Bangaun Salon de Thé, Nonhyeon

There is a very lovely little cafe in Nonhyeon that I've been visiting for a few months now called "Salon de Thé". Because I am such a goon with foreign languages, it took me the longest time to realise that the name means "tea room" in French. Previously (and again, blame my goonish-ness), I had thought the words were Spanish and was puzzled as to why the cafe always had French music playing in the background. Yeah. I is a n00b. -___-

Anyway, now that I have been enlightened, it makes total sense, and I'd say "tea room" is an entirely appropriate name for the place. It is, quite literally, a small room that has been converted into a cafe. Don't let that put you off though. What it lacks in size and space, it makes up for with its lovely atmosphere, great range of loose leaf teas, and adorable animal-shaped cushions.

Tea samples for sniffing

Spot the squirrel cushion!

More decorative crockery than you can shake a stick at!

Hello, little friend. :3

The other thing that really floats my boat is how reasonably priced this place is. While some cafes will charge you ludicrous prices for a cup of tea (for which they simply take a paper cup of hot water and dump in a teabag stuffed with dust and fannings), this place gives you proper loose leaf tea, steeped for an appropriate amount of time and served in beautiful crockery upon a fancy doily. How's that for making you feel classy?

Hot tea is served like so

Cold tea comes in generously sized mugs

Fruit salad

Did I also mention the staff there are awesome? There's one lady I see each time and she's always uber friendly and cheerful. :3 I think I'll definitely have to make an effort to visit here more often before I leave.



Bangaun Salon de Thé, Nonhyeon
Hours: 11:30am - 7pm, Mon - Fri
Address: 서울시 서초구 반포동 720-3 (720-3 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul)
Website:  http://blog.naver.com/bangaun_the
Directions: From Nonhyeon Station exit 3, take the first right then take the second left. Keep going straight and you'll see the cafe on your right.