Cafe Culture in Korea

The cafe culture in Korea is kind of unbelievable to me. According to KoreaTimes, as of the end of 2022, Korea has 100,729 cafes in total! A fun activity to do is to go cafe-hopping for a day. There are many cafe streets and themed cafes. Personally, my favorites were the animal cafes, as well as Studio Ghibli themed cafes. I'm going to provide a list of cafes I have visited thus far:

Animal Cafes-----

Meerkat Friends: I got to pet raccoons, foxes, meerkats, and wallabies. I got to feed a raccoon and got a kiss from a fox!

Meerkat Friends! This was one of the raccoons we got to interact with! 

Winters Village: A Samjoyed cafe! There were so many Samoyeds and one giant Malamute. Some of the Samoyeds had pink blush on. One of the Samoyeds is very shy so his tail is dyed purple so people can know to not approach him. It's fine if he approaches you on his own though! The Samoyeds know a few tricks-- such as putting their chin on your fingers when you make an 'L' with your thumb and index finger. When you leave, you get a free Samoyed photo card!

Winters Village. One of the employees is really good at taking low angle photos of the Samoyeds and he was having them line up here for treats and photos!

Thanks Nature: A sheep cafe! Most animal cafes either do not offer drinks or only offer bottled drinks. This one was an actual cafe with delicious drinks and desserts. There were two sheep outside the cafe that customers could pet.

Thanks Nature. Out of all the themed cafes, this one is at the top for its menu selection!

These are the sheep from Thanks Nature!

A random cat cafe we stumbled upon in Myeongdong. They offered bottled drinks.

Themed Cafes-----

Koriko Cafe: This was a "Kiki's Delivery Service" themed cafe with a gift shop connected. The desserts were also on theme. This cafe has a very cozy interior and I would say it has the best aesthetics out of all the cafes I've visited. I would love to study here if it weren't such a famous spot.

Koriko Cafe-- a Kiki's Delivery Serviced themed cafe. The cakes were adorable and I got a Jiji shaped ice. We went super early that day so we got to enjoy the quiet before tourists started coming in.

Over Deep: An ocean themed cafe. This cafe had many photo spots, notably a jellyfish projector background. The cakes here were very good.

Over Deep-- ocean themed cafe. The cakes were actually so good and filling.

Cafe de Rabbit: A rabbit themed cafe! There are rabbit decorations and plushies everywhere. The desserts and drinks were yummy as well. There were no rabbits unfortunately. :<

Cafe de Rabbit! Even the cups were rabbit themed.

Cheong su Dang: Hanok-style bamboo forest cafe. The dim interior makes it very calming to just sit there. The cafe even provides pillows and blankets. The exterior is a famous photo spot.

Miffy Cafe Busan: Now this one is outside of Seoul but the decorations were adorable. They have a gift shop connected as well. Overall consensus on the food was that it was okay. You can get Busan exclusive Miffy plush keychains here!

Miffy Cafe Busan with the ocean in the background!

Hello Kitty Cafe: The decorations were adorable. There are usually pretty long lines. You have to reserve a spot to order from the cafe but if you just want to visit the gift shop, you do not need to reserve a time.

Matcha-----

Metcha: I love this place so much. They have all things matcha--- from regular matcha lattes to match soft serve. I bought a gorgeous lotus flower mug from the location in Myeongdong. That location has many floors so it is never hard to find a seat. I think I've been around 4 times.

Metcha! This was the first time I visited with my sister. We got the matcha strawberry latte and a matcha soft serve ice cream. 

Super Matcha: This is a pretty popular spot for matcha. When I got a matcha latte, they poured it right in front of me!

Daily Coffee-----

Coffee Bean: There's one on KU campus and it is pretty popular because it is quite spacious. However, it is on the more expensive side for daily coffee (still cheaper than coffee in the States).

A Twosome Place: There are multiple on KU campus and I've been there once. There was a combo for a panini with coffee so that's what I got. The cappuccino I had was not as sweet as I would've like it, unfortunately.

Mega Coffee: THIS is the best place for coffee. You can get a huge iced vanilla latte for only $2.32. That is crazy to me. They offer an extensive menu from coffee to smoothies, frappuccinos, juices, and more. I've lost count the amount of times I've had Mega Coffee. There's one I frequent on campus.

Mega Coffee! It looks smaller than it actually is. I got an iced vanilla latte!

Ediya Coffee: I have yet to have this but it's really popular and there are multiple locations on campus.