Best Suwon Korea Cafe Guide: Bedford Coffee Roasters Specialty Coffee & Ube Desserts

Discover Bedford Coffee Roasters in Suwon, South Korea — a specialty coffee roastery in Ingye-dong known for hand-drip coffee, trendy ube desserts, Levain cookies, and stylish two-floor café vibes.

Contents

Photo of the Ube Affogato at Bedford Coffee Roasters in Ingye-dong, Suwon, South Korea

Bedford Coffee Roasters: Basic Information

Photo of the entrance to Bedford Coffee Roasters in Ingye-dong, Suwon, South Korea

Cafe Name	카페 베드포드 커피 로스터스 (Bedford Coffee Roasters)
Cafe Address	38 Gwongwang-ro 196beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Cafe Business Hours	• Daily 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM • Last Order: 7:30 PM
Parking	• 3 street-level spaces in front of the building • 1 parking space behind the building • Underground parking lot at the rear of the building
Seating Capacity	Over 80 seats across two floors
Amenities	• Free Wi‑Fi • Self-serve water • Takeout available • Group-friendly • Separate men’s and women’s restrooms (outside the café)

Located in Ingye-dong, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Bedford Coffee Roasters Co., Ltd. is a specialty coffee roastery, café, and coffee processing company established in 2015. The business operates on a relatively small independent scale with a team of three employees and annual revenue estimated at approximately KRW 230 million.

There is also a UK-based roastery operating under the same “Bedford Coffee Roasters” name. However, the Korean company, Bedford Coffee Roasters Co., Ltd., does not appear to have any ownership connection, corporate affiliation, franchise agreement, or partnership relationship with the British brand. The shared brand name is believed to be purely coincidental.

One notable advantage of the café is its on-site underground parking garage, which helps minimize the parking difficulties commonly associated with busy commercial districts in Korea.

The restrooms are located outside the café along the first-floor hallway. Separate men’s and women’s restrooms are available, and the door lock password is provided through the customer information notice distributed inside the café.

The café spans two floors connected by an internal staircase, allowing guests to move freely between levels. The first floor is better suited for casual conversations and social gatherings, while the quieter second floor is recommended for studying, reading, laptop work, or focused remote work sessions.

Bedford Coffee Roasters: Menu & Prices

Menu	Prices include tax and service charge (KRW)
Signature Coffee Menu	• Espresso — ₩4,500 • Americano — ₩4,500 • Café Latte — ₩5,100 • Cappuccino — ₩5,100 • Flat White — ₩5,100 • Vanilla Latte — ₩5,600 • Caramel Latte — ₩5,600 • Mocha Latte — ₩5,600 • Einspänner — ₩6,500 • Peach Espresso Iced Tea (“Peach Ashotchu”) — ₩6,500 • MAD Latte — ₩7,300 • Brazil Salitre Arara (Specialty Single-Origin) — ₩8,400 • Colombia Aldea Orange (Specialty Single-Origin) — ₩9,200
Tea Selection	• Permanent Green Tea — ₩5,900 • Vermilion Hibiscus Tea — ₩5,900 • Rosiena Rooibos Tea — ₩5,900 • Lemonello Chamomile Tea — ₩5,900 • Real Lemon Tea — ₩6,400 • Real Grapefruit Tea — ₩6,400 • Peach Berry Iced Tea — ₩6,700
Ade and Refreshing Drinks	• Real Lemon Ade — ₩6,900 • Real Grapefruit Ade — ₩6,900 • Matcha Lemon Ade — ₩7,900
Non-Coffee Signature Drinks	• Matcha Latte — ₩6,800 • Hot Chocolate — ₩6,900 • Royal Milk Tea — ₩6,900 • Matcha Einspänner — ₩7,200 • Ube Coconut — ₩7,600 • Ube Salted Caramel Latte — ₩8,600 • Ube Matcha Latte — ₩8,700
Soft Serve Ice Cream & Dessert Drinks	• Milk Soft Serve Ice Cream — ₩4,300 • Affogato — ₩5,700 • Matcha Affogato — ₩7,200 • Ube Affogato — ₩7,200 • Brownie à la Mode — ₩7,900 • Levain Cookie à la Mode — ₩8,300
Dessert Menu	• Levain Cookies (White Macadamia, Double Chocolate Salty, Walnut Chocolate, Red Velvet Cream Cheese, Earl Grey Lemon, Oreo Cream Cheese, Cheese & Cashew, Matcha White Chocolate, Cacao White Chocolate, Original Plain) — ₩4,200 each • Fudgy Chocolate Brownie — ₩3,800

Bedford Coffee Roasters places a strong emphasis on espresso-based specialty coffee, hand-drip pour-over coffee, creative non-coffee beverages, and New York-style desserts. Because the café roasts its coffee beans in-house, espresso drinks and specialty hand-drip coffee are especially recommended for serious coffee enthusiasts looking to experience the full character of the roastery’s beans.

In addition to its coffee program, the café is also well known for its signature Levain-style cookies, inspired by the thick New York bakery cookies famous for their crisp exterior and soft, chewy center. The dessert lineup pairs particularly well with the café’s specialty coffee and seasonal signature drinks.

Customers who purchase coffee beans or cookie gift boxes receive one complimentary Americano, while guests who upload a photo review through Naver Receipt Reviews after visiting the café are offered a complimentary brownie as part of the store’s customer appreciation event.

Bedford Coffee Roasters: Real Customer Reviews

Located along Na Hye Seok Street in Suwon’s energetic Ingye-dong district, Bedford Coffee Roasters immediately stands out as more than just another trendy Korean café. In a neighborhood crowded with nightlife venues, chain coffee shops, and visually driven dessert cafés, Bedford Coffee Roasters feels refreshingly grounded in the philosophy of modern specialty coffee culture. The café even offers its own underground parking garage — a surprisingly valuable luxury in one of Suwon’s busiest commercial areas — making the experience noticeably less stressful from the moment of arrival.

Video showcasing the atmosphere inside Bedford Coffee Roasters in Ingye-dong, Suwon, South Korea

From the entrance onward, the café delivers a carefully curated visual identity. Small decorative objects, vintage-inspired details, and understated design elements are thoughtfully arranged throughout the space, creating an atmosphere that feels warm without becoming overly staged for social media. The interior itself is spacious, airy, and far more comfortable than many independent cafés in Korea, where seating can often feel cramped or temporary.

Photo of the entrance to Bedford Coffee Roasters

Photo of the first-floor counter bar seating at Bedford Coffee Roasters

Photo of the merchandise display located in the center of the first floor at Bedford Coffee Roasters

Photo of the window-side table seating on the first floor at Bedford Coffee Roasters

Photo of the inner dining table seating area on the first floor at Bedford Coffee Roasters

Photo showcasing the atmosphere on the second floor of Bedford Coffee Roasters

The two-floor layout has been intentionally designed around different styles of customer experience. The first floor centers around communal tables and counter seating, making it ideal for conversations, casual meetings, and relaxed social gatherings. Upstairs, the mood shifts dramatically. The second floor operates almost like a quiet study lounge, with sofa seating and calmer table arrangements better suited for reading, laptop work, or focused conversations. It reflects a growing global café trend in which coffee shops are no longer merely places to drink coffee, but carefully segmented hospitality spaces designed around how guests intend to spend their time.

While exploring the menu, the café’s new ube-based desserts immediately caught my attention. In recent years, ube has rapidly emerged as one of the most influential ingredients in the global dessert industry, appearing everywhere from boutique pastry shops in New York to luxury cafés across Singapore and Manila. The ingredient originates from the Philippines, where “ube” refers to purple yam known for its naturally vibrant violet color and subtle vanilla-nut aroma. Beyond aesthetics, ube has gained popularity for its antioxidant-rich anthocyanins, along with its naturally high levels of fiber, potassium, and vitamins. What was once considered a niche Southeast Asian ingredient has quickly evolved into a major international dessert trend.

Photo of Bedford Coffee Roasters’ signature ube desserts, including the Ube Affogato, Ube Matcha Latte, and Levain Cookie

Curious to experience Bedford Coffee Roasters’ interpretation of this movement, my party ordered the Ube Affogato, the Ube Matcha Latte, and the Oreo Cream Cheese Levain Cookie.

Photo of the Ube Affogato at Bedford Coffee Roasters

The Ube Affogato was easily one of the most memorable café desserts I’ve encountered in Korea this year. Instead of following the traditional affogato formula built around espresso bitterness, Bedford takes a far more daring approach by eliminating coffee entirely and allowing the dairy and ube components to take center stage. The dessert begins with rich Sangha Farm soft-serve ice cream, whose elevated milk-fat content creates an exceptionally dense and velvety mouthfeel. Layered over the top is a thick ube emulsion with a texture somewhere between mousse and purée, producing a dramatic purple visual presentation that feels almost couture-like in its styling.

As the chilled soft serve slowly merges with the room-temperature ube cream, the dessert develops a marbled consistency that coats the palate with remarkable smoothness. The sweetness never becomes one-dimensional. Instead, the ube introduces subtle earthy depth, nutty undertones, and faint vanilla aromatics that elevate the dessert beyond simple soft serve. What impressed me most was the restraint. Rather than relying on excessive sugar or overwhelming toppings, the dessert focuses on texture, density, and layered dairy richness. The result feels closer to a modern plated dessert from a contemporary Asian dining room than a typical café menu item.

Photo of the Ube Matcha Latte at Bedford Coffee Roasters

The Ube Matcha Latte was equally compelling, both visually and structurally. At the base sits a dense layer of sweet ube concentrate with significant viscosity and weight, while the upper portion combines matcha and milk into a lighter foam-like texture. Before mixing, the drink creates a striking contrast of deep violet and vivid green that immediately explains why ube beverages have become so dominant across contemporary café culture and social media.

However, the drink succeeds because of its flavor balance rather than its appearance alone. Once stirred, the grassy bitterness and vegetal aroma of the matcha rise first, followed by the smoother creaminess of the milk layer. Then the ube arrives gradually, adding rounded sweetness and subtle nutty vanilla notes that soften the tannic sharpness often associated with matcha beverages. Many visually driven drinks end up tasting gimmicky or overly sweet, but Bedford’s version maintains surprising complexity and restraint. The interaction between the earthy bitterness of matcha and the mellow sweetness of ube creates a multidimensional flavor profile that feels polished rather than trendy.

Photo of the Levain Cookie at Bedford Coffee Roasters

Alongside the beverages, the Oreo Cream Cheese Levain Cookie exceeded expectations. Clearly inspired by classic New York-style Levain bakery cookies, it featured a crisp outer shell that gradually gave way to a dense, fudgy interior with substantial chew and moisture retention. The deep near-black cocoa color suggested generous use of concentrated dark cocoa powder, producing bold chocolate intensity without becoming cloying.

At the center, the cream cheese filling melted into the warm cookie structure, introducing gentle lactic acidity and a subtle savory balance that prevented the dessert from collapsing into pure sweetness. Crushed Oreo topping added additional crunch and sweetness, creating multiple layers of texture throughout each bite. More importantly, the cookie paired exceptionally well with the ube beverages. The bold cocoa profile anchored the sweeter purple yam flavors while the cream cheese provided enough salinity and tang to keep the palate refreshed.

What ultimately makes Bedford Coffee Roasters impressive is not simply the quality of its drinks or desserts, but its understanding of where modern café culture is heading globally. The best contemporary cafés are no longer built solely around coffee. They combine roasting expertise, hospitality design, visual storytelling, dessert innovation, and spatial comfort into a unified experience. Bedford Coffee Roasters feels very much aligned with that future, making it one of the most interesting specialty cafés currently operating in Suwon.

Recommended Menu Picks

For first-time visitors, these menu items are highly recommended:

1. Hand-Drip Specialty Coffee – Best choice for serious coffee lovers who want to experience Bedford’s in-house roasted beans and specialty roasting profile.

2. Ube Matcha Latte – A visually stunning signature drink combining earthy matcha bitterness with sweet, nutty ube flavors.

3. Ube Affogato – Creamy purple yam dessert with rich soft-serve ice cream and velvety texture, perfect for dessert lovers.

4. Levain Cookies – Recommended for guests looking for classic American-style bakery desserts with coffee pairing potential.

Final Verdict

Bedford Coffee Roasters successfully combines the strengths of a specialty coffee roastery, a modern Korean dessert café, and a comfortable urban lounge space into one cohesive experience. While many cafés today prioritize social media aesthetics over substance, this café manages to deliver both visual appeal and genuine flavor quality.

The in-house roasted coffee program, thoughtfully separated seating atmosphere, trend-aware dessert menu, and surprisingly polished execution make it one of the more compelling independent cafés currently operating in Suwon. For travelers exploring Ingye-dong or anyone interested in Korea’s evolving specialty coffee culture, Bedford Coffee Roasters is absolutely worth visiting.

💡 Pro Tip: The first floor is best for casual conversations and people-watching, while the quieter second floor is ideal for studying, laptop work, or relaxing alone with coffee and dessert.

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