Onion Seongsu

Onion is one of the cafés that helped turn Seongsu, an old district of workshops and small factories on the east side of Seoul, into one of the city's most fashionable neighbourhoods. The Seongsu branch is the original, and it occupies a building from the 1970s that has had many lives, as a supermarket, restaurants, a home and most recently a small parts factory. Rather than hide that history, the designers kept the raw concrete, exposed brick, broken plaster and steel, and filled the shell with plants and simple furniture.

Bread is the main attraction. More than 20 kinds are baked and displayed on long counters, and you pick what you want with tongs before ordering coffee at the till. The best-known item is the pandoro, a tall, star-shaped Italian sweet bread buried under a drift of icing sugar, and the ang butter, a soft roll split and filled with a thick slab of butter and red bean paste, is another favourite. Coffee runs from espresso drinks to filter coffee, and there are teas and other drinks for those who prefer them.

Seating is spread over several rooms and a courtyard, and part of the appeal is wandering through the building to find a corner you like. The café suits photographers, couples, solo travellers looking for a relaxed breakfast and anyone exploring Seongsu's design shops and pop-up stores. It is also a useful example of how Seoul's cafés have become destinations in their own right rather than simply places to grab a drink.

The café opens every day, including holidays. Weekday hours start at 08:00 and weekend hours at 09:00, with closing at 22:00 and last orders at 21:30. Mornings, especially on weekdays, are the calmest time, and the most popular breads can sell out later in the day. Weekends bring queues and crowded rooms, so if you want a seat, go early and be ready to share space. Prices are moderate for Seoul's speciality cafés.

The café is about two minutes' walk from Exit 2 of Seongsu Station on Line 2. Afterwards, explore the brand flagship stores, galleries and cafés of Seongsu-dong, or walk to Seoul Forest, a large park with lawns, a deer enclosure and riverside paths about 15 minutes away.