Korea: A must-visit destination for coffee lovers

Don’t you just love to sit back and relax while drinking a cup of coffee in a nice, ambient cafe? You can read a good book or two, chat with friends, or even listen to good music while savoring that cup of Americano or Caramel Latte. If you’re like me who can’t get by a day without drinking coffee, then you may want to experience Korea’s infamous coffee culture.

Compared to tea, coffee can be considered a newcomer in the Korean market. Based on historical data, tea has been in Korea since as early as year 661, while Emperor Gojong only introduced coffee in 1896. But unlike many Asian countries where tea is the preferred drink, Koreans are generally coffee lovers. They love it so much that in a recent study (2013), it was said that Koreans consume coffee at an average of 12.2 times per week, which is more than their average consumption of their national dish, Kimchi. 

Coffee consumption has also become a status symbol among Koreans. From being a representation of western culture, which was first consumed by the wealthy and elite, to being a trend or a kind of ‘social glue’ that brings people together, Korea’s coffee culture has indeed evolved rapidly over the years, and there’s no stopping the industry’s growth just yet.

In a 2015 study, it was revealed that Seoul hotels were said to have the world’s most expensive coffee with an average price of KRW 10,000, and Starbucks is said to be the most expensive in Seoul than in any other city in the world at around 4-5 dollars at minimum. But despite the surge in coffee prices, Koreans continue to consume coffee.

Seoul hotels have the most expensive coffee in the world- Hotels.com 2015 Club Sandwich Index

Considered as the third biggest coffee drinker in Asia, Korea is home to around 49,600 cafes as of 2015, 17,000 of which can be found in Seoul. No wonder café-hopping, a term that means to patronize a number of different cafes on a single outing, is becoming a popular activity there. Cafe streets, areas that are lined with coffee shops, have also started to emerge and are becoming more popular in recent years.

I’ve had my own share of café-hopping in Seoul, and I’d have to say the experience is nothing short of amazing. There are about 2-5 cafes in every street, so at times you can literally hop on the coffee shop next door. My most favorite places to satiate my caffeine addiction are Myeongdong, Gangnam, Hongdae and Samcheongdong, and I’ve identified at least 4 types of cafes there according to ownership and style:

(1) Mainstream
(2) Themed
(3) Traditional/Hanok
(4) Celebrity-owned

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Mainstream Cafes

Mainstream Cafes are popular coffee shop chains that have branches all over the world. A good example for this is Starbucks, which has record-breaking achievements in Korea. Currently, Seoul holds the record as the city with the most number of Starbucks branches in the world and Korea is also ranked as the 3rd country with the most number of licensed Starbucks stores at 952 in total as of 3rd quarter of 2016.

Other big players that you can find all over Korea are Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Seattle’s Best Coffee, and Gloria Jean’s, among others.

There are also popular homegrown cafes like Angel-in-us Coffee, Caffe Bene, and Tom N Toms.

If you’re a Hallyu fan, you’ll probably have an idea about how huge the mainstream coffee industry is in Korea. Cafes are a popular meet-up or dating place in Kdramas, and are sometimes also used as filming locations for Kpop music videos. The popularity of some coffee shops is even attributed to their exposure in entertainment shows.

Caffe Bene. Remember the famous foam kiss of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin) and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won) in Secret Garden episode 10? It was filmed at Caffe Bene in Seongbuk-gu.☕

Address: 120-2 Dongseo-dong 1(IL)-Ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Dal Komm Coffee. Some of the best scenes of Descendant of the Sun were filmed at Dal Komm Coffee. In fact, the drama featured 3 Dal Komm coffee branches located in Songdo, Bundang, and Yangjae. The scenes above from DOTS episode 13 (double date and fist bump scene) were shot at the Songdo branch.☕

Address: 23-5 Songdo 2(i)-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea

Themed Cafes

If you like drinking coffee with style, then themed cafes might suit your taste. These are coffee shops where everything; be it food, architecture, music, etc., revolves around a central concept, which can pretty much be anything under the sun. This is also the reason why each café offers something unique--because the owner’s creativity, individual taste and passion for coffee are infused in it.

Pet lover? Bookworm? Movie addict? I’m pretty sure there’s a themed café that will appeal to your fancy. The cafes feature a wide variety of subjects- from animals/pets, art, fashion, fruits, food, cartoon characters, foreign countries, and even movies.

I’ve seen quite a few themed cafes when I was in Korea. To name a few, I’ve seen a yarn store with a coffee shop, a café with a full banana concept, a vintage-themed café, and a café with a Lego theme. There’s even a Hello Kitty themed café complete with all the pink stuff!

Hello Kitty Café. This café is one of my favorites! 

I love how girly and cute it is and how great of a hang out place it can be.☕

Address: 364-14, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea

You can check out my review of Hello Kitty Cafe HERE.

Slow Park. This small café-cum-bistro in the quaint and serene neighborhood of Samcheongdong offers a unique setting that combines elegance and warmth, as well as modernity and tradition. This place is becoming a popular venue for magazine shoots and TV interviews with celebrities.☕

Address: 15-2, Samcheon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
You can check out my review of Slow Park HERE.

Traditional/ Hanok-style Cafes

The earliest coffee shops in Korea were called dabang (다방). Nowadays, there are only a few traditional dabangs left in Seoul, but probably a good alternative to this is a Hanok (한옥) Café.

The Hanok is the traditional Korean home, which is known for its beautiful architecture. They are usually characterized by wooden pillars and floors (daecheong maru대청마루 ), clay walls and roofs, and Hanji, a traditional Korean paper which can be found pasted on flat surfaces like doors and windows for their insulating capacity and transparency.

A number of Hanoks were renovated and turned into cafes around Insa-dong and Bukchon Hanok Village. These shops are perfect for those who want a unique Korean coffee experience. They even offer traditional teas, snacks, and Korean rice cakes and desserts such as Bingsu, to complement the ambience. Some also offer alcoholic beverages such as beer and cocktails.

Luden Loquen Space (Café LN). A nice Hanok style café with an elegant traditional ambience in Bukchon that boasts of its Korean Black Raspberry Latte and Glutinous Rice Cake Waffle. ☕

Address: 5, Bukchon-ro 5na-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Photo credit: visitkorea.or.kr; kimcheeguesthouse.com

Celebrity Owned Cafes

For Kpop fans and Kdrama lovers, there are also all sorts of celebrity-owned cafes, which reflect the personality of the owners, and often times feature their most prized collections.

Aside from coffee and pastries, most celebrity-owned cafes also sell idol-inspired merchandise like mugs, tumblers, shirts, and even signed posters and albums, which serve as popular souvenirs for fans.

At times, they also have a fan mailbox, where you can leave messages of support to your idol.

Celebrity-owned cafes are a popular hangout place for fangirls as they’re the perfect place to meet and become friends with other fans, as well as get a glimpse of their favorite Korean idols in person. If you’re particularly lucky, you may even catch them hanging out with some of their idol friends. Just make sure to not be too overexcited and not invade their privacy. Picture taking is sometimes not allowed so be sure to ask permission first. If your idol is in a good mood, who knows he/she might even agree to a selfie!^^

Wiki Café. This cute café in Samcheongdong is owned by Super Junior member Lee Sungmin. Being a huge Super Junior fan, I was really ecstatic to visit this café. I was even lucky to have a selfie with Sungmin’s younger brother, Lee Sungjin!☕

Address: 51 Sagan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
You can check out my review of Wiki Cafe HERE.

Café J Holic. JYJ member, Kim Jae Joong, owns this café. The minimalist feel and modern ambience reflects Jaejoong’s sophisticated style.☕

Address: 3rd & 4th Floor, 8 Myeongdong 6gil, Chung-gu, Seoul or 54-6 Myeongdong 2-ga,
Chung-gu, Seoul

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[REVIEW] Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour Day 1: Hello Kitty Café in Hongdae 헬로키티카페

Hi! After my reviews for Nature Kitchen 자연별곡 and Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery in Hongdae, I’m here again for my Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour blog series to give you my review of Hello Kitty Café, which is also in the same area. ^^

I’m not really a fan of Hello Kitty, but I’m a coffeeholic and I love all things cute and girly, and this café is super cute and more! ☕ This is another item crossed out of my bucket list, so thanks again Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for including this in the itinerary of our trip.^^

Seoul is home to a lot of amazing themed cafes, and Hello Kitty Café (헬로키티 카페) is one of the most popular. It has branches in Hongdae, Shinchon, Myeongdong, and Jeju.

For our tour, we visited the Hongdae branch, which was transferred to its new location last 2014. According to our guide, the new location is bigger than the previous. It was my first time to visit so I can’t compare them, but I really love how cute this café is. It’s covered in pink and all things Hello Kitty, so if you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ll be ecstatic. I think it’s the cutest and girliest café I’ve ever been to^^☕

The Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae has a huge gate at the front, and you have to go up to see the actual café. There are potted plants on the way up, and there’s a tree beside the café. I like how they infused touches of nature here and there into this cute little pink paradise.

The view from outside. Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe Website

Over-all view of the Cafe on a sunny day (because we came on  a rainy day) :) Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe website

The café is quite big. There’s a spacious front lawn, a gift shop at one side, kitchen and counter area, restroom, and a second floor with a huge area for patrons and a bedroom. It’s really more like a Hello Kitty House than just a regular café.☕

 All of us had umbrellas because of the rain. It was getting cold then.

Everything is covered in varying shades of pink and white with some touches of brown.

There's a separate entrance to the gift shop from the outside, but you can also go there from the inside.

Gift shop entrance

The signage that will greet you beside the door before you enter the cafe

The café implements a reserved seating system so you have to wait for the staff to escort you to a seat. When we got in, a staff greeted us and guided us to the 2nd floor where we chose our seats. There weren’t many people at first, but eventually, they started coming in. We came at around 3:30pm.

The rest of our group all busy with their coffee. It was cold that time but I still chose a cold drink ^^

Hello Kitty Cafe Welcome Counter

My cell phone battery was almost dying on me that time. Good thing there was an outlet for charging at the café. They also have wi-fi for those who want to upload their cute pics right away ^^

I read in one of their table top displays that they implement some rules, which are as follows:

• Upon arrival, you need to inform the staff about the number of your companions (if you have any).
• After receiving a waiting number, a staff will guide you to find your seat. 
• The staff will escort you to your seat, and give you the menu so you can order. 
• After you’ve chosen from the menu, you’ll need to pay for your order in the 1st floor, and they will give you a buzzer. 
• Once the buzzer lights up, you’ll need to bring it to the pick-up area where you will get your order.
• After eating, you need to clean up and take all your cups and dishes to the pick-up area. 

I read them here :)

These rules were stated there but based on my experience, they didn’t ask us to clean up after :) I also read at the welcome counter that the café implements a “one beverage per one person” policy, but I’m not sure if they are strict in implementing that.

If you’re a foreigner, no worries about ordering in the café because they have English translations of the menu and the staff speaks English too.

I ordered the Cookies and Cream Crunch (KRW 6,500 or Php 260), which was kind of new in their menu, and reminds me a lot of Caffé Bene Cookies and Cream Bingsu. It tastes really good, but not really extraordinary. I was hoping to try their cute cakes but we had to go already. I’ll make sure to go back and try them next time. Here’s my detailed review for now:

Food: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- As mentioned, I haven’t eaten anything when we visited, but my drink was quite good. I am yet to find out though what their café specialty is (what people love to order). Maybe next time I’ll make sure to try.

In terms of presentation, they are quite good. Most of the drinks we ordered has Hello Kitty’s face on top. I also found their cakes really cute, and of course, they also have Hello Kitty cake!

They also have a whole variety of cakes, teas, coffee and non-coffee beverages (hot and iced), yogurt, and other desserts to choose from. They have a waffle set, hotdog set, Ricotta Cheese Salad, Croque-Monsieur, and Bread Set if you don’t want cakes and coffee.☕

Look at all those cute Hello Kitty faces! To drink or not to drink?!

My drink is the one at the bottom. It's yummy!^^

All those yummy looking cakes are making me hungry!

But this one is the cutest for me, Hello Kitty Cake! Costs 11,000 KRW

Ambience: 10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- I love this café’s light and, girly vibe. I’m sure my girlfriends would love it there, Hello Kitty fan or not. The ambience looks quite elegant with touches of some intricate furniture accents, small chandeliers, and very relaxing and comfortable too with wooden floors, white and pink walls, nice, and cute pink sofas, and soft lighting. The place is also well-maintained and really clean. I can spend a whole afternoon here just reading a good book, working on a report, or just chatting with friends.

On the first floor, you can find the counter on your right side

It's complete with all the pink boxes and menu :)

Lots of cute Hello Kitties around

This way to the gift shop please!

If you have Hello Kitty fanatic friends, this is the best place to look for a gift as they have all sorts of Hello Kitty souvenir items.

From Hello Kitty mugs, tumblers, cups, stationery, and calendars...

To Hello Kitty stuff toys, bags, etc.

I was so tempted to buy those cute little Hello Kitty head bands for my niece! I wasn't able to check their price list though.

And then on the 2nd floor, you can see the Hello Kitty Bedroom at the right side. How I'd love to sleep here for a night. Sweet Hello Kitty dreams!

And then there's this cute Hello Kitty Sofas right before you enter the main area for patrons.

All the couches are really cute, right?

Looks like a Hello Kitty altar to me :)

To give you an over all view of the 2nd floor. Credits to the Hello Kitty Cafe website

Even the rest room has Hello Kitty in it

I'd love to have a pink bathroom at home ^^

Value for money: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- I find their price quite higher than most cafes that I’ve been to in Seoul, like double the price. But I guess the ambience and experience more than compensate for it. And if you’re a fan, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind paying extra.

Oh, and I also read in their website that Hello Kitty Café, under Jacob F&B Co Ltd., donates a percentage of its profits to charity, so buying from them is in a way a support to their noble cause.

Check out their menu, and all the other things you can order aside from coffee, tea, and cakes ^^

The waffle and hotdog set are making me hungry. And yes, I still want to eat you Hello Kitty Cake :) 

Accessibility: 8 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The café is located at an alley. We have a guide with us so we got there easily, but if you’re new in Hongdae, you might get a bit lost so please make sure to bring a map.

Hello Kitty Cafe (Hongdae) map from their official website

Service: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The staff is quick, accommodating, well-mannered, and best of all, speaks English :)

Will I go back to this place? : Yeah!

It’s a puurrrfect hangout place for Hello Kitty fanatics and a pink paradise for coffee and tea lovers who love all things cute and girly like me. It’s more than just having coffee or an afternoon snack but having that whole Hello Kitty experience. 

Actually after visiting the café and I learned there’s a bigger one in Jeju (Hello Kitty Island), I instantly thought of going there someday. It’s really a wonderful experience to visit such cute and adorable café.☕

Other important details about Hello Kitty Café ☕ :

Operating Hours: 

10:00 am- 22:30pm (10:30pm)

Price Range: 

KRW 4,000- KRW 12,000 (Php 160- Php 480)

How to get there?

[SUBWAY]
Get off at Hongik university station Line 2 and take exit 9.

Walk straight onto the wide street on the left, and turn right after 2 small blocks. 

Keep going straight on the street with many restaurants and cafes. 

Cross the street and keep going straight toward Sang Sang Madang. 

Turn left into Wausan 19 gil at a corner with Snow Spoon. If you walk into the small street for less than 1 minute, you will find Hello Kitty Cafe on your left.

Address: 364-14, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea

Nearby Attractions: Hongdae Playground 홍대 놀이터, KT&G Sangsangmadang KT&G 상상마당, Snow Spoon 스노우 스푼, Hongdae Mural Street (Alley) 홍대벽화거리


For inquiries, you may check out the following sites:

• Website: http://www.hellokittycafe.co.kr/
• Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/HelloKittyCafe/

You can also call their Hongdae branch at 02-334-6570.

UPDATE (Jan. 2, 2016): OMG! Good news to Hello Kitty lovers here in Metro Manila^^ I just found out today that Hello Kitty Cafe recently put up 2 pop up stores here. There's one at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City (open till Jan. 6) and another at the Fiesta Duty Free Mall in Parañaque (open till end of January 2016). And they're opening the country's first Hello Kitty Cafe in March at Bonifacio Global City. Can't wait for that! Check out the original article HERE. (Thanks gmanetwork.com for this good news!)

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If you want to know the rest of our itinerary for this trip, you can check out my first blog post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour.

Many thanks again to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for making this trip possible. You can check out the KTO official website and follow their accounts on Facebook and Twitter for details on tour sites and packages, as well as helpful tips in travelling to Korea.

For Filipinos, follow Korea Tourism Organization Manila at Facebook, Twitter, and KakaoTalk (@ktomanila) for the latest updates on Korea tourism, events, tour packages and promos. :)

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