Mangpo Station café with cherry-topped Basque cheesecake: Hongrad

Looking for a café near Mangpo Station with a bit of a different vibe?

It's decorated with vintage furniture and old-school props, so it has a charm quite different from the sleek, trendy cafés you see everywhere these days. Let me introduce Hongrad, a Mangpo Station café worth visiting.

Parking and hours at Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch

For parking at Hongrad, there's a public parking lot in front of the building. I remember it being around ₩3,000-5,000. If you're planning to stay a while, parking at a nearby public institution is a bit cheaper.

• Yeongtong Post Office roadside public lot - Free on weekends and holidays, ₩100 per 10 minutes on weekdays, ₩10,000 for a full day
• Mangpo Station resident-priority lot - Free parking until 16:00 starting from 08:00, must move your car out after
• Toya private lot - ₩5,000/60 min, ₩11,000/120 min, ₩30,000 for a full day
• Parking fees cannot be covered

Hours are daily 10:00-23:00.

Vintage interior and seating inside the café

Hongrad had a lot of seats that were comfortable for sitting alone and working.

The café atmosphere was cozy and comfortable, so it was also great for working or studying.

Every corner of the café was pretty, and there were also plush sofa seats comfortable for sitting and chatting for a long time.

Chatting for a long time makes you thirsty, right? There's a space set up where you can get water yourself.

You can also buy various props here

Hongrad isn't just a place to drink coffee and beverages — there's also a space where you can browse various props. You can buy accessories, hairpins, and Jibbitz charms.

It's perfect for browsing while waiting for your drink and cake to come out. That's exactly what I did. There were so many cute things that I ended up browsing for quite a while.

Menu lineup at Hongrad Mangpo Station Branch

Hongrad had a wide variety of items, from coffee to non-coffee drinks to various desserts. There was a diverse dessert lineup including Ex-Boyfriend Toast, croffles, and Hongrad's signature brownie.

Basque cheesecake and decaf iced americano

What I ordered was the Basque cheesecake and an iced americano (decaf).

Unlike other cafés' Basque cheesecakes, Hongrad's comes topped with whipped cream and cherry.

The pretty visual caught my eye and made the Basque cheesecake look even more delicious.

The cherry on top had a slightly sweet taste.

Since there was whipped cream on top of the Basque cheesecake, eating the cheesecake together with the cream made it taste a bit smoother.

And the cheese flavor came through richly, making it the perfect dessert for an afternoon sugar boost.

As for the coffee, even though it was a decaf americano, the coffee wasn't watery. I drink a lot of decaf coffee so I know the typical watery taste of decaf very well — but Hongrad's decaf americano still had the coffee's natural aroma intact.

So it was the perfect iced americano to pair with the Basque cheesecake at Hongrad. Even after time passed and the ice melted a lot, it didn't turn into a weak, barley-tea-like coffee taste, which satisfied me even more.

Who would I recommend this to

If you like cafés with a vintage vibe, visit Hongrad near Mangpo Station. It was great for browsing around every corner of the café, and being calm, it was also good for studying or working.

Besides the Basque cheesecake, there are various other desserts like the Hongrad brownie, brown croffle, and Ex-Boyfriend Toast, so go visit and try them!