Hongdae | Cafe Highwaist

Just a 10-minute walk from the bustles of Hongdae, on the northeast corner of the area, sits a quiet street with cafes and restaurants each with its own character, otherwise known as Yeonnamdong Cafe Street. There are lots of cafes, both great in taste and aesthetically pleasing, filling up locals' Instagram feeds. We decided to hit up one of the most mentioned cafes of Yeonnamdong Cafe Street on social media.

Cafe Highwaist features many options of eye-pleasing desserts and cute drinks served in wine glasses, making the general protocol here pictures first, eating and drinking second.

Information

Address: 서울 마포구 성미산로 167-9

Hours: Mon-Thurs: 12:00-18:00, Fri- Sun 12:00- 21:00

Review

By the entrance, we were greeted by the adorable sheep figurines and above them hung a waitlist for when the cafe is full. There are chairs distributed about in the front yard for waiting guests to sit on during their wait. There was also a table with chairs to the right of the front door which I assume would be a popular seating for spring throughout warm fall. Fortunately, there were a couple of tables available at our visit so we walked straight in.

Upon entry, I felt a sense of warmth and comfort from the yellow lights and decorations displayed throughout the cafe. We walked straight to the counter to order first. They had a paper version of the menu near the entrance on a shelf and also had their menu handwritten on plates at the counter. There were also samples of their signature drinks near the counter, lattes with a thick layer of cream served in wine glasses. I felt the server was quite cold and expressionless which was a surprising contrast to the general vibe of the place.

To the left of the counter, I saw a huge selection of desserts. We were so awed by the options that it took us some time to decide on the desserts (You'll see more of our choices below ).

We took a look around the cafe while waiting for our desserts and drinks. The cafe reminded me of a cozy little antique shop you would find in any suburb with textiles and plates stacked up on the stairs and mirrors of different shapes and colours filling up one wall. Different plants taking up random corners and tables added colourful elements to the whole vibe.

Would it be fair to say all four things we got fall under the dessert category? Although we did order two drinks and two pastries, the thick layers of cream on top of our lattes were more than enough to call themselves desserts.

Signature Ryogle Cookie 5,000KRW

Appearing in almost all posts on Cafe Highwaist, this cookie of a dog wearing collars with his eyes gazing one side is a specialty at this cafe! This cookie was bland for the most part and had hints of slight butter and peanut butter flavours. The white parts that make up his eyes are frosting and the dark parts that make up his ears were flavourless and crunchy.

Overall, the taste was definitely not enough to make up for a very steep price of 5,000KRW for a single cookie, but it's cute and rare enough to make it on people's social media posts.

Fresh Cream Short Cake 6,500KRW

This amazing cake had two layers of fluffy cake with strawberry chunks in between and fresh cream poured over them, finished off with a big strawberry on top. The cake was very soft and the cream was not too dense or heavy, making the cake and cream melt straight in my mouth. The slight sour flavour of the strawberry chunks added a nice balance to the whole combination.

Raspberry Latte 7,500KRW

I'm still not sure why it's called a latte when there was no coffee in this drink. This beautiful drink was comprised of milk, ice, cream, little raspberry chunks, raspberry syrup, raspberry cream and a piece of raspberry on top. Despite the many different forms of raspberry flavours, the drink tasted bland and strange. It tasted like watered down milk with occasional berry-flavoured cream even after thoroughly mixing the drink altogether.

Cream Latte 7,500KRW

The cream by itself was very heavy and thick, it wasn't one of those light whipped creams I normally like to indulge on before moving on to the drink. I took a sip of the coffee by itself. My god, was it bitter! I vigorously mixed the milk, coffee and cream well together and the result was great - sweet and flavourful.

On my way out, I saw a drawing of the Cafe Highwaist dog. It was as if he was showing us out by gazing towards the exit.

To sum it up, I think it was a great cafe for those who want to take a break from the chaos of Hongdae in a comfortable atmosphere and take cute photos to document the quiet moments. Unfortunately, Cafe Highwaist did not make it to my list of top 5 desserts nor did it make it to my top 5 coffees so I wouldn't recommend this place for those who want to try quality desserts or coffee in Korea.

Wishing you all happy travels in Korea!

How to Get There

Roughly a 12-minute walk from Hongik University Station exit 3

From exit 3 of Hongik University Station, walk straight.

When you reach the intersection with the police booth on the other side of the street, turn right and cross the street towards 7/11.

Walk straight until you reach the three-way intersection and turn right.

When you see the next big intersection, cross diagonally.

Once you've crossed diagonally, you'll see this cafe with a yellow wooden door. Walk straight down.

Turn right at the next street.

Turn left at the next street.

You'll see the cafe at about 30m ahead.

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