Yongsan bakery café: kkultteok cake and ham egg mayo sandwich at HYBE

Today I visited HYBE Playground, a quiet complex culture café in Yongsan that's great for studying with coffee!

Where is HYBE Playground, and what are the hours?

This Yongsan café is open daily from 11:00 to 24:00. Group seating is available, along with takeout, reservations, and a vegan menu. This large Seoul café is a 7-minute walk from Yongsan Station Exit 1.

HYBE Playground floor guide 1F_HIVE Media Gallery & Main Entrance 2F_HIVE Bakery Cafe & Pop up Store 3F_HIVE Lounge & Terrace 4F_HIVE Skyframe (rooftop view space)

Inside HYBE Playground: second-floor café to third-floor lounge and terrace

A Yongsan café with real character. Stepping inside, exposed concrete structure and marble counters combine for a modern yet vintage feel, and the sense-driven lighting from track lights and spotlights, plus the generous seating gaps, made it good both for working with coffee and for chatting!?

Following the central staircase up brings you to the 3rd floor, where glass block partitions stand out. Plush beanbag sofas are scattered generously throughout for comfortable lounging. There are also high-chair bar tables and lounge chairs mixed in, plus bar seats along the floor-to-ceiling windows for enjoying the city view.

The fourth-floor Skyframe rooftop, one of the coolest café spots in Seoul

The outdoor terrace connected to the 3rd floor offers a sweeping view of the open sky and city skyline, with stylish white and yellow outdoor tables spaced comfortably apart — perfect for enjoying brunch and dessert in the breeze on a nice day :)

HYBE Playground menu and prices

The drink menu at this Yongsan coffee spot.

• Perilla Oil Salt Latte / Pine Nut Cream Latte / Almond Cream Latte / Milk Tea
• Americano / Café Latte / Cappuccino / Caramel Macchiato / Vanilla Latte / Matcha Café Latte
• Misugaru (roasted grain drink) / Watermelon Juice / Seongju Melon Ade / Seongju Melon Smoothie / Seongju Melon Iced Tea

This Samgakji-area café also has a wide range of drinks.

• Jeju Matcha Latte / Chocolate Latte / Blue Lemon Sherbet Ade / Lime Mojito Ade / Green Grape Ade / Grapefruit Ade / Cherry Coke
• HIVE Ice Cream / Ice Cream Latte / Lemongrass Brew / Apple Chamomile / Peach Iced Tea / Zero Peach Iced Tea
• Plain Yogurt / Strawberry Yogurt / Peach Yogurt / Green Grape Yogurt / Orange Juice / Red Grapefruit Juice

The dessert lineup at this Yongsan dessert café.

• Shine Muscat Cake / Kkultteok Kkultteok / Dirty Chocolate / Matcha Chocolate
• Matcha Basque / Basque Cheese Cake / Lemon Lavender / Peach Yogurt Cake
• Crack-open Tiramisu / Crack-open Mille-feuille / Crack-open Matcha Mille-feuille / Crack-open Summer Peach Pavlova

Sandwiches and bingsu (shaved ice dessert) that also make a great dessert near Yongsan I'Park Mall.

• Basil Tomato Sandwich / Ham Egg Mayo Sandwich / Double Cheese Bulgogi Sandwich
• White Peach Bingsu / Misugaru Red Bean Bingsu / Jeju Matcha Bingsu / Seongju Melon Bingsu / Grandma's Hongmi Bingsu

Drinks and bar snacks: HYBE Playground as a Yongsan evening spot

• Sausage Platter / Dried Snack Platter / Buffalo Wings / Fried Chicken Skin
• Truffle French Fries / Chi-tteok Chi-tteok / Shrimp Balls & Sweet Potato Cheese Sticks
• Boneless Seasoned Chicken / Boneless Cheese-Sauce Chicken / Boneless Fried Chicken

There's also a range of highballs, wine, and beer to pair with the food.

What does the kkultteok kkultteok (honey rice cake) cake taste like?

Kkultteok Kkultteok. The top and sides of the cake are generously covered in tteok-gomul (sweet rice cake powder) castella crumbs, topped neatly with piped soft whipped cream, giving off a real Korean dessert feel. Pressing it with a fork reveals chewy rice-cake bits mixed into the soft sponge — the varied texture was great.

Honey, rice cake, and diplomat cream come together for a rich, soft sweetness that fills your mouth the moment you take a bite. The cream itself leans less toward heavy dairy fattiness and more toward a subtle honey aroma and nutty grain flavor, so it's sweet but leaves a clean finish.

Basque cheesecake at HYBE Playground

The Basque cheese cake has a chewy, dense outer layer while the center melts into a creamy texture. The dark, deeply scorched surface gives off a smoky caramel aroma, followed by the heavy, nutty richness of true cream cheese with a bright tang spreading through smoothly — not overly sweet, with the cheese flavor concentrated in a satisfying way!

Ham egg mayo sandwich at HYBE Playground

The ham egg mayo sandwich has a baguette bun toasted to just the right golden brown, with ham, egg mayo, and cheddar cheese layered inside — mouthwatering just to look at. The bread has that crisp-outside-soft-inside texture, not tough or hard, more like a soft baguette that was easy to bite into, and with the egg mayo, sliced ham, and cheddar cheese together, the balance of savory and salty flavors was really delicious?!

If you're looking for a Yongsan brunch café, I recommend HYBE Playground, a well-known cake spot in Seoul!