Café Review: The Beauty of the Bagel – And Why I Go to Café Ileilo

By Jo Lezada ||

I was never a fan of bagels. For the past twelve years of living in Korea and frequenting coffee shops, my go-to pastry was almost always cake – the bagel being a last-resort option if I was on a tight budget. Therefore, the last place you would find someone like me would be at a coffee shop that served only bagels as the accompanying pastry to your coffee. And yet here I am, writing

this article in a bagel-only coffee shop.

Café Ileilo, or Café 1215 (say it in Korean), was another one of the coffee shops I saw promoted at the Dongmyeong-dong Coffee Walk last November. Such a pleasant surprise it was to find their booth there and for one of the staff to recognize me, because as a matter of fact, I had been going to their café for months prior to the event.

My first reason for checking the café out was for convenience’s sake. I wanted a place that was near

the GIC where I worked, so I could relax and have lunch at the same time. I was then reminded of this one café that had been piquing my interest in passing with its fancy-looking exterior. One day, my curiosity and hunger got the best of me, and I caved.

Upon entering, I was greeted with a warm ambience, friendly-sounding staff, and two rows of bagels in different flavors and colors – more bagel variety than I had ever come across before. And to think, it was just here right along Democracy Road! Famished and craving for more savory than sweet, I decided to try their pepperoni cheddar bagel with my all-time favorite kind of coffee: the vanilla latte.

But what confused me at first was that they asked me which kind of vanilla latte I liked when there was only one kind on the menu. “Vanilla latte is vanilla latte, what could be complicated about that?” I thought, and then I realized why it was named Café 1215: They offered two different kinds of blends for your drink, the 12-blend being more savory and the 15-blend being more acidic, which was interesting. However, because I love all forms of vanilla latte, I would recommend you taste the differences for yourself to see which one better suits your taste!

The café interior itself was spacious, boasting a cozy second floor and a spacious third floor for anyone who either needed a simple break, a meeting space, or a place to study with outlets for their charging devices. The music wasn’t too loud, the interior color scheme was easy on the eyes, and the café had its own restrooms.

Now, on to this café’s highlight: the bagel itself.

I have had my fair share of bagels this past decade, but what made this pepperoni cheddar bagel stand out to me was the fluffy dough and the thin glaze that didn’t overpower the other flavors. It tasted different than any bagel I had ever had before, so I kept coming back for another bagel, trying a different flavor each time, like I was some aspiring bagel connoisseur. And now, recently, I decided to try one of their sweeter bagels, their chocolate bagel, a bestseller at only 4,800 won.

It was good. I especially loved biting into the bagel and savoring that warm chocolate oozing out of the dough after I had been out in the cold for some time. I will say that I wish it had more melted chocolate inside, just as their chocolate berry bagel did during the holidays last year. But if you want something with just the right amount of sweetness that melts in your mouth, this bagel might suit your fancy. And of course, if you want some extra spread on your bagel, there are a variety of flavored spreads to choose from. They are, however, on the pricier side – between 3,000 and 4,000 won for each small container. If you ask me, the bagel is already tasty on its own, not needing these extra flavor enhancers.

All in all, this café is the one that truly opened my eyes to the beauty and potential of the bagel. I was genuinely unaware that I could experience such a variety of bagels in a single café, right here in downtown Gwangju. What I thought would remain in my mind as nothing but a donut-but-not-really type of bread, turned out to be a pastry that I look forward to enjoying every month – even more than cake! Even if I weren’t doing layout work at the GIC anymore, I would make the 45-minute trip once or twice a month to return to Café Ileilo for another bite, and for another kind of bagel.

Café Ileilo / 카페 일이일오 (Café 1215)

• Open: Daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Address: 236 Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju 61482 (광주 동구 금남로 236)
• Inquiries: 062-710-1215

Cover Photo: Café Ileilo’s exterior.

Photographs by the author.