Right from its queer location on a quiet street amongst old shop houses and buildings, Understated Coffee is not what you would quite expect from a regular café. Through its floor-to-ceiling glass windows, one can easily see from the outside the interiors of this quaint café. Of course, the white-washed and minimally furnished space played a huge role, but what really stood out to me were the exposed concrete portions, irregular lines and uneven surfaces.
Turns out that the owner (and main barista) majored in architecture in France and having a major interest in coffee, decided to start a café back in his home country.
While deciding on the beans and coffee to get, the owner kindly explained to me all 3 types of beans that were on the menu. Despite his cool exterior, he was friendly and I could feel his passion in making good coffee. All 3 types of beans I saw that day were sourced overseas, and the main beans that are still constantly in use are those from Belleville Coffee in Paris.
I got the White (5,000KRW) which I liked a lot. It had a fuller body than other coffees I’ve tried in Seoul while not being too acidic.
When I went, the only available pastries were their plain butter Scones (3,500KRW), but recently they have launched them in more extravagant flavours, such as earl grey cream, tomato confit fromage and chocolate matcha. The plain scone I had was towards the savory side with a moderate density.
Though there were 2 other inner rooms for patrons, I decided to take a seat on the round, uneven structure right in the middle, just to admire the slightly penetrating sunlight, the baristas at work, the irregularities of the cafe interiors and the stillness of the street.
1F, 69-1 Mallijaeyet-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
12 to 7pm, Mon – Sat
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 