Sweet and sour highballs at noon — sound like a peaceful time to us. Montauk Café and Highball Bar located in Sinsa-dong is a good place for that. Although the space itself doesn't exude any particular vibe reminiscent of the land's-end beach town, it surely is chill enough for a casual weekday afternoon with friends — as the parts of its name suggest, you can call up a friend to meet up for a drink and/or coffee (there can be a certain type of ease in having both choices when meeting up with someone you're into, as well, right?).
Until 6pm, the café serves 3 types of coffees: Einspanner (served hot only), French press and Americano (all hand-dripped). Currently, they are using Brazil Fazenda Yellow Bourbon for the beans. The Einspanner coffee (aka Vienna coffee) is aromatic, light and had a pleasant amount of bitterness. Unfortunately, the cinnamon sprinkled on top barely had any effect, and the cream top didn't seem to have been whipped enough as it lacked firmness and didn't float, although it was adding a nice touch of sweetness. The bar's signature cocktail called Sweet, which you can order from during bar hours starting at 6pm, was a delight. Made simply with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, tonic water, and grapefruit, it's vibrant, aromatic and has the right amount of carbonation. A tip for drinking any type of highball cocktail: don’t stir the cocktail like crazy, as its bubbles are supposed to do the work and you'll sense how its tastes naturally change as they go down. From 6pm on weekdays and during all hours on Saturdays, Montauk also offers a great selection of tapas and bar foods, all of which are made right when the order comes in. Our overall verdict? We wouldn't travel all the way to Sinsa to grab a cup of coffee at this place, but we would for a light bite and some sweet highball cocktails.