the window were closer, so the atmosphere was really pretty. Next time I'd definitely like to sit on the 1st floor.

Go out the side door and you're right in the garden, and with hydrangeas filling it, I kept taking photos even in the hot weather.

Is it OK to go with a child?

There are baby chairs, and the women's restroom even has a diaper changing table, so it's a comfortable café to visit with a child. The hydrangeas bloom fully in summer and fill the garden, so you really feel the season's charm, and being able to enjoy the seasonal Fresh Melon Wareuk series made it an even more satisfying visit.

Besides snowflake bingsu there are smoothies, lattes and ades, so if you like melon, I recommend trying it at least once in summer. The pretty garden, the bakery and the seasonal dessert were all satisfying at Baedagol Bakery House, a Goyang café I'm happy to recommend.