Most Beautiful Cafes in Seoul by Districts

Seoul Certainly has the most developed café culture with hundreds of cute or quirky cafes with delicious coffee and cakes in all areas of the city. We of course hardly managed to scratch the surface, but here are our recommendations according to each district:

Gwanghamun and Bukchon Hanok Village

All headings below are links, first to Google Maps and then to Naver, for you to be able to see their location on the map.

Cha-Teul traditional teahouse (Tea Masineun Tteul on Naver)

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This place was high on my list due to its traditional environment and the must try local sweets. We visited in the afternoon on a weekday, so it was quite crowded. We had to wait about 15 minutes. They have a few seats in the yards where you can sit while waiting. You have to take your shoes off before entering (don’t forget your socks). The environment is cute with low tables and seating on the floor. We tried their tea and strawberry rice cake. I usually don’t drink tea and never tried a rice cake before, so can’t account how good they were, but they are something you should try at least once.

Café Onion Anguk (Naver link)

This has to be one of the (if not the most) famous cafes in all of Korea. It’s popularity is clear from the constant queues. It certainly had a huuuuge queue when we visited (my guess would be at least an hour wait). While their sweets look amazing and we certainly wanted to try, we were not about to wait for ages, while we had so much more to explore. Do try to have a look here, but if the queues are too huge, there are a couple of other lovely cafes with delicious cakes just a stone throw away.

Café Layered (Café Reieodeu on Naver)

This café is already a chain with locations here and in Hongdae at least (probably more, we didn’t see them though). It has delicious cakes and it looks cute.

Café Knotted (Notideu Anguk on Naver)

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Another chain specializing in donuts. This location however looks the best from several we saw during our travel. It has an old style Korean yard and overall lovely atmosphere. I am normally not a fan of donuts, Knotted ones are great – not oversweet and with delicious light cream.

Others

Cafes in the area we didn’t manage to check out but will next time:

Insadong and Ikseondong Village

Ikseondong Hanok Village is my favourite place in Seoul, I even specifically went back there on our last day. You find cute places at every step and walking around just made me happy😊

Appiforet (Appipore on Naver)

This café was my favourite in this cutest area. It seems to be relatively newly opened, so it wasn’t on my list, we just stumbled upon it accidentally while exploring the tiny alleys of this cute area. It is quite big, so I do think at least for a while, until it becomes too popular, you won’t have a problem finding a seat. Their chocolate mousse cake was delicious. We took tons of photos 😊

Nakwon (Nagwon Yeok on Naver)

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You might have seen photos of the train track running through the yard of this café. It’s one of the most popular cafes in Seoul. Plus, it has a cute traditional wooden décor.

Cheongsudang (Naver link)

Another beautiful café worth checking out. The lanterns in the yard give it lovely look. It certainly is on the expensive side (very expensive in fact), but worth having a look.

Flower Yard Café (Madang Flower café on Naver)

As it tells in the name, this café has a small yard decorated with flowers. It’s very cute. They are known for their rainbow cake.

Ddong Café (Ttoong Café on Naver)

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Its literal translation is “poo” café and it does follow the theme 😊 you will find poo shaped toys around, toilet bowl shaped cups, as well as other items in line with this esthetic (no, it doesn’t smell of poo though 😀 ). This popular is café off Insadong street. It’s a bit difficult to find, you have to go up to the top floor. It is interesting to have a look, although I personally didn’t like the environment as much as other cafes.

Others

Cafes in the area we didn’t manage to check out but will next time:

 Myeongdong and Itaewon

Roundnd (Round and on Naver – pretty hilarious name)

When you enter this café, you directly feel the delicious smell of fresh baked pastries. Prices are definitely not on the cheap side (as many cafés around), but it’s worth it. The atmosphere is lovely as well.

Spot Fabulous (Spot Paebuleauseu on Naver)

This is the only café, which didn’t let me order just a cake, because according to their rules, each person has to order at least one drink – they underlined drink. Granted their cake and coffee were tasty. The atmosphere is also nice. We visited in the evening and it was quite busy.

Café Swith SOL (Café Sweet on Naver)

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This café is total cuteness 😊 It’s a character café with the huge toys decorating the entrance, as well as interior. We ordered at the machine. Keep in mind that their staff members are disabled (deaf), according to the signs in the café, so be mindful of this, when trying to communicate with them. One of the best parts of the café is their photo booth – you need to keep your receipt, which you scan at the photobooth and get your photos printed for free. We had a lot of fun posing for these photos and choosing frames for them 😛 The turned out very cool and are now sitting on our shelf.

Luft Coffee Myeongdong (Rupeuteu coffee on Naver)

This café has a modern design. It’s very spacious. When we visited in the late afternoon, they had a sale on their pastries. We didn’t much like their croissant, however the muffin was quite nice.

Anthracite Coffee Hannam (Aentreureusaiteu on Naver)

We didn’t know of this café and stumbled upon it, while looking for coffee. It occupies three floors and is cutely decorated. It was very crowded when we visited. Coffee was certainly excellent. As I know, this is a chain with a few other branches around Seoul.

Café Tape (Naver link)

This café is known for their galaxy themed cakes. It’s one of those cafes with one drink/cake per person rule.

Others

Cafes in the area we didn’t manage to check out but will next time:

Hongdae and Surroundings

Hongdae is well known not only for its nightlife, street performances in the evenings and great food, but also for its amazing cafes. My list included more than a couple dozen cafes I wanted to check out 😀 It was very very hard to cut it down to even a dozen 😊 Next time I am in Seoul, I will try to find accommodation in this area 😊

Greem Café (Geurim Cafe on Naver) – or as it was previously called, 2d café.

20230408201231_1As you can guess from its older name, the café theme looks like a 2d painting in black and white. it is very smartly done, so you actually do have that 2d feeling. Even their cups give the vibe. As I heard, it can have queues, however, when we visited towards evening on the weekend, it was not crowded with only a few people there. So we managed to order easily and get our photos in peace. We did like their coffee and the chocolate mousse cake.

Happy Bear Day (Naver link)

20230408190000_1This café was one of my absolute favourites. I didn’t have much expectations for it, I only thought it would be a hole in the wall selling cute bear cookies. But it turned out to be quite big café occupying two floors. Its colorful decoration is absolutely lovely. It was quite crowded in the evening, however, it has many seats, so unless you go at an extremely busy time, you should be able to find a seat. The bear cookies were tasty, but so heavy, I didn’t manage to finish one and kept some part to eat later 😊

Lovin Her Flower Café (Lovin’her Flower Cafe on Naver)

This café turned out to be really tiny. It is cute with decorations of flowers. It also had a huge poster of I would assume one of the K-pop idols. When I posed covering that poster, I got weird looks from people, so he must be very popular 😀 Anyways, we checked out the café while needing coffee a lot at that moment, however, it was cold to sit outside and inside was very stuffy and hot. So we just decided to go elsewhere.

Pink Pool Café (Style Nanda Pink Pul Cafe on Naver)

This café is located on the fourth floor of the art and clothes store Stilenanda. It has a cute pink decoration, as the name tells you. It was quiet and very comfy inside. There were only very few people in the late afternoon. We did enjoy their coffee, while resting from the hustle and bustle of the Hongdae area. Btw I just recently saw this place in the light TV series – XO, Kitty first episode.

Others

Cafes in the area we didn’t manage to check out but will next time:

Ihwa Mural Village and Dongdaemun

Hakrim Dabang (Hangnim on Naver)

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No trip to the area would be complete without a visit to this café opened in 50s and still retaining the vibes of the last century. The café has wooden tabletops, vinyl records, an old piano and just overall great atmosphere. It is wildly popular not only due to its age and environment, but also because several k-dramas have scenes filmed here, including My Love from Another Star, which I actually watched far earlier than I ever heard of this café 😊 Because of its popularity and small space, it was expected that it would be difficult to get a table here. We visited at about 2pm on a weekday and had to wait around 15 minutes for the table. It wasn’t bad though, as they have a few chairs for those waiting and it was nice to sit and rest after exploring the palaces on that day. We like their coffee and cakes.

Café Travel (Naver link)

The cafe is located very close to the entrance into the Naksan park. It has great views, so certainly worth checking out.

Sulbing (Naver link)

This is a huge chain of Korean sweets with cafes dotted all around the country, however, we visited this branch in Dongdaemun on our first day. It has a sign only in Hangul, so if you don’t read Hangul, try to find the smaller print below the big sign, which says “Korean dessert cafe”. The café specializes in bingsu – shaved ice desserts. They have several versions to choose from. We tried a mango one. I personally not a fan of shaved ice, so can’t report how good there are, but it’s definitely a go-to place, if you want to try bingsu.

Others

Cafes in the area we didn’t manage to check out but will next time:

  • Café Gaeppul (Naver link) – one of the several cafes in the area with great views. Do walk around here and choose whichever one you prefer.
  • Jeonggeurida (Naver link) – I found a post about this café only later in our trip and didn’t manage to get there, even though we were actually staying in Dongdaemun area. It looks pretty cool.
  • Cha Cha Tea Club (Naver link) – is located in a small alley near Dongdaemun station. It’s a traditional teahouse worth giving a chance.

Seongsu

This is up and coming neighbourhood dotted with a number of cafes. Those I noted are as follows:

Seokchon Area

  • Seoulism (Seoullijeum on Naver) – this café existed till May 2023 and changed its profile to hosting events. Not sure if you will still be able to access it without invitation, keep an eye on their Insta maybe. It’s the place with the iconic view of the Lotte tower and the Seoul sign, you may have seen pics.
  • Aqua Garden Café Lotte world tower (Naver link)

Gangnam and Nearby

Farther away

  • Project Seoul (Naver link) – the café is not anywhere near usual sightseeing spots. However, it’s décor looks amazing.
  • Suyeonsanbang (Naver link) – old traditional teahouse surrounded by greenery.
  • Overstory (Naver link) – this café seems difficult to get to but it’s gorgeous with great views. It requires a reservation though.
  • Sanmotunggi Coffee (Naver link) – another café in greenery with lovely views
  • Melting Pom (couldn’t find Naver link but the cafe seems to exist still. If it closed, please note below).

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