Mapo — Hongdae, Hapjeong, Sangsu — is full of cafes, but big ones are surprisingly rare, so a group of you can struggle to find seats. That’s why I like Belief Coffee Roasters (빌리프커피로스터스): a proper coffee roastery in Hapjeong spread over two floors, with a huge bunker-like basement, coffee roasted in-house, and the warm smell of beans filling the whole place. It’s a great spot to settle in — solo with a laptop, or with a group.
Getting there
- From Hapjeong Station (Lines 2 & 6) Exit 2: about a 3-minute walk (230m), roughly 200m down the lane between Exits 1 and 2.
- Address: 50 Yanghwa-ro 11-gil, 1F–B1, Mapo-gu, Seoul. (Google Maps)
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–22:00. Cards accepted, and the menu is written in English. No booking or waiting needed — it’s big enough that you can usually just walk in and find a seat.
The space
The ground floor is bright and open, with big glass walls. But the real surprise is downstairs: a two-storey-high basement kept at full height, fitted with tiered wooden stand seating and long tables, with a large roaster at the far end and small windows letting in daylight. It feels like a huge, warm bunker in the middle of the city — plenty of room for a group.
The coffee
This is a working roastery, so coffee is the point. There’s a lineup of single-origin drip (Ethiopia Sidamo, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Costa Rica, Panama, and a “Black Hall” Dutch cold brew), plus the usual espresso drinks. The whole room smells of roasting beans — the kind of place that makes even a light coffee drinker want a cup.
Prices are reasonable: americano ₩4,500 / about $3.30, single-origin drip ₩6,000–7,000 / about $4.50–5.20, and there’s a bottled cold-brew concentrate (“Marion,” ₩12,000 / about $9) to take home. Bags of house-roasted beans are for sale too.
The pastries and desserts
There’s a solid bakery counter — croissants (₩4,000), pain au chocolat (₩4,500), almond and sausage pastries, cinnamon cro-ffins, and more.
For something sweet, the macarons (₩3,200 each, or gift boxes of 6 and 12) and the tiramisu (₩6,500) are the picks.
I went with a pain au chocolat — flaky, buttery layers with a bittersweet chocolate center.
Not a coffee drinker? There are teas and fresh juices too. The lemon tea was gentle and warming.
The fresh-squeezed juice (grapefruit and orange) was bright and genuinely fresh.
Good to know
- Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–22:00
- Payment: cards accepted
- Menu: written in English
- Getting there: 3 min from Hapjeong Station Exit 2
- No booking or waiting; big enough for groups
- Menu items can change over time — treat the picks above as a guide
Verdict
Belief Coffee Roasters is the rare Mapo cafe with room to breathe — a serious roastery with a bunker-like basement, good single-origin coffee, and a full bakery counter, all a few minutes from Hapjeong Station. Come to work, read, or meet friends over house-roasted coffee. It’s also right by the pork gomtang at Okdongsik, so it’s a perfect place to wait out that restaurant’s line — and it fits neatly into a day of eating and café-hopping around Hongdae and Yeonnam.
