Busan café for beach train views and Korean desserts: Suwolgyeonghwa

I had a weekend date in Songjeong and visited Suwolgyeonghwa (수월경화), a Busan ocean-view café :) It is famous as a café where you can watch the Busan beach train. Since it is right in front of Songjeong Beach, I recommend it to anyone looking for a café by Songjeong Beach in Busan. The building itself has parking, so there is no need to worry if you are driving.

Suwolgyeonghwa is on the 3rd and 4th floors; head up the stairs and you will find the café.

Suwolgyeonghwa is a tea house in Songjeong-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan, whose name means “the moon reflected in water, flowers reflected in a mirror.” Seating is available on the 3rd and 4th floors, and you can order on the 4th floor.

The atmosphere on Suwolgyeonghwa’s 3rd and 4th floors

3rd floor

The 3rd floor felt more relaxed, and I saw lots of families visiting. The view through the floor-to-ceiling windows was so pretty. If you are looking for an ocean-view café in Busan, you should definitely visit at least once. The wood interior made it feel so cozy and lovely.

I also saw many kinds of tea that would make lovely gifts.

4th floor

The 4th floor has both the ordering area and space to sit and enjoy your drinks.

Pick up a menu, find a seat, and once you have decided, you can order at the kiosk.

On the 4th floor, there is a pop-up shop where you can browse teas to buy as gifts. If you purchase in-store, you can receive a discount on goods.

There were so many different teas that I think they would be wonderful gifts. You can take in the blue Songjeong sea at a glance. The full glass windows give the space an open feeling, and the window seats were clearly the most popular. The warm wooden interior also felt natural and elegant. There are high chairs too, so families can visit comfortably.

The menus were at the front, so I picked one up and chose what to have from my seat.

Tea descriptions and the tea of the day tasting

At Suwolgyeonghwa, you can discover many different teas. It is known as a tea specialty shop with a wide range of tea drinks.

For anyone who does not know much about tea, it was great that there were descriptions for each tea and that you could smell their aromas too. At Suwolgyeonghwa, tea and tea culture feel more approachable, so it was a chance for me to learn about tea. You can also sample the tea of the day.

There is not only tea but also a wide selection of coffee and desserts. Korean-style desserts are available too, which is why this Songjeong café in Busan gets many international visitors.

Once you have chosen from the menu, you can order at the kiosk.

This café also has traditional decorative pieces, making it a nice place for visitors of every age. This was the view from my seat, and it was so beautiful. With the train passing by too, it was pure relaxation. Sitting by the window with a cup of tea and watching the beach train go past was just wonderful.

Shrinking Pumpkin and the Dalbodeure Box

• Dalbodeure Box
• Hojigabae
• Shrinking Pumpkin

One of the new menu items, Shrinking Pumpkin, is a comforting drink that pairs sweet pumpkin with the nutty flavors of hojicha, brown rice, and seoritae (black soybeans), soothing both body and mind. Hojigabae is Suwolgyeonghwa’s signature coffee, combining a smooth latte with savory, roasted hojicha cream.

The Dalbodeure Box is Suwolgyeonghwa’s signature Korean-style dessert box, so be sure to try it when you visit.

It was a satisfying assortment of gamtae (seaweed) financier, whole-red-bean ang-butter monaka, ganache monaka, black-rice sulppang (rice wine bread), and injeolmi (roasted soybean rice cake) skewers.

I did not know much about tea before, but here I was able to encounter so many varieties. Suwolgyeonghwa brews premium tea leaves for the right amount of time for each type of tea, then serves them in artisan tea ware that adds to their refinement. Along with a fragrant cup of tea, I could experience the breathing room created by the beautiful tea ware and space.

Suwolgyeonghwa, where you can enjoy Songjeong ocean views, is a relaxing place for tea and desserts. I am definitely planning to come back to try other menu items next time. It would be even better to visit on a nice day. You can find hanok-inspired sensibility, a variety of tea-based drinks, traditional dasik (tea sweets) that pair well with tea, and Korean-style desserts too.