Late-night laptop work at a Gwanghwamun café until 9pm: Center Coffee

Where is Center Coffee Gwanghwamun, and what is it like after work?

Center Coffee Gwanghwamun is a café in the basement of the SFC Building, halfway between Gwanghwamun and City Hall stations. I visited after work, and it's a great spot for nearby office workers to duck into for a quick task. I went to handle something urgent myself 🙂‍↔️.. There are a lot of good restaurants on the same floor, so it also seems like a good place to hit for coffee after dinner. And since it's near Cheonggyecheon, it's a fine spot to grab a takeout drink and head there too.

A place that's received a Blue Ribbon every single year since 2018! Eight Blue Ribbons greet you at the door.

Menu choices and the two self-order kiosks

Center Coffee Gwanghwamun has a clean counter and menu board. There are also two kiosks, so I don't think ordering would take long even during the office-worker rush at lunch. The drink menu has plenty of choices — espresso, latte, cold brew, non-coffee, tea, and Greek yogurt. It seems like a spot where you could bring colleagues or bosses with different tastes and no one would be left out. There's also a wished coffee (drip) option, so people who love drip coffee would be happy here.

The bakery case has paninis and various slice cakes and baked goods, and the financiers, butter bars, and cakes all looked dense and rich in texture — I think that's exactly the taste Koreans who love moist bread would go for. I spent a while debating between the financier and the tart, haha.

There's a corner in the store where you can smell and buy drip tea bags and capsules, so it seemed like a good place to pick up a simple gift too.

Seats for laptop work and solo tasks

The seats at Center Coffee Gwanghwamun stretch out along the glass windows. Since it's in an office building, a lot of people at the window seats were working on their own things. On a weekday evening it was quiet and comfortable, great for focusing on work! The tables and chairs were nicely designed too. It works well for a group chatting together and for someone working solo — it felt like exactly the kind of café this office town needs.

It doesn't have a huge number of seats, so plenty of reviews mention it gets crowded at lunchtime — but honestly that's true of every café in this neighborhood, not just this one, haha. And there aren't many cafés around here open late into the evening, but Center Coffee runs until 21:00..! Finally found one more café I can visit after work, haha.

How do the citrus love tea and Earl Grey lemon tart taste?

I ordered the citrus love tea and Earl Grey lemon tart. Since I was working on my phone, I didn't need a big table, so I sat at a small table near the entrance — and the tray fit it perfectly, haha. The table wasn't slippery, so I could comfortably cut and eat the tart.

The Earl Grey lemon tart! This place is genuinely great for dessert. The Earl Grey cream is fluffy, and the lemon and chocolate inside are chewy and moist. The tart shell is crisp, so eating the cream, filling, and tart together all at once is really delicious 🤭. I ordered it as a stand-in for dinner since I went at a hungry hour, and the portion was generous enough to fill me up! Probably the best dessert café around City Hall station.

The citrus love tea is bright and sweet, but not in a fake syrupy way — a refined citrus freshness spreads through your mouth. It went well with the sweet tart. I think it would've been nice hot too!

Is Center Coffee Gwanghwamun worth a weekday evening visit?

Center Coffee didn't get a Blue Ribbon for six years straight for nothing! Friendly staff, drinks you can pick to your taste, and dense, satisfying desserts to enjoy. I'd recommend it to office workers around Gwanghwamun and City Hall.