나무 Cafe

나무 Cafe is one of the many 2nd floor cafes that line Insadong's main shopping street. I had passed this cafe many times thinking "I'll go next time I'm in Insadong". I had the perfect opportunity as I had a few hours to kill before the Lotus Lantern Parade started so I decided to go and check it out. I had seen some photos of this cafe on my friends facebook page and the waffles looked great. Unfortunately I didn't order one as I was too full from lunch but maybe that was a good decision after all as the couple next to me ordered one and they had to send it back as it wasn't cooked all the way through which didn't leave me with a very good impression.

I ordered an espresso which was really good but a bit expensive at 3,800 won. This is not expensive by Insadong standards but it is compared to the coffee shops I usually frequent which are surrounding university areas.

Because I was there for a while I also ordered a mango smoothie which was 5,500 won. Anything less than 6,000 or 7,000 won usually means it's not made with real fruit but I risked it just to see what I got. I know I could have asked if it was made from real fruit but I keep forgetting the Korean word for fruit (Note to self: I must write it down) In Korea it's quiet common to have artificial fruit flavored syrup pumped into the drink and mixed with yogurt or ice, whatever else they are using to make the smoothie with. You can usually tell from the price whether it will be made from real fruit or fruit flavored syrup. I didn't see them making my drink as I sat down and it was brought over to me but it wasn't overly sweet so I'm going to assume it was real.

This cafe has approx. 30 seats. The best seats are by the windows where you can look down onto the busy Insadong street which is great for people watching. The only drawback of this is that it's extremely noisy inside the cafe because of the open windows overlooking the street. The tables and chairs are also extremely close together which also adds to the noise. I don't know what it is normally like in this cafe but it definitely wouldn't be place to go for some peace and quiet or to get any work done. To be fair, I was visiting the cafe on one of the busiest saturdays of the year. Lots of people were in Insadong for the Lotus Lantern Festival which had events going on all day.

Decor wise the cafe had a few cute decorations but nothing overly impressive. The atmosphere of this cafe was not that great. I can't quite put my finger on it but it felt a bit impersonal and not at all cosy.

How to get there:Jogno-3-ga station, Exit 5, walk under the Nakgwon Building and straight to the main Insadong street, turn right and keep walking. It is about half way down Insadong main street. It will be on your left hand side on the 2nd floor.

You can also get to this cafe by Anguk station, Exit 1. There is a zebra crossing near Starbucks, cross to the other side of the road and walk down the main Insadong street, it is about half way down and it will be on your right hand side on the 2nd floor.

Add: 179-2
Insadong
Jongno-gu
Seoul

Tel: 02-734-0740

Website: http://cafe.naver.com/namuwabinu