The American breakfast costs 15,900 won at Maple House in central Seoul's Haebangchon, Aug. 9. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Whenever a new business is coming in along Sinheung-ro in central Seoul's Haebangchon, there's a lot of speculation as to what it'll be. Another burger or pizza place, or a café or bar? An unmanned photo booth?
After Croc Pizza closed down suddenly earlier this year, the space was transformed into Maple House, a café that specializes in breakfast food. I've always been frustrated finding decent, reliable breakfast/brunch places in Korea that don't cost an arm and a leg. So the opening of Maple House was just what I needed, a place I could stop by on the way to work, or on a lazy weekend afternoon.
Maple House is open for business in central Seoul's Haebangchon, Aug. 9. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
The most standard offering is the American Breakfast, which offers you a couple pancakes, breakfast sausages, bacon, potato hash and eggs. The eggs come sunny side up, but they've made scrambled eggs for me on request. This costs 15,900 won ($12), which let me assure you is a good price these days for a decent breakfast in the area.
The highlight of that meal is the pancakes, which are fluffy and thick. Yes, it came with maple syrup on the side. If you want something a little different, they also serve blueberry pancakes, which come with a little blueberry compote. There are also cinnamon banana pancakes and chocolate pancakes.
Other mains include burrata salad, an omelette and avocado toast. They also have some pastas, as well as a couple paninis. For the sake of doing some actual research, I once avoided the breakfast food and went for an Avocado Chicken Panini. It was quite good, and it came with a heaping side of potato hash, so I didn't totally miss out on the breakfast staples.
An avocado chicken panini with potato hash from Maple House / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Maple House also of course has plenty of drinks, including coffee and tea, a refreshing orange juice and alcoholic beverages, including mimosas.
It's a peaceful space to hang out in, painted mostly white, with minimalist decorations, quite a radical departure from Croc Pizza's decor. They always seem to have calming jazz or classical music playing. All that helps make this an ideal place to start your morning, even if that's in the afternoon.
Maple House is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week except Sunday.