Once again on the Hyatt Hotel side of Hangagjin, I find myself reviewing a café that I have been to before. However MTL Hananm is not your ordinary café; it’s a café and select shop in one.
This café is one of two locations, the other being in Hyochang. To enter this one, you must push through a large swinging glass door framed in gleaming stainless steel, a key feature of the café.
Once inside, you can see the café is medium sized, but actually doesn't have that much seating. To your right is the counter and on the opposite side is a long bar seat along side a huge awning window. In the middle towards the café are two communal tables and on one side of the other wall are more seats.
The reason that the seating is somewhat limited because the café is also a select shop and along the rear sides of the café were displays. The select shop houses small Korean stationery, accessory, beauty care and even clothing brands.
In terms of overall interior, the café had industrial elements of concrete, steel and metal frames. But it also had natural elements incorporated. Wooden furniture, and an abundance of plants balanced the interior out. The use of dark emerald tiles mainly behind the main counter, also acted to tie the industrial and natural elements together nicely. This makes it a great place for taking pictures.
There was calming ambiance in the café, and the music helped to add to it. Speaking of music, there was also DJ decks in one corner of the café and if you’re lucky, you can see a live DJ set. But alas my friend and I were not lucky that day.
Moving on to drinks. The cafe used to have a really delicious chai tea latte, however I was sad to see that it was no longer on the menu. So instead I got an iced earl grey milk tea, and my friend got an iced ammericano.
The earl grey milk tea was also a vegan option on the menu. There was also the option to substitute regular milk with oat milk in the coffees for 1,000 won extra. This is one of the few cafes in Seoul to offer vegan options for drinks. They used oatmilk as a replacement for cow’s milk but for me it tasted more akin to coconut milk. This coconut flavour overpowered the earl grey tea taste and while it was sweet and tasty, didn’t really taste like a milk tea.
As for the coffee, the café uses Bonanza coffee from Berlin. My friend, who is a fan of bitter coffee, said the coffee was fine but it was too light for his taste.
We also shared a Quatre Quart which was a small glazed pound cake. It was a nicely sized butter cake covered in a sticky glaze. The cake was dense but lovely and buttery, and the sticky citron glaze had a subtle flavour but it nicely cut through the butter so it wasn’t too rich. It was a well-balanced combination.
This is a multifaceted café. In dead beat terms, this café is almost a one-stop shop. You can relax and enjoy some good music with drinks and bakery goods. It also vegan options for vegan friends to enjoy. Likewise, if you are taking out, you can window shop while waiting for your order.
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