In the back streets of Hapjeong, tucked in between a residential area, you will come across the building of Fangsuojeong.
This small cafe is a product of the Fangsuo Design Company and is on the bottom floor of the design company’s building.
Near the entrance of the café is a small moss garden, surrounded by pure white pebbles. This entrance sets the tone for the theme of the café, which draws a lot from Japanese style, but with a modern twist.
Entering the cafe, the first thing you notice is the large presence of man made textures. There is a particularly large presence of concrete; the floor, ceiling and some of the columns were all made of concrete.
However, after being in the space for a while, you began to notice the natural details of the space; wooden tables, wooden decorations and paper lanterns, all of which echoed a Japanese style.
But the centre piece of the café was a large concrete fishpond in the centre of the café. The pond, filled with goldfish, though made of concrete, represented the coming together of the traditional Japanese and the modern elements of the cafe.
The cafe's decorative aspects were all very subtle and a lot were incorporated into the interior design, such as the seating colours and the lighting. Speaking of the light, it played an important role in the atmosphere of the space.
We came at the perfect time, just before sunset. This meant that the warm lighting of the café looked lovely in the dwindling light of the evening. This added a comforting feel to the space.
Most of the seating was around the fishpond, which were for groups of twos and more for socialising. These tables were all wooden, and the chairs were made of beautiful amber tinted plastic with silver finishes.
However there were other longer wood tables for groups of four, which would have been great for working.
For the drinks, due to social distancing we could only take out. My friend got an americano and I got a Stockholm milk tea with dango.
My friend said the coffee had a well-balanced flavour and was delicious. My milk tea had a unique almost caramel like flavour. It was lovely and sweet, however while still there, the tea flavour could have been stronger. Finally the dango, which is a Japanese rice cake on a skewer served with a sweet soy sauce, was lovely and soft.
Also, the original price was already cheap enough; 4,500 for coffee and 5,500 for milk tea. However, for takeout they were offering a discount of 2,000 per drink, so they came out to be ridiculously cheap.
Fangsuojeong is a beautifully designed space. In dead beat terms this is a café for those who appreciate subtleties in design, but also want delicious but cheap drinks. Here is a space to see traditional styles have a modern twist. Oh and while you’re there, don’t forget to check out the fish.
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