Dog-friendly Gangneung café with a mung bean flower latte: Cafe Giwa
In short
Cafe Giwa is a tiled-roof hanok (traditional Korean house) café in Chodang-dong, Gangneung, with its own parking lot and a garden of pine trees and flowers to stroll through. The writer brought her dog Rocky along in a stroller and ordered two iced Americanos, a mung bean flower latte and a mugwort injeolmi gateau, then relaxed over the garden view. Cafe Giwa is a good hanok café to slot into a Gangneung trip when you've had enough ocean-view cafés.
Good to know
- Address
- Cafe Giwa, 15 Chodangwon-gil 54beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon
- Parking
- Dedicated parking lot signposted at the entrance
- Ordered
- 2 iced Americanos, 1 mung bean flower latte, 1 mugwort injeolmi gateau
- Signature lattes
- Giwa Black Latte, Mung Bean Flower Latte, Pink Flower Latte
- Dessert showcase
- Gateau chocolat, green tea triangle, pure milk roll cake and more
- Dogs
- Visited with a dog in a stroller; the policy can change depending on how busy the café is
as written by the visitor on Sep 15, 2026
When you look up cafés for a Gangneung trip, ocean-view cafés come up constantly. This time I wanted something with a different vibe, so I went with Rocky to Cafe Giwa, a hanok (traditional Korean house) café in Gangneung. 🐶 It's in Chodang-dong, and the tiled roof and garden catch your eye from the entrance — the deeper in you go, the prettier it gets.
Since I was specifically looking for a dog-friendly café in Gangneung, being able to bring Rocky along was a huge plus.
📍 Cafe Giwa / 15 Chodangwon-gil 54beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon, South Korea
Cafe Giwa's garden and parking in Gangneung
There's a dedicated parking lot signposted right at the entrance of Cafe Giwa, so it was easy to visit if you're touring Gangneung by car. The moment I parked and walked in, I thought, "I need to take pictures here." In front of the hanok building with its original tiled roof, a garden of stone paths, pine trees, and flowers unfolds.
When I visited, purple flowers were in bloom too, so photos with the hanok as a backdrop turned out great. Unlike the newer hanok-concept cafés, this place had a natural feel of time built up over the years.
If you're looking for a café in Chodang, Gangneung, where you can also stroll around a garden, Cafe Giwa is a pretty appealing option.
What is Cafe Giwa like inside?
Cafe Giwa isn't just pretty outside. Inside, you can see the wooden pillars and rafters as they are, mixed with vintage clocks, lighting, and furniture — the space itself was fun to look around.
I liked that you could see the green garden through the windows, and overall it felt quiet and restful. If you've already hit a bunch of ocean-view cafés on your Gangneung trip, I'd recommend adding a completely different hanok café in Chodang-dong like this one to your itinerary.
There are plenty of spots for photos too, so it should suit anyone looking for an aesthetic café in Gangneung.
What we ordered at Cafe Giwa: mung bean flower latte and iced Americanos
That day at Cafe Giwa we ordered two iced Americanos, one mugwort flower latte, and one mugwort injeolmi gateau.
Four items in total. Besides the basic coffee menu, Cafe Giwa has signature lattes you can only get here — Giwa Black Latte, Mugwort Flower Latte, Pink Flower Latte — even the menu names match the café's vibe. We went with the Mugwort Flower Latte.
I wanted to order something you can only get here instead of a typical café drink, and it matched Cafe Giwa's hanok atmosphere well too.
Mugwort injeolmi gateau at Cafe Giwa
Cafe Giwa's dessert showcase also had cakes that pair well with coffee, like Gateau Chocolat, Green Tea Triangle, and Pure Milk Roll Cake. We picked the mugwort injeolmi gateau! Maybe because it's made with mugwort, eating it in a hanok café felt even more fitting, haha.
If you want something different from the usual chocolate or cheesecake, this one's worth trying. Looking out at the garden with a cold iced Americano and the mugwort injeolmi gateau, I went in for a quick break and left having properly unwound. 🌿
Can you bring a dog to Cafe Giwa?
I visited Cafe Giwa, a dog-friendly café in Gangneung, with Rocky, using a stroller. When you're traveling Gangneung with a dog, even finding a café you want to go to means you first have to check whether pets are allowed, which narrows the options quite a bit.
Rocky sat quietly in his stroller and toured the café just fine, haha. When I went to take a photo, his tongue was even sticking out 👅 With the hanok and garden, the atmosphere was different from the usual dog-friendly cafés, so it stuck with me more. If you're planning a dog-friendly trip to Gangneung and looking for a café to visit with your dog near Chodang-dong, this one's worth adding to your route.
Pet policy can change depending on the store's situation, so I'd recommend checking before you visit.
Worth a stop if you're looking for a café in Chodang-dong, Gangneung
Cafe Giwa was less a place to just grab a coffee and leave, and more a café good for slowly wandering the hanok and garden and relaxing.
Gangneung usually brings the ocean to mind first, but spending time in a hanok café tucked into Chodang-dong let me feel a different side of a Gangneung trip.
- Anyone who loves the atmosphere of gardens or hanok
- Anyone looking for a photogenic café in Chodang, Gangneung
- Anyone looking for a dog-friendly café in Gangneung to visit with their dog
If that's you, check out Cafe Giwa too. :) I liked it even more because I could bring Rocky along. 🐶🤎
Every time I visit Gangneung I get to discover somewhere new, and this time Cafe Giwa, where I relaxed in a hanok garden, will stay memorable too. :)
Where it is
15 Chodangwon-gil 54beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon, South Korea강원특별자치도 강릉시 초당원길54번길 15 카페기와
