One of the best things about living in a coastal city is the opportunity for some nice views of the ocean.
In South Korea, being bordered by the ocean on three sides, there are many communities with spectacular scenery. These days, there are many coffee shops and cafes that are opening up near the ocean, so there are many opportunities to enjoy coffee and snacks with an amazing view.
Just north of where a live, in the city of Gyeongju, there is a nice café with a wonderful view, Café Palco. The full name of the café is actually Il Mare Palco, which when translated from Italian means “The Sea Stage”. It’s easy to see why the owners chose this name, because the views of the ocean are spectacular, especially on a day with nice weather.
Pulling up to the Café Palco was a little tough because the road to the café is quite narrow. Fortunately Café Palco has a decent sized parking lot, so it wasn’t tough to find a place to put the car.
Going up the stairs, the view was quite nice, with lots of rocks in the ocean, and the water a sparkling blue from the glorious sunshine.
Café Palco is quite a large place, so they have both ample indoor and outdoor seating. In fact, you can choose tables or beanbag chairs outside!
They also have a wonderful giant mug, which made me happy imagining it full of delicious coffee.
As I arrived, they were just finishing setting out all the desserts that they make, and the smell was absolutely fabulous!
They have a wide range of desserts and pastries to choose from.
And also some cakes as well.
After choosing two different types of bread to enjoy, in this case the Potato Ball and the Mocha Bun, I went up the counter to order.
The coffee and drink menu has a good selection of items to choose from.
I decided to order the Café Latte and the Palcospanner, which is their signature Einspanner coffee.
After placing my order I went outside to enjoy the view of the ocean some more, and also choose a table that I thought had the best views.
It didn’t take very long for my coffee to get ready, as the barista was hard at work making the two drinks.
After my coffee was ready, I sat down at the table, marveled the view some more, and then tucked into the two breads that I had purchased.
The Potato Ball looks almost like a bagel/cheese bun combination, and is filled with mashed potato.
One of the best things about arriving early is that it really felt and tasted like it was fresh out of the oven.
The Potato Ball was delicious! The mashed potato was quite creamy, and a touch sweet. There was also some cream cheese included in the mix, and that coupled with the cheese on top of the bread made it savory as well. The bread was very soft and a bit chewy, and really tasty with a nice yeast flavor.
Next, I tried the Mocha Bun. Sadly, this was not quite as good. The Mocha Bun, which seems like a Roti Bun you can get in other countries, had a nice Mocha flavor, but the butter mixture inside was a little cold and congealed, which was a shame because they are so much better when the butter mixture is melted.
Also, the bread tasted a bit dry, like it had been baked much earlier in the day.
After trying the breads, I tried the Palcospanner as it was an iced drink.
The cream on top of the Palcospanner was very sweet, and it was nice to try a bit of it by itself.
I was also able to taste the espresso on the bottom, which had a nice flavor to it. It wasn’t too acidic, had a really nice aftertaste with a bit of bitterness, and there were some chocolate tones to the coffee.
Mixing it together made for some really impressive visuals, and the drink looked really amazing with the cream slowly falling into the espresso.
I was also very pleased that the Palcospanner didn’t come with a ton of ice, as many places here in South Korea really like to fill the glass as full as possible with ice cubes.
Finally, I tried the Café Latte. The Latte art on the top was very nice.
The latte itself was good, although not great. The milk tasted very fresh and creamy, and I could feel like it had a decent fat content to it.
The coffee itself was a bit bitter, and it was hard to make out the taste of anything else with all the milk in the mug.
Overall, I really enjoyed my coffee and dessert at Café Palco. It really is a stage by the sea, and the chance to sit down next to the wonderful ocean and enjoy some good coffee and food is a treat. I would definitely recommend Café Palco if you are on the east coast of Korea near Gyeongju.
