Seochon bakery café with Dammann Frères rooibos tea: Respire Bakery
In short
Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is a Pinterest-style bakery café on Hyoja-ro 13-gil in Jongno, Seoul. After the Do Ho Suh exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, a 20-minute walk leads to Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon, where two plain salt breads cost 5,000 won, Dammann Frères rooibos tea 7,000 won and a salt summer latte 8,000 won. The salt bread was crisp outside and full of butter inside, and the rooibos arrived in a generously filled teapot, making it good value.
Good to know
- Hours
- 08:30–18:00 (weekends 8:30–19:00)
- Services
- Groups, takeout and reservations available / takeout discount
- Parking
- Use Singyo public parking lot (the lot in front of the café is for Blue House staff only)
- Rooibos tea
- 7,000 won
- Salt summer latte
- 8,000 won
- Plain salt bread
- 2 for 5,000 won (1,000 won off when you buy two)
- Brunch set
- Weekdays 8:30–12:30, 10,000 won
- Seating
- First-floor seats and terrace, second-floor seats (window seats recommended)
- Price reference
- ₩10,000 ≈ $7.4 · ₩5,000 ≈ $3.7 · ₩7,000 ≈ $5.2 (2026-09-15)
as written by the visitor on Sep 6, 2026
Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is the salt bread spot I always think of whenever I'm heading to Seochon. Plenty of places sell salt bread, but not many actually make it well — this place is genuinely crispy and delicious...! Maybe it's because they use French gourmet butter? A total Pinterest-vibe café, and anyway, here's my review of a Seochon bakery café I love!
Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon hours and where to park
Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon is open 08:30–18:00, and 8:30–19:00 on weekends. Group seating, takeout, and reservations are all available, plus there's a takeout discount.
- ⏰ Hours: 08:30–18:00 (weekdays) / 8:30–19:00 (weekends)
- Groups ⭕️ Takeout ⭕️ Reservations ⭕️ Takeout discount ⭕️
- Singyo public parking lot available
- The lot right in front of the store is for Blue House staff only — not usable!
What the Seochon café looks like inside, and the best seats
The weather in Seochon was especially nice today. I'd gone to the MMCA to see the Do Ho Suh exhibition, but I got a craving for this salt bread so I walked 20 minutes over.
Every time I see it, this Pinterest-vibe café looks so pretty — like stepping into some European countryside village.
The first floor is decorated so charmingly too, with the counter and bread corner, plus seats and a terrace. It was too hot for anyone to sit outside today, but once autumn comes and it cools down, it'll feel amazing out there...!
There are seats on the second floor too, and the window seats are especially the best spot!
Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon menu and prices
Look how pretty the menu is too! Around lunchtime there are a lot of people eating brunch, and the brunch looks so pretty and delicious.
- Rooibos ₩7,000
- Salt summer latte ₩8,000
There's also a brunch set made with a salt bread sandwich, sold weekdays 8:30–12:30 for ₩10,000 — such a great value price!
Their signature bread here is the salt bread, and it's genuinely delicious. They also sell varieties like mentaiko (pollack roe), chocolate, sausage, and garlic cream cheese. We picked out two plain salt breads for ₩5,000 too.
There's a wide variety of ciabatta too. The chocolate cream ciabatta looks like it'd be delicious too?! I heard all the doughs here are cold-fermented for 12 hours and baked fresh every morning.
How the salt bread, rooibos tea and salt summer latte tasted
Around lunchtime a lot of brunch orders go out, so you might have to wait a bit after ordering. There's no buzzer here, so you wait up front — it seemed like orders were backed up, but the staff said they'd let us know when it was ready, and they called us over once it was done!
My husband, who loves Einspänner-style drinks, ordered the salt summer latte.
Vanilla ice cream sits on top of the latte, topped with salt and chocolate powder, giving it a sweet and salty flavor. Sweet-salty-sweet-salty, so good.
This is the rooibos I ordered. This place is a true rooibos spot. I've tried rooibos here, at various other places, and even at hotel restaurants, and this one is the best. They use Dammann Frères tea bags, which are pricey on their own, so at ₩7,000 it's an amazing deal. Among Dammann Frères' rooibos varieties, this one tasted like vanilla to me.
I ordered it iced, and it comes in a teapot with a generous amount — enough for two or three refills. Genuinely so good, and it pairs perfectly with the salt bread. If you can't have caffeine, drink this!!!!!!!
The salt bread, delicious as always. Even better that buying two gets you ₩1,000 off.
Super crispy, packed with butter inside, with a bottom that looks genuinely delicious — that's the salt bread visual. I tried the other breads too and they were all good, but the salt bread is truly the best!
Is Respire Bakery Cafe Seochon worth a visit?
With that Pinterest-vibe energy fully on display, the café is so pretty and matches the mood of Seochon perfectly, the salt bread is genuinely delicious, and the fancy rooibos made with Dammann Frères tea bags is legit tasty too, T_T. I want to go back again next time I'm hanging out in Seochon.
Where it is
40-7 Hyoja-ro 13-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 종로구 효자로13길 40-7 레스피레
