Gilpost · Seodaemun-gu, Changcheon-dong

SAND COFFEE NONTANTO

Name: SAND COFFEE NONTANTO
Address: 서울특별시 서대문구 신촌로 87-4, 1층 (창천동), 서대문구, 서울특별시, 03789, KR
Telephone: 02-333-5661

샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 Saendeukeopi Nontanto Sinchon Turkish coffee simmered in hot sand, plus kaymak and a white loaf baked in-house, in the first lane off exit 1 at Sinchon; nontanto is Italian for "not too much".

Other · Seodaemun-gu, Changcheon-dong

Data as of 2026-09-27 · Published 2026-09-29 · Compiled by Gilpost

Nontanto Sinchon is a coffee house on the ground floor of the first lane you reach walking from exit 1 at Sinchon toward the Hyundai department store. The licence reads 논탄토 신촌점; the sign and the customers say Sand Coffee Nontanto. The name is literal: the house drink is Turkish coffee simmered in a cezve buried in sand heated to near 300°C. Beside it sit kaymak with honey and bread, and a white loaf baked on the premises. The brewing counter stands in the middle of the room, so you can watch while you drink. Several posts say the shop has been running since 2017 and has been listed in the Blue Ribbon guide two years running. Half eleven in the morning until ten at night. The posts we read run from November 2024 to September 2026.

The basics

Address	서울특별시 서대문구 신촌로 87-4, 1층 (창천동) 87-4 Sinchon-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
Phone	02-333-5661
Typical spend	₩5,000 – ₩12,500
Floor area	119 m²
Status	In business

3 posts say it is walkable from the station.

When it opens

Of 20 posts: 12 wrote Daily 11:30–22:00, 5 wrote 11:30–22:00, 3 wrote Friday 11:30–23:00.

Open	Daily	11:30–22:00 12 of 20 posts last seen 2026-09
Open		11:30–22:00 5 of 20 posts last seen 2026-09
Open	Daily	11:10–22:00 2 of 20 posts last seen 2026-06
Open	Friday	11:30–23:00 3 of 20 posts last seen 2026-04
Open	Saturday	11:30–23:00 3 of 20 posts last seen 2026-04
Closed		없음 2 of 2 posts last seen 2026-06

The values differ, but the periods they were written in do not overlap. This looks like a change over time rather than a disagreement, and the top row is the most recently reported. We did not confirm it with the restaurant.

What sets it apart

Half of what people write about this place is the pavement seating. Tables run along the lane — one writer counts about six. Only one actually sat outside, on an overcast day; the rest end with "if only the weather had held", "too hot, went in", "it was raining". That gap is the point: the shop has no sign, and writers keep saying it is the planted, brick-walled terrace that catches the eye and stops them walking past. One notes the drawback — cars run close by the front.
It is dark, and that is why people pick it. One writer says the light is so low you cannot tell from outside whether it is open; another that the inside feels like a cocktail bar; a third that every table has its own small lamp. Calm and quiet come up repeatedly, and about half of those add that it is unusually unhurried for Sinchon. Whether it suits a long working session is contested: one writer stayed happily and found it easy to concentrate, while another looked for a socket and found none.
Eight posts call it roomy, one calls it small — and the one is the oldest (November 2024: "a small, snug café"). The rest say much the same thing: it runs back further than it looks, and seating sits on both sides of the counter, so first-timers assume there is only one half. Three writers counted, and got three answers: fifteen to twenty seats; twelve or thirteen round tables; mostly two-tops plus a bar. On the spacing between tables two posts flatly disagree — one found it generous, the other kept knocking chairs with the person behind.
The brewing counter is in the middle of the room. You order where the sand heater is, so from the bar you watch the cezve sink into the sand, foam up, get strained and poured through a dripper. "Fun to watch" recurs; two writers looked away and missed it, and one waited in vain because nobody else ordered a sand coffee that hour. If you want to see it, order it.
There are several ways to pay less, and no single post lists them all. Two mention 10% off for takeaway; one says buying a loaf takes 30% off an americano; another describes a bundle discount on loaf, jam and coffee; a fifth points to a ₩1,000 coupon on the shop's Naver page. Nobody wrote them down together, so we cannot say which combine.
The toilet is inside, and it is a single unisex cubicle. Five writers mention it being indoors; only one counted the doors — one cubicle, shared, with three people queueing behind her. The same writer says it was clean. One customer came in only because she needed a toilet and stayed for a drink. Nobody says whether there is an accessible toilet.
Six writers say they will come back; not one says they have. Four of the six give the same reason — they missed the kaymak or the cezve this time. Too full, too late, sold out, distracted by photographs. The two dishes the shop is known for are among the least often actually eaten in what we read, and these posts say why.
No one calls it expensive. Exactly one writer weighs the price at all: "about what Starbucks costs, and honestly I like this better." Coffee runs ₩5,000–6,500, desserts ₩7,000–8,500, the french toast ₩11,500–12,500.

What 24 bloggers said

We read all 24 in full. The most common claims are “Roomy” (8) and “Quiet” (8).

What they liked

Roomy8 of 24 posts

Quiet8 of 24 posts

Would return6 of 24 posts

Clean4 of 24 posts

Things you can check on site

Outdoor terrace seating	12 of 24 posts
Toilet inside	5 of 24 posts
Discount offered	4 of 24 posts
Reachable by transit	3 of 24 posts
Large windows	2 of 24 posts
Open kitchen	2 of 24 posts
Takeout	2 of 24 posts
Air conditioned	2 of 24 posts
Coupon	1 of 24 posts
Cooked to order	1 of 24 posts

These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.

The most ordered dish is Nontanto americano (논탄토 아메리카노) — 13 of 24 posts.

The prices here are what bloggers wrote down in their posts, and they may have changed since. Check Naver Place for the current menu and prices. This list is not a menu board — it counts what bloggers actually ordered and ate. Check on Naver Place

논탄토 아메리카노13 ate it
Nontanto americano₩5,000
The ordinary machine-pulled americano — the default order for anyone not up for the sand coffee, and in most posts it arrives alongside a dessert.
Most posts say ₩5,000; two note that decaf or oat milk adds ₩1,000 each, and two paid ₩6,000 for decaf. Writers mostly describe it as nutty with little acidity. One preferred the hot cup to the iced and says so plainly. Two posts mention a discount on the americano when you buy a loaf — one calls it 30%, the other just a set discount.
체즈베 — 모래로 끓이는 샌드커피9 ate it
cezve (sand coffee)₩5,000 · ₩6,500
The drink the shop is named after. A cezve — a small metal pot — is buried in sand heated to near 300°C, simmered, then strained and poured at the counter. You pick the bean: the house blend, Brazil, or Ethiopia (one writer was offered Guatemala). It comes iced as well.
Several posts put the house blend at ₩5,000 and the Ethiopia at ₩6,500. **Opinions split.** Some found it heavy and nutty with acidity at the finish, or light enough for anyone who doesn't insist on a dark roast; others called it merely clean, with almost no aroma, or simply too bitter. One writer notes the grounds you feel in the cup, since nothing is filtered out. Sit at the bar if you want to watch it brew — two writers looked away and missed it.
잠봉 콘 프렌치토스트4 ate it
jambon corn french toast₩11,500 · ₩12,500
Thick slices of the shop's own loaf, griddled and topped with a dense corn sauce, charred corn kernels and jambon. Made after you order, and it arrives hot.
**The price went up**: ₩11,500 in a July 2026 post, ₩12,500 in three August posts. The July writer, though, describes only corn soup and bread with no jambon at all, so we cannot say whether the price rose or the ham was added later. All four who ate it liked it; three reach for the same word — sweet-and-salty.
프리미엄 생식빵3 ate it
premium shokupan₩6,000 · ₩6,300
Baked on site, in a set number each day, out of the oven around noon according to one post. They slice it to whatever thickness you ask — one writer took 1.5cm, another recommends 3cm. The french toast is made from the same loaf.
₩6,300 in a June 2026 post, ₩6,000 on an August menu photo. Only three writers bought one, while four say they stood there wanting to and walked out without it — several mention the smell of bread filling the room. Two posts call the shop "the Sungsimdang of Yeonnam"; those same two share near-identical sentences elsewhere, so it reads as supplied copy rather than two opinions.
논탄토 쇼콜라 티라미수3 ate it
shokola tiramisu₩8,500
A straight-ahead tiramisu built on espresso. All three who ordered it had it with coffee.
₩8,500. "Textbook, nothing extra," "so good you have to order it," "completely soft" — all three who ate it liked it, and nobody wrote against it.
카이막 — 꿀과 구운 식빵을 곁들인 튀르키예식 크림2 ate it
kaymak₩7,500 · ₩8,000
Clotted milk cream served with honey and thick fingers of the shop's own white loaf. Several writers came here for this and nothing else.
A menu photo in August reads ₩8,000; a September post reads ₩7,500, and we cannot tell which is current. Only two writers actually ate it, and both liked it — "cream cheese with the heaviness taken out, you wouldn't tire of it" and "the best kaymak I've had". One Saturday afternoon in December 2024 it had sold out. Five more writers meant to order it and didn't, being too full or arriving late.
논탄토 골든크림라떼2 ate it
golden cream latte₩6,500
The shop's own signature: a latte under a cap of cream. It is named as often as the kaymak, yet only two writers actually drank one.
₩6,500. The two who drank it disagree. One found sweetness rounding out a nutty base; the other says it arrived lukewarm and tasted of very little — and that the black cream mocha ordered alongside it was lukewarm too.
공주 밤식빵2 ate it
Gongju chestnut loaf₩8,800
A loaf with chestnut and red bean. Two September 2026 posts call it new.
₩8,800. The two who ate it describe plenty of chestnut and bean, a gentle sweetness, and a soft crumb.
딸기버터잼2 ate it
strawberry butter jam₩8,500
A jam for the loaf, made in the corner of the room — one writer watched. Blueberry and cream earl grey sit beside it.
₩8,500. Both writers describe butter behind the sweetness rather than sugar alone.
팝멜로 — 구운 마시멜로와 아이스크림2 ate it
pop mello₩6,000 · ₩7,000
A house marshmallow, lightly torched, with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips inside — you dig through all of it with one spoon.
**One post contradicts itself**: a November 2024 write-up says ₩7,000 in the text and ₩6,000 under the photo, so both are recorded. One writer found it sweeter than expected and hard to finish alone; the other kept going back for more.
바스크 치즈케이크1 ate it
Basque cheesecake₩7,000
Always in the display case, but only one writer says they ate it.
₩7,000. The one account calls it meltingly soft with a deep cheese flavour.
논탄토 말차라떼1 ate it
matcha latte₩6,500 · ₩7,000
What the non-coffee-drinker in the group orders.
A menu photo in August says ₩7,000, a September post ₩6,500. The one writer who drank it found it strong and good — on the same table, the two cream drinks came lukewarm.
논탄토 아포가토1 ate it
affogato₩7,000
Häagen-Dazs vanilla with espresso poured over it.
₩7,000. The one writer who ordered it calls the scoop generous and the price fair for what it is.
논탄토 블랙크림모카1 ate it
black cream mocha₩6,500
Dark chocolate sweetness under a cap of cream.
₩6,500. The one writer says it was lukewarm — though less so than the golden cream latte beside it. Both complaints come from the same single post.
논탄토 라떼1 ate it
Nontanto latte₩6,000
The plain latte. One writer liked the art on top.
₩6,000.
로네펠트 캐모마일1 ate it
Ronnefeldt chamomile₩6,500
For the second person at the table who has already had coffee.
₩6,500. The one writer says only that it tastes the way chamomile tastes.
바닐라라떼1 ate it
vanilla latte₩6,000 · ₩6,500
The order for someone steering clear of acidity.
₩6,000 iced in a July 2026 post; ₩6,500 on an August menu photo.
아이스 초코라떼1 ate it
iced chocolate latte₩5,500 · ₩6,500
What one writer drank instead of coffee, on a bad stomach.
**The price rose**: ₩5,500 in November 2024, ₩6,500 on an August 2026 menu photo. The one writer found it less sweet than chocolate drinks elsewhere.
클래식 카푸치노1 ate it
cappuccino
One writer had it with the kaymak.
**Nobody wrote down the price.** The one writer liked the cinnamon on top.
무화과 프렌치토스트1 ate it
fig french toast₩11,500
A french toast under fresh figs. It turns up in exactly one post, from late August 2026, and looks like a seasonal item.
₩11,500. The one writer says the figs keep coming and that the shop's own loaf holds a chewy, moist bite. With a single account there is nothing to weigh it against.

Who came, and with whom

With a friend	4 of 24 posts
Family visit	1 of 24 posts

Getting there

Map showing where SAND COFFEE NONTANTO is

Naver Map has a full English mode — Settings → Language → English. In Korea it gives better walking and transit directions than Google Maps.

Getting inside

Toilet inside	5 of 24 posts
Separate restrooms	yes 0 · no 1

Nobody looked at the entrance. In twenty-seven posts the words for step, level change, ramp, wheelchair and pushchair do not appear once. We know it is on the ground floor only because the address says so, and a ground floor is not the same as a flat entrance. Two writers note that the door sits a little way into the lane with no sign to mark it; neither says anything about a step. This is not "there is no step" — it is "we do not know".

No one mentioned: Second floor · In a basement · Lift to the floor · Ramp at the door · Step at the entrance · Step-free access · Accessible toilet. That is not the same as there being none — it means we could not confirm it. Worth calling ahead, and do tell us: we will put it here.

How to read these posts

Posts disclosing payment1 of 24 posts
Posts saying they paid themselves2 of 24 posts
Posts saying nothing either way21 of 24 posts

Posts that followed a TV spot

Of the 26 posts we gathered, 2 went up on a single day right after a TV spot and show no sign of a visit. They retell the broadcast, so we left them out of the counts.

We do not discard them. That a TV spot produced a burst of posts is itself something worth knowing about a place, and a star rating will not show it.

When the posts appeared

1112040910040506070809

Month by month

Month	Posts
2024-11	2
2024-12	2
2025-04	1
2025-09	1
2025-10	1
2026-04	1
2026-05	1
2026-06	2
2026-07	1
2026-08	6
2026-09	6

What we do not know

Twenty-seven of thirty. One post was dropped outright: it advertises a hair salon at the same street address, 87-4 Sinchon-ro, on the second floor of the rear block. It is a price list for cuts and perms, and Nontanto appears only as a landmark. Two more were kept but left out of the denominator. The first is a round-up of four kaymak cafés in Seoul, which says in its own text that it was assembled by cross-reading other people's reviews and shop material. The second is a long essay that appraises seven items — the cezve, four cream drinks, the affogato and the kaymak — without ever saying what was ordered or what was paid; prices appear as "around five thousand, around six, around seven", and the dog policy, parking, wifi and power sockets are all hedged. Length and polish are not a record of having eaten.
Dogs are the same story. Three posts say pets are welcome, all three inside the same copied header block, and nobody writes about bringing one. The one post that adds a leash rule is one of the two we did not count as visits.
No one writes about floors or stairs either. The address says ground floor and several posts copy that line, but not one writer describes stepping up or down on the way in. Whether there is an upstairs or a basement to this shop, nobody says — the second floor of the same building holds a different business, a hair salon.
Not one writer reports queueing. Across twenty-seven posts nobody puts their name down or waits outside. Only two say anything close: one took the last two-top on a Saturday afternoon in December 2024, and one who arrived at two watched the room fill from about three. The first adds a piece of advice — on a first visit, take a table before you order. Two other writers mention a long wait, but that queue belongs to the hotpot restaurant they gave up on before coming here for coffee instead.
Almost nobody writes about the staff. One post says the menu was explained, two that drinks are brought to the table, and not a single writer calls the service good or bad. Nobody mentions wifi, and on power one writer states plainly that no seat has a socket.
The hours split in two places. Seventeen posts open the shop at 11:30, three at 11:10 — and all three of those are from May and June 2026. Separately, three posts say Friday and Saturday run to eleven at night (November 2024, September 2025, April 2026) while the rest say only "daily until ten"; the three are spread across three different years, so they cannot be waved off as stale. No post mentions a mid-day break or a closing day — two say the shop never closes. One writer pasted an answer from ChatGPT that puts last orders at 2:30 in the afternoon, which cannot be true of a shop open until ten, so nothing from that post was counted.
One post discloses sponsorship; three insist they paid their own way. The other twenty-three say nothing. Among those, two share the same supplied copy — the walk from exit 1 past the department store into the first lane, the 2017 founding, the nationwide bean supply, the two Blue Ribbon years — near enough word for word, and neither declares anything. The phrase "the Sungsimdang of Yeonnam" appears in those two and nowhere else. We kept them, because each has a real record of eating; we simply did not count their shop-description passages as observation.
Twenty-seven posts, twenty-seven writers — no blog appears twice. Five of them are day-out or month-in-review diaries rather than pieces about this shop, and in those we read only the stretch marked by the shop's own check-in card. Nothing from the neighbouring places was counted.

Sources (24)

Every number above was counted from the posts below.

[신촌] 샌드커피 논탄토｜밤식빵 먹고 온 신촌 카페 내돈내산 후기 2026-09-20 · 나엥로그 · via Daum
신촌역 근처 카이막 있는 카페 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 2026-09-17 · 얼레벌레 메타버스 · via Daum
신촌 : 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 (SAND COFFEE NONTANTO) 2026-09-15 · 히카코와 술 · via Daum
[신촌 논탄토] 모래커피 방문 후기, 뜨거운 모래 위에서 끓이는 샌드커피가 신기했던 카페 2026-09-11 · sOMer · via Daum
신촌역 '논탄토' 솔직후기..터키식 샌드커피와 작업하기 좋은 카페 2026-09-09 · 설레美 · via Daum
홍대 연남동 카페 데이트｜커피리브레·땡스오트·신촌 논탄토까지 2026-09-07 · 쿠카냐 · via Daum
신촌 노트북 작업하기 좋은 카페 샌드커피 논탄토ㅣ2년 연속 블루리본 잠봉 콘 프렌치토스트 2026-08-29 · 박굴미 · via Daum
신촌 프렌치토스트 맛집 “샌드커피 논탄토” 후기 / 서울 무화과 디저트 카페 추천 2026-08-29 · 와앙 · via Daum
모래에서 커피를 만든다고? 신촌 논탄토 샌드커피 분위기 좋은 이색카페 치즈베 카이막 후기 2026-08-28 · 밍쨔 : 다함께 떠나요! · via Daum
[생식빵 프렌치토스트 맛집] 촉촉함 가득 신촌 프렌치토스트 맛집, 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 2026-08-27 · 서릿의 일상 · via Daum
[서울 창천동/신촌역] 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 2026-08-09 · 반짝반짝 빛나는 · via Daum
2년 연속 블루리본 선정 신촌 프렌치토스트 맛집 | 샌드커피 논탄토 .... 2026-08-03 · 소소한 쥐 나들이
[신촌 카페] 신촌 프렌치토스트 맛집 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌 | 블루리본 카페 생식빵이 맛있는 곳 2026-07-26 · 빙글빙글 먹짱의 하루 · via Daum
[서울 신촌역] 커피를 모래로 내린다고? 터키식 샌드커피, 논탄토 신촌 2026-06-10 · 이음단미의 맛잘알 달콤투어 · via Daum
[샌드커피 논탄토 신촌] 신촌 카페 추천 ☕ 생식빵과 딸기버터잼이 .... 2026-06-05 · 화창한 오늘의 일상스토리 (맛집, 여행, 쇼핑) ❤️
연남의 성심당, 좋은 재료 사용하는 블루리본 카페 샌드커피 논탄토 2026-05-29 · Everyday Happiness
샌드 커피 논탄토 신촌/ 신촌 논탄토/ 샌드커피 신촌역 2026-04-30 · 사계절모두봄 · via Daum
25.04 - 4월의 이모저모 2025-10-23 · 얼렁뚱땅 챌 일상 · via Daum
샌드커피 논탄토 카페 신촌점 방문 간단 후기 2025-09-06 · 히모저모
[샌드커피 논탄토 신촌] 모래 위에서 끓인 커피 한 잔 논탄토 아포가.... 2025-04-29 · Betti’s Memory
이공이사 연말정산 🐲 2024-12-24 · Life is My Way └ |°ε°| ┐ · via Daum
신촌 느좋 카페 터키 모래커피 논탄토 샌드커피 2024-12-12 · 여행과 맛집탐방 그리고 고양이셋
감성조명으로 더한 분위기와 직접 커피를 로스팅하는 서울 신촌 카페 샌드커피논탄토 2024-11-17 · Felicity_더할 나위 없는 행복 · via Daum
신촌역 터키식 커피 샌드커피 논탄토 신촌점 2024-11-11 · 브랜랩

Of 323 candidate posts we opened 50 and kept 24 as evidence. We stop once 30 are confirmed: beyond that the counts grow in proportion without changing the answer.