Cutest cafes in Korea

Although I am all about trying the best cup of coffee wherever I happen to be in the world, it is almost as important to feel cozy and welcomed in a coffee shop. When I was living in Vancouver and had regular ‘coffee dates’ on weekends, it was our mission to find these perfect venues that offered an excellent brew as well as a plentiful selection of baked goods and bags of atmosphere.

During my travels in Korea, I have to admit that finding cute cozy coffee shops is easy-peasy. There is simply so much selection that even the pickiest of the crowd can prepare themselbves for a lot of fun. Here come some of my picks from the areas I visited.

-       Coffee It Suda on Jeju Island – this small café has a very relaxed vibe with a nice owner who came to offer me a dried orange as a welcome gesture. It has a nice colourful design with some books and magasizes that all seem to promote the awareness of some local and global problems like helping the less fortunate. 

-       Momo’s Coffee in Busan – although is café will definitely reappear at some point in my blog when I talk about the best quality coffee in Korea, I cannot not mention that it also offers a great relaxing environment that really encourages staying there forever. They have two floors both furnished with some wooden tables as well as a few comfy seats. The outside area has some cool stone statues in one corner, giving the place a really unique look. They have a great display of beans and coffee equipment for sale for coffee enthusiasts. 

-       Café Luwak in Gyeongju – I popped into this café late in the evening because my hostel was very quiet and I felt kind of lonely. This place was instantly welcoming having some cool interior features with lots of figurines and memorabilia. The manager was super nice to me offering me a second drink on the house due to having to move me to another table because a large group of ladies suddenly walked in. 

-       Café du Nunchi in Daegu – if you manage to find a seat there, it is definitely worth staying for a while. It’s in one of Daegu’s smaller lanes where fashionable Korean ladies stroll by with their shopping bags and the owner couple keeps you entertained with some cute hand drawn notes and pictures on the walls. 

-       Coboc Café in Gwangju – although this place is in the outskirts, it serves the most amazing fresh breads and bakery items in town. I visited on a rainy day and it was the best place for staring out into the mountains and watching the city from the distance. 

-       Blackline Coffee in Jeonju – this place had a mixed vibe of a cool bar as well as a coffee place. It was a sunny day so the whole place was open to the street and gave it a pleasantly summery feel. 

Coffee Mill in Seoul (near Bukchon traditional village) – this is a nostalgic old school café located in an old hanok house. It has tons of memorabilia and a really cool wooden furniture. It truly feels like stepping out of the present into the great past of this city. 

Korean Dishes and Mealtimes

My first impression of Korean cuisine was controversial. Before I arrived, I had read from multiple sources that Koreans love barbecue pork. Typically it is served with multiple side dishes of pickled vegetables such as kimchi, reddish and various others. They like serving these all in individual tiny bowls or plates so each dish is like a separate unit and not touching any other food. Luckily these dishes get served with other meals as well and not only barbecues which makes it easier for people not eating meat.

I do have to admit though that Korean cuisine is quite meat centered so pure vegetarians and especially vegans might find it rather difficult (or more to say boring) in this country food wise. Being a pescatarian and loving seafood and fish, I have enjoyed the traditional meals I have had in Korea. On Jeju island, I tried a seafood stew which was basically a seafood soup that consisted of shrimps, oysters, mussels and probably some other seafood that I couldn't recognize. It was really tasty although I have to warn people who do not like eating things that look somewhat alive that this is the kind of dish where you have to crack the head and shells off the shrimps and peel the mussels. It does taste very much after sea as well. 

Seafood Stew from Jeju Island

In Busan I visited the famous Jagalchi fish market which is the biggest one in the country. I ordered a roasted fish which again came with all the side vegetables. The fish itself was sea bass and it was delicious. Not expensive either. As that I was alone, this was pretty much my only option but people in larger groups can have it more interesting because for Koreans mealtime is a social event so they generally cater more for sharing rather than individuals. 

Roasted Sea Bass from Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan

Some fellow backpackers have told me that some restaurants have refused to serve them when trying to eat in alone. I have not yet experienced this, however I can imagine some popular barbecue meat places doing that in popular areas at busy times because it might not be economically viable for them to accept singles while they could give the same table to a group (I think it's just common sense and same thing happens in other countries, just due to the language barrier the rejection might seem somewhat harsher).

Talking about prices, eating out in Korea is reasonably cheap depending on the meal of course. What I miss a lot is a good healthy sandwich for lunch and more fruit and vegetables. 

Tokyo Coffee Shops

All in all I had time to visit three coffee shops in Tokyo during my two day visit. They were all really modern and two of them typical what we now call third wave stores where the main focus is on latte art, coffee roasting and artsy atmosphere.

1.     Streamer Coffee Company – visited the branch in Harajuku. Their speciality is claimed to be latte art so I ordered a latte. The size for my liking was on the larger side of things (I think it was 16oz) but it was served in a real mug (this is always pretty important for me to get my drink in a real cup when it’s been ordered to stay – I do not like tasting the paper cup while I’m hoping to enjoy the great taste of coffee). They are using their own Streamer blend and Latte Art blend and admit that they are all about the latte art so Single Origin coffees isn’t really their specialty. The drink was beautifully poured and it tasted really sweet (too milky for me due to the size). Customer service was reasonably good, there were signs of no photography etc while pouring so they clearly take their stuff seriously. The café itself is really cosy with plenty of seating available, free wifi and in a slightly quieter street which makes it nicely away from the shopping crowds. 

2.     Be A Good Neighbor – visited the coffee kiosk in Tokyo Skytree shopping complex. The coffee kiosk is situated near one of the entrances to the mall but not the side of the metro so it took a while to find it (the mall is really big). It is a kiosk as they say but there is enough seating available. It is obvious that they cater for take aways and drinks come in paper cups. I ordered a small size latte which was 8oz and perfect size for me. They have their own beans and they also sell some other coffee equipment like Chemex. The drink was perfectly balanced and poured with great latte art skills. Service was really friendly and drink got delivered to my table. It’s a great spot for watching the Japanese shoppers stroll by with their huge shopping bags. 

3.     Café Michikusa – this café is literally so out of the way that you really need to know that it’s there to be able to find it. It’s located in Asakusa district in one of the quiet streets just behind the park where Sensõ-ji temple is situated. The café was on the list of eateries that the hostel where I was staying (literally two blocks from the café) had put together for the backpackers. I would describe them as something in between a traditional and a modern coffee shop. They had some fresh drip coffee on the menu and as a positive surprise it turned out that they were actually brewing it (I had previously seen Americano’s being sold under drip coffee label). I ordered a cup of Ethiopia and it was freshly made as a pour over. It had the typical characteristics of a medium origin African region coffee of the dominating notes of floral and fruity flavours. 

Traditional coffee shops – I also visited a couple of traditional coffee shops while in Tokyo. Most of these places offer brewed coffee which has an overwhelmingly high dose of coffee which makes it too heavy and caffeine-rich to be an enjoyable drink. Some of these places also some espresso based drinks on the menu (various flavoured lattes and iced drinks seem to be most popular) but I did not try these. Visiting these shops can open an interesting aspect of seeing the local people during their typical day but might not be the best option for someone looking for a modern coffee house experience. 

Places I wanted to visit but did not have time to (all in Shibuya area):

-       The Roastery in Cat Street

-       Paddler’s Coffee 

     Sarutahiko Coffee