If you take a journey up to the hills of Haebangcheon, away from the old fruit stores and restaurants, tucked in one of the side streets is a café.
Villa Coffee Bar is a medium sized cafe in which to enter you must pass through a small gate and walk up a short flight of stairs. What once must have been a Korean style villa home, the cafe has been converted into a café that also, as the name Villa Coffee Bar suggests, sells alcohol.
When you enter the café, the first thing you that hits you is the spectacular view of the Seoul cityscape. Straight opposite the entrance the café were huge windows that looked out onto the city below. Since this view took up most of your attention, the space’s decoration was relatively simple and acted to complemented the view. The floor was concrete painted in a dark bluish black. Most of the walls and ceiling were grey or white concrete or exposed brick. The café’s ordering counter and some of the windowless walls were covered in a warm toned wood. This wood was also carried over to some of the furniture.
There were quite a few windows in the cafe which let in lovely natural light. Since my friend and I went on a beautiful clear day, the sunlight was able to stream into the café adding a warm feeling to the space.
Evidently left from the building’s first life as a home, there were walls and partitions in the space. This didn’t make the space feel too enclosed, rather it gave parts of the café privacy. At the same time, the windows opened up the space giving the café an intimate yet open feel.
There were a few posters here and there, and potted plants added a natural element to the space, but as already mentioned the main centre point was the view.
If you wanted to take in the view to a greater extent, there was also a large rooftop. Here you could take in some sun and truly get an encompassing view of Seoul’s meandering cityscape.
Seating on the rooftop was simple with wooden and steel tables with chairs for twos or fours. Downstairs the seating was a little more varied. Alongside typical tables for one or twos, there are a few different types of low seats and bar seats along side some of the windows.
My friend and I came to work and while our table’s height was good for working, it’s size was a little small for two to work on at once. Moreover, it seemed like the space was more suited to socialising, so as to not miss the beautiful view.
As for drinks, my friend got an iced americano, while I got an iced earl grey tea and a matcha cookie. The earl grey tea was nicely brewed but was nothing out of the ordinary. My friend said the americano was nicely brewed and had a balanced flavour. The matcha cookie was tasty. It was soft and had a nice matcha taste.
Villa Coffee Bar is a warm and well decorated café that's in a vantage spot to take in the Seoul skyline. In dead beat terms this is a café with a view. If you’re at the top of Haebangcheon and want to take advantage of the height and have a drink with a view, Villa Coffee Bar the place to be.
Comments