Which Are The Coolest Cafes You Must Visit In Seoul (With Neighbourhood Guide)

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Which Are The Coolest Cafes You Must Visit In Seoul

We absolutely loved Seoul! It’s such a unique, cool, laid-back city that took us by surprise for how much we liked it! We’re not normally huge city fans, but Seoul really did something for us. We liked how every neighbourhood has its own thing going on and that everyone is just doing their own thing, there’s not many big chains, and everyone has made an effort to infuse their own personal style into everything. Koreans are super friendly, their skin is amazing of course, and they’re all really well dressed. It was an easy city to get around and features ample greenery and a slow enough pace of life to make it not feel too hectic. Overall, we loved it and look forward to going back to Korea one day to explore more. Oh, and the food is DELICIOUS. Renowned for its coffee shops, we had a great time wandering around exploring all of them in each different neighborhood.

When researching where are the best coffee shops, it can be a bit overwhelming because there’s just so many, but we found that for us, some didn’t offer anything special so we decided to list our 12 favourites of the ones we did visit for all your coffee and Instagram needs below. Read on to find out which are the coolest cafes you must visit whilst in Seoul!

The overall coolest neighbourhoods and cafes were in:

Hongdae - A main, bustling area featuring cute little side roads
Itaewon - A small, eclectic neighbourhood full of vintage shops
Gangnam - The OG Seoul place to go, full of cool shops
Seongsu-Dong - An uber cool, East London style warehouse area

1. the coolest cafes in hongdae

We absolutely loved this area! We stayed in it on the quiet side, Yeonnam, and really enjoyed wandering around all the super cute streets and eating ALL the food it has to offer (our fave place was Slow Cali for amazing poke bowls). Seoul can be quite expensive to stay in but we found a really cute place that has clean, modern rooms with a kitchenette and daily breakfast available here. On the other side, over the road, is main Hongdae which is cool to walk around and is great for traditional Korean food (don’t forget to visit cultural Bukchon Hanok village as well for the most authentic experience). It can get quite busy/touristy at times around here so beware! We particularly liked the quiet little side road, Wausan-ro 27-gil, for some AWESOME jewellery and fashion brands. Out of the ones we visited around here, our favourite cafes in the whole of Hongdae were:

Yeonnam 223 Cafe - This is that cartoon-style cafe you might have seen on Instagram, and it’s awesome! It really does feel like you’ve just walked into an illustration and their drinks and cakes are equally as quirky. Prices for a coffee start from about £3, opening times are from 11am-9pm daily.

Address: 223-14 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu

2. Grain - This place is DELICIOUS to eat at! We loved their menu, they have such great, healthy food options and a cute little setting- plus it was in our favourite part of Hongdae! Food prices start from about £5 and they’re open daily, except for Tuesday, from 9am-8pm (last order at 7pm).

Address: South Korea, 좌측 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, 23

3. Coffee Nap Roaster - OK this place is seriously cool and conceptual. It’s like being on a roof, indoors. It’s quite small and basic but a really nice place to check out nonetheless. Coffee prices start from about £3, they’re open daily from 9am-10pm.

Address: Yeonnam-ro, Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu

4. Stylenanda - The infamous baby pink and blue swimming pool themed cafe. Normally we’re not such huge fans of gimmicky places but this one was actually cool to be in! Open daily from 11am-9pm, prices start about £3 (don’t forget to try the candy floss coffee!).

Address: 23 Wausan-ro 29da-gil

2. the cafes you must visit in itaewon

This area is a really interesting neighbourhood, it features loads of back roads filled with antique and second-hand shops and then comes out into a bustling nondescript highstreet that’s good for street food. We enjoyed wandering around here but wouldn’t recommend staying here because it was quite small and once you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. Out of the cafes we went to here our favourites were:

Plant - The place to go for healthy, plant-based food. Plant is a super cute place full of greenery and delicious eats. Prices start from £8 per main, open daily except Sunday from 11am-10pm (last orders at 9pm).
Address: 2 floor, 117 Bogwang-ro
Humbolt - We just loved the vibe in this place! A little further up from Plant, it was like going back in time to Paris in here with its slightly Art Deco feel and Matisse prints. This one was actually a hidden gem we came across by chance and have yet to see it on any lists! Coffee starts at about £2 and is open daily from 9am-6pm.
Address: Bogwang-ro

3. the best overall area for cool cafes: gangnam

Ahh the famous Gangnam neighbourhood, and with good reason! This area really is cool, it’s a lot more upscale than other parts of Seoul and has AWESOME concept stores, our favourite was the uber-cool Tamburins which was like being in a modern art gallery. One road off the main road was really cute to walk along because it’s smaller with barely any cars. We did find this area slightly harder to find good food in than other areas though so bear that in mind. Our favourite cafes here were:

C27 Cheesecake and Coffee - This place is a mega cafe set over 4 stories featuring unique sculptures and quirky features on all floors (think mini-ferris wheels and giant forks and saucers). We also liked it because one side of it is completely open so it’s perfect for a spring/summer’s day! And, of course, the cheesecakes are delicious. They’re seriously yummy, we went for the camembert one and it did not disappoint! This is definitely the place to satisfy your sweet tooth :) Prices start from £6 and they’re open daily from 11am-12am.

Address: 161 Yanghwa-ro, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu

2. Murir - Yes, another pink cafe- because did you even go to South Korea if you didn’t get your pastel fix? This isn’t strictly a cafe however, it’s also a beauty salon and studio! We particularly loved this one because it wasn’t tacky like some of the others can be. It’s open every day from 11am-9:30pm.

Address: 21 Dosan-daero 11-gil, Sinsa-dong

4. exploring seongsu dong area

OK we actually loved this area but a little heads up that it can seem a bit nothingy at times because some of the places are spread out and/or hidden away. Persevere and you shall be rewarded! We really liked it because it’s cool but unpretentious, and reminded us of London. It’s an industrial warehouse-type neighbourhood that is super cool to wander around and see what you stumble across. Our favourites places here were:

Baesan Warehouse Cafe - As the name suggests, this is a huge warehouse cafe. If you can imagine squishing together a cool cafe and a contemporary art gallery together then you’ve got it! Maybe you want to have a coffee and a bite to eat or perhaps you just want to stop by to peruse all the art work that lines the walls, the choice is yours. They even have an original Banksy up on the second floor. If you want to get those creative juices flowing then this is the perfect hang out spot for you. Open daily between 11am-11pm.

Address: 78 Seongsui-ro, Seongsu-ga, Seongdong-gu

2. Urban Source - We love this cafe for its cute little internal courtyard and their rustic interiors (they used to have a giant ball pit on the roof but sadly this is no longer available). They’re a little pricey however with a meal going for about £15 a head and are open daily between 11am-11pm.

Address: 9 Yeonmujang-gil, Seongsu-ga

3. ShareD Table - This is another one we came across by chance and have yet to see it on any lists! It’s actually not called this anymore (but this is what still comes up in Google maps so you’ll have to search using this name), ShareD is what we were originally looking for but are even more pleased with what we found instead! We really liked its bare, minimal aesthetic that gave us mega Scandinavian feels. It’s simple and clean, and coffee starts from £3 with a delicious onsite bakery as well.

Address: 47 Yeonmujang-gil, Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu

4. Daelim Changgo CO:LUMN - This place is crazy awesome. It’s a huge empty warehouse with all the industrial vibes, rugged installations and a small gallery at the front, and they’ve got great pizza! Come here if you love Brooklyn. There’s also a really quirky concept store opposite called Supy (su;py) that’s worth a visit. Mains start from about £10 and they’re open daily from 11am-11pm.

Address: 78 Seongsui-ro, Seongsu-ga, Seongdong-gu

Daelim Changgo CO:LUMN Seongsu Dong Seoul

So there’s our list of the coolest cafes you must visit whilst in Seoul! We really enjoyed our time there and look forward to exploring a bit more of Korean culture one day.

If you’ve been to any of these coffee shops we’d love to know how your experience was! Or, if you’ve been to Seoul before and we missed some great ones- what else would you add for the next time we travel here? Let us know in the comments section below :)