Takeaway roastery café by Mangwon Market: coffee in the park, PICT

Today I'm sharing the café with the best coffee among all the ones I've visited in Seoul lately! It's PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch. I love coffee and often hunt down cafés all over Seoul, and it's been a while since I met a coffee I was this happy with.

PICT is a roastery café whose main branch is in Magok. It's known for its coffee, so I went with high expectations. To get straight to the point: personally, it's number one for coffee among the Seoul cafés I've visited recently! The dessert was good too, but above all the coffee itself was really outstanding.

Where is PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch, and is there parking?

PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch is right near Mangwon Market, at 45 Woldeukeop-ro 23-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's a great spot for a good cup of coffee while you browse the market. That said, parking isn't easy in Mangwon, so I personally recommend taking public transport.

Mangwon street views from a half-basement window

PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch sits in a half-basement, and the atmosphere was better than I expected. What I found especially fun was the view outside. Even though it's a half-basement, there are glass windows, so you can watch people walking down the street. Sipping coffee while watching passersby had that special Mangwon-dong charm, and I loved it.

Can you choose your coffee beans at PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch?

As a roastery café should, PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch lets you choose the beans for each drink. This time I picked acidic beans for my iced Americano and nutty beans for my iced latte. The place is famous for desserts too, but what satisfied me most was definitely the coffee.

I usually care a lot about the character of the beans when I drink coffee, so being able to choose to my taste was great. The iced Americano really showed off the personality of the acidic beans and was nice and clean to drink. For the iced latte I chose nutty beans, and the smooth milk and the nutty coffee flavor went together beautifully.

I felt this isn't just a café with a pretty atmosphere, but one that stays true to the essence of coffee. The friend who came with me tried the coffee and said it was the best they'd had recently! I felt the same: it was the most satisfying café I've visited in Seoul lately. If you love coffee, I really hope you'll visit once.

How is PICT's Kyoto matcha Basque cheesecake?

The dessert I chose at PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch was the Kyoto matcha Basque cheesecake (a burnt-top cheesecake), and the matcha aroma really came through, which I loved. PICT is famous for desserts as well as coffee, and I heard the fig French toast is especially well known. I did wonder about getting the French toast at first, but that day I was craving something matcha.

I usually like the deep flavor of matcha, and this matcha Basque cheesecake was really good too. The moment I took a bite, I could taste the matcha, and it paired so well with the cheesecake. The matcha aroma was vivid, which made it even more satisfying.

Just like with the coffee, I felt the dessert sticks to the basics too. It's not a place that's only good at coffee, and having satisfying desserts as well made it even better. If you're looking for a great café in Mangwon-dong, I'd recommend the matcha Basque cheesecake with your coffee!

From Mangwon Market to the park with takeaway coffee

This time, rather than staying long at PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch, I took the coffee and matcha Basque cheesecake to go and headed to a nearby park. Mangwon-dong has lots of cafés and is a great neighborhood for walking, so enjoying takeaway like this was nice.

Spending a relaxed time with delicious coffee put me in a great mood. The coffee is so good that takeaway didn't feel like a letdown at all. Grabbing great coffee after browsing Mangwon Market and enjoying it at a nearby park is a route I'd recommend too.

Is PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch worth a return visit?

PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch is the Seoul café that stuck with me most for its coffee among the ones I've visited recently. There are so many pretty cafés these days, but it's not easy to find one where the coffee is satisfying too, right? PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch was great not only for the atmosphere but for both coffee and dessert.

Both the iced Americano with acidic beans and the iced latte with nutty beans were delicious. The Kyoto matcha Basque cheesecake, rich in matcha aroma, is also something I keep thinking about. Next time I definitely want to try the fig French toast everyone says is famous.

If you're someone who puts coffee flavor first when choosing a café in Mangwon-dong, I highly recommend PICT Roastery Mangwon Branch! Personally, it's a truly great coffee spot that I'm 100% going back to.