Songjeong ocean-view tea café for egg-yolk ssanghwacha: Suwolgyeonghwa

When I go to a café I usually just get an Americano, but this time I visited somewhere a little special: Suwolgyeonghwa, on Songjeong Beach in Busan.

The ocean view of Songjeong's sea was lovely, but after coming home, what actually stuck with me was the tea and sweets. From a wide range of signature blend teas to traditional teas like ssanghwacha, to a box packed with Korean-style desserts, even someone like me who only reaches for coffee ended up falling for the charm of slowly enjoying tea's aroma and flavor. Let me introduce Suwolgyeonghwa, the oceanview tea café in Songjeong, Busan.

Suwolgyeonghwa hours, parking and how to get there

Suwolgyeonghwa is open daily from 11:00 to 23:00, with last order at 22:30. There's piloti parking on the building's 1st floor, and if it's full you'll need a nearby paid lot — no parking fee support is offered.

It was easy to find — a red brick building across from the Guduk-po tunnel in Songjeong, behind Songjeong-jip. It's also easy to reach by public transit: about a 1-minute walk from the KT Songjeong Tower bus stop, or about 8 minutes from Songjeong Station if you take the Busan Beach Train, so you could easily pair a visit with a beach train ride.

Suwolgyeonghwa opened as a tea café in 2020, and has been listed in the Blue Ribbon Survey for two consecutive years, 2025 and 2026.

What the name Suwolgyeonghwa means: moon on water, flower in a mirror

After parking, you head up toward the back of the building to reach the entrance.

From the entrance, the sound of water flowing set a completely different mood from a typical café.

Suwolgyeonghwa (水月鏡花) means 'the moon reflected in water, the flower reflected in a mirror.' True to the name, the space is filled with details that call to mind water, the moon, and mirrors.

With the lighting joining in too, the atmosphere felt dreamlike yet calm — you could feel Suwolgyeonghwa's distinct mood the moment you stepped inside.

The Songjeong ocean view from Suwolgyeonghwa's 4th floor

You order on the 4th floor at Suwolgyeonghwa. But the first thing that caught my eye as soon as I got upstairs was the scenery beyond the huge picture window.

Songjeong's sea fills the whole window, and the Busan Beach Train runs by right in front of it. The combination of the traditional interior, the blue Songjeong sea, and the colorful beach train worked better together than I expected.

There are plenty of oceanview cafés in Songjeong, but Suwolgyeonghwa doesn't just offer the sea view — the atmosphere of the space adds something extra that made it feel a bit different.

Suwolgyeonghwa's signature blend teas: how to choose

As a spot that specializes in tea, Suwolgyeonghwa really does have an impressive range of signature blend teas.

Each tea has a pretty name and a description of its aroma and flavor, so I spent a good while deciding what to drink while reading the menu. Normally I'd just grab an Americano without thinking, but here it felt like I really should try the tea.

After much deliberation, I ordered Bomulgyeol (spring waves) tea, my mom ordered ssanghwacha, and we got a Dalbodeurae box to share as dessert.

Bomulgyeol blend tea: tasting the leaves' aroma first

My pick, Bomulgyeol, is a young leaf green tea blend that's meant to express a fresh Jeju spring, full of flower scent drifting on the spring breeze. Such a pretty name.

After the tea was brewed, they topped it with loose tea leaves so you can enjoy the scent along with it. I slowly took in the aroma before drinking, and it was gentle yet surprisingly strong and fresh — I loved it.

It came with a little info card too, so instead of just drinking it blindly, I could learn what kind of tea it was and take in the aroma and flavor one by one.

Even someone like me who doesn't know much about tea could enjoy this one without any pressure.

Ssanghwacha with an egg yolk on top: how it tastes

My mom chose ssanghwacha, a menu made by slowly simmering traditional ssanghwatang herbal medicine ingredients and adding savory nuts.

When ordering, they ask if you'd like an egg yolk on top — we went ahead and added one.

With nuts and egg yolk sitting on top of the rich ssanghwacha, it looked hearty and healthy just from the look of it.

What's inside Suwolgyeonghwa's Dalbodeurae box of Korean sweets

The Dalbodeurae box we ordered alongside the tea was also a real highlight. It's Suwolgyeonghwa's signature Korean dessert box, a wooden box filled with an assortment of sweets.

The moment we received the box, it genuinely felt like getting a gift.

• Gamtae myeongnan financier (seaweed and pollack roe)
• Red bean anbutter monaka
• Ganache monaka
• Black rice sulbbang (steamed rice cake)
• Injeolmi skewers, and more

There was also an info card explaining each item, which made it fun to check and taste each one in turn.

The gamtae myeongnan financier had a savory, salty flavor that felt refreshingly different, and the red bean anbutter monaka paired sweet red bean with rich butter really nicely.

The black rice sulbbang was soft and mild,

and the injeolmi skewers were chewy and nutty, great alongside tea. Rather than ordering just one dessert, being able to try a little of several kinds of Korean sweets made it perfect for sharing with my mom.

Tea time with Mom facing the Songjeong sea

Sitting by the window at Suwolgyeonghwa sipping tea, you can watch the beach train pass by in front of Songjeong's sea. The sea alone is already lovely to look at, but having the beach train pass through now and then made watching the scenery even more fun.

With Suwolgyeonghwa's distinctly traditional space and tea sets, the tea and sweets, and Songjeong's sea and beach train all coming together, it had a mood completely different from other oceanview cafés. The view was great, but the menu made it even more memorable.

Free teabag gift for leaving a Naver review

When we visited, they were running a Naver review event too. Leave a review and you get a teabag of the tea you drank as a gift, so I could enjoy the same tea again at home. Getting a little gift like that was a nice way to wrap things up.

Review events and gifts can change depending on when you visit, so check whether it's currently running when you go.

Would an Americano-only drinker come back to Suwolgyeonghwa?

I first came for the pretty Songjeong ocean view, but after visiting, it was actually the tea that stuck with me most at Suwolgyeonghwa.

Normally I only ever drink Americanos at cafés, but after experiencing everything from how the tea was served, to enjoying its aroma, to pairing it with the sweets, slowly enjoying a cup of tea turned out to be pretty captivating.

With so many signature blend teas to choose from, I got curious about more than just the Bomulgyeol I had this time. Next time I visit, I'd like to pick a different tea and take my time enjoying it.

If you're looking for an oceanview café with views of Songjeong's sea and the beach train, a place to take your mom on a date or visit with your parents, or somewhere to enjoy a bit of special tea and sweets instead of coffee, take your time and enjoy a relaxed tea time at Suwolgyeonghwa.