Located in one of the residential areas of Yeonnam, Cottage Blue is a breakfast and lunch focused restaurant that starts its day at 8:00 AM. This distinction makes it one of the few cafes you can visit this early in the day, something that anyone who's jet-lagged and is waking up early is sure to appreciate.
While we wait for the rest of Seoul to wake up, we'll talk about some offerings you can get at Cottage Blue, if they're worth your time and one dish that isn't.
Olympus Pen F 38mm f1.8 | Reflx Lab 640 T | Yeonnam Film
Quick Questions, Quick Answers:
Location: 61 Donggyo-ro 27-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Nearest metro station is Hongik University
Hours: 8:00AM - 5:00PM, Closed Wednesdays
What to expect: Early in the day, it's pretty easy to get a table but around lunch time there may be a wait
Recommended: The fresh squeezed orange juice, Seasonal Fruit Toast
Contax G1 45mm | Fujifilm Color 400 | Yeonnam Film
The Order
This time around I ordered the Seasonal Fruit Toast and Vanilla Latte. It's actually my third time visiting here with my prior orders having tried the gnocchi, their milk tea and their orange juice. While I'm not reviewing it this time, I do not recommend the gnocchi. It's expensive while being not filling and mediocre.
Seasonal Fruit Toast (Figs) (15,000W):
The current seasonal fruit: fig! Immediately I notice that the bread is yummy. It's toasted well and while the crust is a little hard to cut into, it's not too bad. The Fruit Toast includes jamon (ham) and a granola + nut mix! The granola has a little sweetness as I believe there may be chocolate in it. The burrata cheese spread on top is nice and sweet! It tasted as if it may have some honey mixed into it. The saltiness of the jamon vs the sweet fruit and burrata cheese is nice. As I was eating the toast fell apart easily, so if you want to take any photos, do it at the start. Also, if you choose to eat your toast barehanded, be careful for your food falling apart on you.
Score:
7/10 - The bread & cheese spread were best part.
Vanilla Latte (5,000 + 500W):
Oat milk was an up-charge. Getting it iced was no problem. Taste is kind of generic, but not in a bad way. If you're after a no frills latte to start your morning, I'd say this does the job. The amount of milk used along with the vanilla syrup keeps it from being too bitter. On that note, there’s not so much vanilla that the latte ends up sweet.
Score:
5/10 - it’s definitely a latte. Nothing special about it to point out.
Consider the orange juice instead. I’ve tried it before and preferred that despite not liking citrus. The orange juice tasted fresh and freshly squeezed orange juice is a bit less common in Korea compared to lattes.
Closing Thoughts:
Cottage Blue is a decent location, even compared to its peers. Its appearance inside is nice, home-y with a cozy vibe, the food and drinks being prepared in the open is nice to see, and having the orange pile decrease in size as people order orange juice is endearing.
I wouldn't say it's a must visit or anything like that. Having the benefit of being one of your only options to go to prior to ~10AM really does give it an advantage over lots of other options, though. Overall I recommend it more for the vibe & convenient hours but I don’t think you’d regret coming later in the day either. It's a cute date spot and a nice way to start the day. I'll surely be back in part due to the hours but also because I'd like to try the Cottage Meal to see what that is.
If you're really hungry at around 8AM or 8:30AM and you can't wait for anything else to start to open, I think Cottage Blue is more than fine. Cottage Blue even offers a discount if you go early in the morning. But if you can wait a bit longer, there are other locations in Yeonnam and Hongdae that you can visit. By the time you finish walking to them, they may even be opening up.
Additional Reading:
Malic Coffee Hongdae Review - It's not open at 8:00AM like Cottage Blue but it does open at 9:00AM. If you're a coffee or scone fan, check this out as it’s only a 15-20 minute walk away.
Yeonnam Film - The lab that developed and scanned lots of the photos used in this article :)