Driving to The Fore: A Greenhouse Bakery Cafe in Gyeonggi-do
Summer had turned every sidewalk in Seoul into a heat trap, so we packed the car and drove out to The Fore cafe Hwaseong for nothing more than a slow walk through a garden and a quiet afternoon away from the city noise.
Key Visitor Info
| 📍 Address | 49-13 Durengbawi-gil, Hyangnam-eup, Mansae-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do |
| 🕐 Hours | Daily, 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM (last order 8:30 PM) |
| 🚗 Parking | Free, on-site — look for the stairs just past Blanc France Bakery Factory |
| 💰 Price Range | Coffee & lattes ₩6,300–9,000 (~$4.50–$6.50) · Ade & smoothies ₩8,300–8,500 · Summer shaved ice ₩19,500–25,500 |
| 🐾 Good to Know | Resident cats and chickens roam the grounds; seating is mostly outdoors |
We’d been here once before, and what pulled us back wasn’t anything dramatic, just the memory of good bread, decent coffee, and grounds quiet enough to actually wander through.
The stairs open onto a cluster of wooden cabins with a greenhouse roof catching the afternoon light, and for a second neither of us moved, we just stood there deciding which direction to walk first.
The Fore cafe runs under a “관광농원” (leisure farm) registration, which is why the grounds feel closer to a small European-style farm than a typical Korean bakery cafe. Young farmers manage the land themselves, and it shows in how well-kept everything still is years after our first visit.
Getting There & Parking
The entrance is easy to drive past because the first thing you see from the road is Blanc France Bakery Factory, the bread workshop that supplies the cafe’s pastries, not the cafe itself.
Tip: if your map says you’ve arrived and all you see is a bakery workshop, don’t turn around. Keep going uphill past it and up the short flight of stairs — that’s the actual entrance to The Fore cafe.
Parking is free and the lot has enough space that we never had trouble finding a spot, even on a day when the grounds were fairly full.
Pastries & Fresh Baked Bread
Short answer: yes, but go in with an appetite. We’d eaten a heavy meal right before our first visit here and could only manage coffee, which we still regret.
The main hall sits under a brick archway, with the bakery cases running down one side and a raised seating area on the other, so you can see the whole room from a table upstairs.
The bread and pastries are made at the on-site Blanc France Bakery Factory, and the display case is full enough that choosing just one or two items is the hard part. Pricing sits at the average for a bakery cafe of this size, not the cheapest option in the area, but not overpriced either.
The apple pie was the one that pulled us in — a glossy, golden-brown top over layers that stayed flaky even after it cooled, good alongside an iced Americano while we watched the garden from our table.
Tip: we ordered at the counter here, then carried a buzzer out to find seating, since almost none of the tables inside are meant for lingering all afternoon; most people just wait for their number to light up. Come hungry — skipping the bakery case is the one thing we’d tell our past selves not to do.
The Greenhouse Seating Area
It’s a working greenhouse dining room — a glass-and-timber structure with a mint-green door, tucked behind a small garden of its own, separate from the main hall.
It’s quieter here than the main hall, and better suited to actually sitting with a drink for a while instead of just picking up an order.
The Garden & Outdoor Terrace
Past the main building, The Fore cafe’s outdoor terrace spreads into several distinct areas — some shaded by mature trees, some set up with cream umbrellas along a gravel path.
Menu & Drink Notes
The current menu leans into a few signature drinks worth trying, alongside a small but serious hand-drip coffee list.
- Fore Latte (Signature, low-caffeine) — ₩7,300
- Ube Cafe Latte (iced only) — ₩7,300
- Americano — ₩6,300
- Cold Brew (contains caffeine, not decaf) — ₩6,800
- Hand-drip: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aricha Amy G1, or Ethiopia G1 Guji Uraga Washed — ₩8,500 each
- Ade options (grapefruit, lemon-basil, lychee-mint) — ₩8,300–8,500
The coffee here runs strong, so if you’re not used to a heavy pour, the oat milk swap (+₩500 on the lattes) softens it without losing the flavor. Decaf is available for +₩800 on most drinks.
Tip: the low-caffeine Fore Latte is the easiest safe order if you want something distinct to the cafe without the jolt of a straight Americano.
The Farm Animals
We found a cat sound asleep in the middle of the main hall, completely unbothered by the noise of people cashing out and carrying trays past it.
Outside, a rooster stood watch over a small brood of chicks pecking at a feed dish, staying close while they ate rather than wandering off on his own.
Tip: the animals are used to people, but they’re not pets to handle — enjoy them from a short distance and let them go about their business, especially around food.
Visiting the Fore Cafe: Final Thoughts
Honestly, not on its own if you’re short on time in Korea. From Gangnam, the drive covers close to 55 km, and door-to-door it usually runs about 50 minutes to an hour without heavy traffic — closer to 1.5 hours if you’re leaving during rush hour or a weekend afternoon.
Where The Fore cafe really earns its place is on a slower Gyeonggi-do road trip with a rental car, paired with a couple of other stops in the same direction so the drive works double duty.
We’ve now been twice, years apart, and nothing about the grounds, the greenhouse, or the animals living there has changed. If you’re already planning to explore Gyeonggi-do at a slower pace, it’s an easy addition.
