Coffee Hanyakbang 커피한약방

Hidden down a narrow passage between high-rises, the shop is hard to spot from the main road. Orders go in at the ground-floor bar; from there, a steep, creaking wooden staircase leads to about eight small tables upstairs, and more seating fills both floors of Hyemindang across the alley. Mother-of-pearl cabinets, antiques and mismatched chairs give it the feel of an old Seoul home from the early modern era. Sujeonggwa in Gabae starts with the sweet ginger-cinnamon taste of sujeonggwa punch, turns to coffee bitterness, and ends on cinnamon, an unusual mix that divides people. Apple Cinnamon Ade is the cold, fizzy alternative. Drip coffee comes from a direct-flame drum roaster and tastes strongly smoky and bitter, while Hyemindang adds cream-cheese-filled baekdol bread and a raspberry dark chocolate financier.