Since C and M have not been to the palace before, we decided to visit the Changdeokgung Palace. Moreover, after seeing the pretty spring blossoms at Changdeokgung Palace the last time I was there, I was eager to see the autumn foliage amidst the historic cultural backdrop of the palace
As we woke up rather late (about 9ish in the morning), we decided to have brunch at a 본족 & 비빔밥 (Porridge & Rice) Café branch near the palace. Unfortunately for us the cafe was full of people (it was a small eatery with a capacity less than 30). So we decided to head first to the palace to get our tickets.
With tickets in hand and our tummies rumbling, we wandered about to see if there was a place we could refuel. Our search soon brought us to a Tom N Toms Coffee Cafe on the 2nd floor of a building. (Ok, so it really wasn't much of a search but rather what caught our attention was the tempting photo advertisement of bingsu!)
There was ample of seating in the cafe, which overlooked the street below. Within the cafe was also a glass partitioned room for smokers to enjoy their cuppa with their smokes. Air ventilation was good as the smoke in the glass room stayed in there and hardly escaped.
Only 1/3 of the counter staff could communicate in basic English, but that was enough to let us know that the (tempting-licious) mango and strawberry bingsu were both not available. The only available bingsu flavor was red bean. Despite the (slight) disappointment, we made our order of sweet potato latte, coffee, red bean bingsu, tortilla and toast.
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| A common sight at cafes - the alarm that beeps when your order is read for collection |
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| Tortilla - resembled a little to pizza only thinner and more crisp |
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| Nice and toasty garlic toast |
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| Red bean bingsu - this was a little of a disappointment as the shaved ice was not fine enough |
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| Sweet potato latte - it was nice and frothy and not so sweet with a tinge of sweet potato |
Unlike the toilets in most places, where they are located somewhere within the building, the toilet was located within the cafe itself and was clean. Once we were done with our munchies, we made our way back to Changdeokgung Palace to begin our tour. We were a little behind time and had to run a little to catch up with the Huwon (Secret Garden) Tour that was about to set off from the Hamyangmun Gate.
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| A familiar sight :) |
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