Manhole Coffee 맨홀커피

The stairs down to a basement cafe beneath an apartment shopping arcade in Yeongdeungpo already set the scene: antique furniture, vintage objects and bookshelves in a Western-frontier mood. The space is large enough to stay fairly calm even on weekends, with room for reading or laptop work. Weekends can bring a wait to get in, though even the waiting spot is styled in the same theme. Salt financiers come in limited batches, chewy inside and crisp outside, and cheesecake with an Americano is the standard pairing. Arrive late at night and the dessert case may be mostly empty. Cacao ice, rich and not too sweet, stands in for coffee.