Innisfree Green Cafe 이니스프리 명동점

Innisfree has a couple of cafes. I’ve been to one before on Jeju island that I was quite happy with. There is another which is much closer to Seoul in Myeongdong.

This Innisfree is 4 floors and I’ve been to it before. However I somehow managed to not notice that there’s a cafe if you go up and had never gone past the first floor. On the second floor you place your orders.  They have plenty of fun sweets and treats to try. I however decided to go for brunch and picked the souffle hotcakes (pancakes).  (10,000won)

Souffle pancakes are pretty popular in Japan, or at least were the last time I was in Tokyo. The line to get them was pretty intense. However I didn’t do the jiggle test like I did in Japan. They also weren’t piled on top of each other like a small tower but they were about the same price (1,000 yen/ 10,000won both are almost $10) They have a bit of an egg-y taste to them which is similar to the ones I had in Tokyo and they do take awhile to make. (Though there weren’t nearly as many hoops to jump through to get them.) This one however did come with a small side dish of fruit and some blueberries to put on top which the ones I had at Gram did not.

The star of my meal however was the Aewol Sea Lemon ade which I got out of curiosity. (6,500 won) Aewol is an area located on Jeju. It looked very pretty when I was given it, with a level of gradient but I was also given a little cup to pour/mix in and that’s when the magic happened.

I was told the little cup of dark blue liquid was a sweetener to add to my lemonade and to mix it in. It turned my pink gradient lemonade into a beautiful blueish purple. The drink itself was rather tart but I enjoyed it. Plus you can’t really go wrong with a magically changing drink, can you?

My friend decided to go for one of their burgers and try some hallabong (a Korean citrus fruit) as a blender for the first time and seemed quite happy.

Whenever I got to Myeongdong I struggle to figure out where I want to eat. There are tons of cafes but I get sick of sandwiches and bagels pretty quickly, not to mention the lack of seats usually around. I also burnt out on Myeongdong street food quite awhile ago, so it was nice to pop in and find a nice place to sit with the ease of a cafe but the menu of a restaurant. Plus if you want to try souffle pancakes but can’t be one of the 60 people who can get one on the day you’re in Japan this is a nice alternative.

The Innisfree in Myeongdong (with the cafe, please note there are many many Innisfree’s in Myeongdong) is open daily from 9am until 11pm.