If you take a stroll away from Mangwon’s iconic old style market and away from the ajjushi’s and ajjumas, you will find a trendy, young people’s haven. This street, full of cafes, independent goods stores and restaurants, and is where you can see Town Coffee Bar.
The cafe is on the second floor of a relatively new building. From the street you can see a small sign for the cafe. After taking a set of concrete stairs up to the second floor, you can enter the cafe. While mainly a café, as the name suggests, it doubles as a bar in the sense that it sells alcohol.
The initial vibe of the space is one of modern industrial but with a touch of warmth. The walls and ceiling were concrete, and a lot of the finishes and furniture were black. However, floor was a golden colored wood arranged in a herringbone pattern, which gave the space a mellow and cozy feeling.
This warmth was also helped by the natural light. The windows had Venetian blinds on them. They were left ajar, which gave an interesting dimension to the golden late afternoon light streaming into the space.
For the seating, it was a mix between larger communal tables and smaller ones for two or three. There were three long rectangular tables in different ends of the cafe, suited for larger groups. These tables, as well as the main counter had a black top with light wooden leg frames. The rest of the tables were for smaller groups and were circular and all black. All the chairs in space were also black.
However among this there were splashes of colour. In the front of the cafe, in an oddly shaped corner, was a display of Bahaus and co style posters on one of the walls. This was a display of art work that added bright colour dimension to the space.
While the posters were an obvious decorative element in the cafe, it also helped to foster a particular atmosphere in the cafe. The space feel like it was for fans of different kinds of art and local culture. But it wasn't only the art that did this. For music, there were local DJ’s mixes playing from the sound system and there were also copies of Visla, a local free culture magazine up for grabs.
So these aspects added another layer to the space, where it wasn’t just about the visual and design aspect of the space, but also the feeling of a whole cultural space. Now because of this, the space was good for both working, as well as socializing.
Moving on to the drinks, my two friends got iced americanos and I got a milk tea. My milk tea was delicious and I finished it quickly. It had a strong but not bitter flavour and a creamy foam on top. My friends both said that the coffee was enjoyable with a well balanced flavour that was likely to suit many tastes.
Town Coffee Bar is in many ways a space for those who have a fondness for culture. In dead beat terms, if you need a place to work or socialize that is also a well decorated space that promotes local culture, look no further. On top of that, the beverages are not bad either, and maybe if you need something little stronger than coffee, they can sort you out too.
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