Chodang-dong hanok café in Gangneung with teapot rooibos: Cafe Giwa

I recently went to Gangneung and visited a bunch of pretty cafés while wandering around, so I'm going to introduce them one by one. Today I'll introduce a place called "Cafe Giwa."

Cafe Giwa hours and parking

Cafe Giwa is open Mon, Tue, Thu–Sun from 10:00 to 21:00, with last order at 20:30. It's on Chodangwon-gil 54beon-gil in Gangneung, Gangwon, and there's a huge open lot in front of the café so parking space is never a problem.

The tiled hanok exterior and outdoor seats

True to its name, Cafe Giwa's exterior is a full-on hanok tiled-roof house. The café sits a bit deep inside the neighborhood, and since it was my first time visiting in Gangneung, I was surprised at how grand and pretty it looked when I arrived — like something out of a movie.

Maybe because the trees and plants around it are so nicely arranged, it really felt like standing in the middle of a drama set taking photos. Even my rough, quick shots turned out pretty, don't you think? ㅜㅜㅠㅠ

There were really a lot of nice outdoor seats too, colorful and pretty. I thought it'd be great to enjoy them outside once the weather gets better.

Is Cafe Giwa good for a big group?

Inside, Cafe Giwa has plenty of tables that seat several people, so it's easy to stop by even if you're traveling in a group in Gangneung. When I visited, there really were quite a few group customers inside.

The interior had a completely tranquil yet very pretty atmosphere — there were tons of little decor pieces, but they weren't overdone; everything felt harmonious and pretty. The inside of the café is really spacious, and there's so much to look at that time flies while you order and browse around.

With all these decor pieces that fit the space so well, even though the interior is huge I was busy looking around everywhere haha.

Why Cafe Giwa is easy with kids

And I really thought the owner had great taste — there were kids' chairs set up inside, plus lots of colorful blankets, so it was really comfortable to use.

What we ordered at Cafe Giwa

• Ginger tea
• Lemon ginger tea
• Iced flower-pink latte
• Rooibos
• Mugwort injeolmi (rice cake) toast

After a short wait, everything came out quickly, and since we ordered a variety, the table looked colorful and pretty.

The iced flower-pink latte is one of the signature menu items — it's a regular café latte with strawberry syrup mixed in. It had that subtly sweet, nutty balance like an ashotchu (americano-shot mix) feel, which worked better than I expected, and it looked pretty too, so I liked it.

Especially the signature menu items looked exactly like their photos, which made me even more excited for the taste haha.

How the mugwort injeolmi toast tastes

I started with the mugwort injeolmi toast, which I'd been most looking forward to. I'd had something similar at Sulbing as a kid, but since this was a café, it looked even prettier and more delicious.

Inside the toast was a layer of mugwort injeolmi rice cake, thicker than I expected — chewy and delicious with each bite. The bread itself was toasted nice and crisp, and mugwort ice cream sat on top, so eating the ice cream, bread, and rice cake together in one bite gave an incredible mix of nuttiness, crunch, and sweetness.

Rooibos tea served in a teapot

I ordered the rooibos tea hot, and I figured it would come in a cup, but surprisingly it arrived in a huge teapot.

The staff kindly explained how to use it — you place the teapot over the cup and the tea pours down from above. Once you've poured as much as you want, you lift the pot away to stop it, which was kind of fun and made the tea taste even better.

My parents' ginger tea also wasn't just a liquid concentrate — it was packed with actual ginger, so I kept getting poured more and they seemed to really enjoy it.