Mapo, Seoul café for hand-drip coffee and tiramisu: Central Site

Hongdae… Yeonnam…. Since it’s near my office, I’ve been going there the most lately haha.

A Yeonnam-dong café known for tiramisu

“Central Site,” a Yeonnam-dong café known for its delicious tiramisu. I went with Sihon, a Yeonnam local who said they had even ordered the tiramisu for delivery before lol.

On the first floor, there’s a side bar in front of the full-height windows.

There are quite a lot of seats on the second and third floors! It was weekday afternoon, but there were still quite a few people. Overall, it had a calm, tidy atmosphere that suited Yeonnam-dong’s relaxed vibe, making it a nice place to linger slowly over a cup of coffee. It didn’t feel overly crowded or noisy, so it seemed good for chatting with a friend or visiting alone and enjoying coffee at an easy pace.

How did we choose the drip-coffee beans?

I don’t know much about drip coffee, so I was agonizing over it—and I guess it showed 😂 The staff member asked about my preferences and gave me recommendations! (I’ll tell you what we chose later.)

We sat here,

watched them make the drip coffee,

Meeting the aromas through bean smelling first

We even smelled the beans first! It was so fascinating that the beans smelled like grapes 😮 Instead of simply waiting for the coffee to arrive, smelling the beans first helped me focus a little more on the individual aromas they had. I often let the aroma pass by without much thought while drinking coffee, but smelling it myself beforehand made the whole way of enjoying coffee feel a little different.

• Left) Guatemala Entre Volcanes 2026 Washed (hazelnut, butterscotch, milk chocolate)
• Right) Colombia Campo Hermoso Caturra Honey Grape Mosto Co-fermentation (grape, candy, Welch’s, tropical fruit)

Alternating between Guatemala and Colombia

The Guatemalan coffee stood out for its clean yet subtle aroma and flavor. It didn’t leave a heavy taste in my mouth after a sip; it went down quite cleanly, and the more slowly I drank it, the more I could notice the beans’ different flavors. Anyone who enjoys the delicate character of hand-drip coffee would find it satisfying. With the Colombian coffee, it was fascinating to get a subtle, grape-like fruity aroma from coffee, and its distinctive fragrance stayed with me. I wondered whether coffee could really smell like grapes, but when I actually drank it, that fragrant fruity character came through naturally. It was fun to experience firsthand how much the aroma and taste can differ depending on the beans, even with the same hand-drip coffee. Most of all, alternating between the two cups made for a great comparison: one felt clean and calm, while the other stood out for its fruit-reminiscent aroma, so I think you can choose according to your taste. If you usually like nutty flavors, go for Guatemala! If you like acidity, I recommend Colombia 👍🏻

Tiramisu with coffee

Of course, we ordered the tiramisu that people even get delivered! The soft cream and moist sponge worked beautifully together, making it a dessert that paired well with coffee. After a bite of sweet tiramisu, a sip of hand-drip coffee made the coffee’s flavors feel even cleaner. Next time, I’m trying the cookie tiramisu (it was sold out ㅠ).

A good time to focus on the coffee itself

What I liked most about Central Site Yeonnam was that the experience didn’t end with simply ordering and drinking coffee—it let me experience the coffee’s aroma and the beans themselves. Watching the coffee being made up close, smelling the beans before extraction, and comparing different beans as I drank made me focus on coffee more than usual. If you’re looking for a quiet café in Yeonnam-dong to enjoy coffee, or want to try a special hand-drip coffee experience, it’s worth a visit. I think it would be even more fun for anyone who already loves coffee and enjoys discovering the different aromas and flavors of each bean.

They’re also running a review event, and apparently the chunky chocolate here is really delicious too~