Café Mano ★★★★★

I have discovered the most perfect coffee shop in Dongtan. Behold, Café Mano!

Café Mano

The outside plainness is deceiving. On the inside, it is precious. It is worthy of Pinterest. Look at the cuteness.

This is a beautiful way to store your mugs

My reading corner

A painter comes in and paints these tiny paintings right in the café

The fine ladies behind the counter speak some English

But it's not all unfinished wood and quilts! No, they have coffee so good, they really shouldn't call it Americano. Outside of the US, I have become accustomed to being served watered-down espresso and calling it by my country's name. It used to bug me. I am now merely resigned (and I now have to admit that most percolators, if anything, produce even worse brew than watered-down espresso).

But Cafe Mano makes their Americano rich and creamy. They serve it with two sugar lumps and no cream. Somehow, it's perfect.

Photo by Eric Wong

They also have food that is unbelievably good. I ordered homemade soy salad on a bagel. The only thing was, I didn't know what I had ordered. I didn't know what 수제소이 was. As I ate it, I thought it was chicken salad! Their soy tasted like chicken. They served it with apples cut up in it, and the bagel was hot and toasty. Mmmm.

Soy salad set

The prices are reasonable. For the meal pictured above I paid approximately 8000 ₩ ($7.11). The quality of the food and coffee, as well as the twee atmosphere (unique in Korea), make this set a steal.

Honey Bread

If you're craving something sweet, try the honey bread. Delish!

I give Café Mano five stars out of five. If you are in Dongtan, get yourself to Café Mano. It is located literally next door to my apartment. Here is a map. This is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

View Cafe Mano in a larger map