march/april 2023

coffee culture is so different in south korea (and many of the cities we’ve visited in asia) than in the US. lots of coffee shops aren’t even open until 10 or 11 in the morning, but then are open until 10 or 11 in the evening! and while there are many, many coffee shops that serve very pretty or fancy (read: instagram-able) drinks in very aesthetic settings, i’m just not that kind of coffee drinker. i just want my expertly pulled flat white and a croissant.

coffee libre myeongdong

74 myeongdong-gil, jung district

this branch of coffee libre was quite small, and located within a church. it was, however, the closest coffee shop to where we stayed that i had marked as having potential, and it was excellent! due to it’s small operation, there were just some pre-packaged baked goods that we opted out of, but we thoroughly enjoyed our first coffees in south korea.

cafe onion anguk

5 gyedong-gil, jongno district

cafe onion was all over instagram and the blogs when i was doing research. normally i would avoid coming to a place like this but the location in a hanok was very pretty and unique, and convenient to visiting bukchon hanok village and the palaces. plus, it’s a bakery so i was hoping they would at least have some tasty croissants!

unfortunately i was rather disappointed. in addition to the long lines and being packed with tourists (making it nearly impossible to find a seat), the coffee was mediocre and while the croissants looked good, they were not. i’m sure their other pastries were great, i just wasn’t into it.

fritz coffee company wonseo

83 yulgok-ro, jongno district

this branch of fritz coffee company is also by the palaces (only a block or two from cafe onion) and we stopped in for an afternoon pick-me-up and we really should just stopped here in the first place. really excellent flat white, much chiller vibes, and a decent croissant.

felt coffee

77 mugyo-dong, jung district

the coffee was very good at felt coffee, and you could tell they paid a lot of attention to detail. they didn’t have much by way of pastries though, but the little tea cakes we did have were quite tasty.

gontran cherrier new seoul hotel

16 sejong-daero 22-gil, jung district

i wasn’t upset by the lack of croissants at felt coffee because we were very close to a branch of gontran cherrier, a bakery chain from paris. this wasn’t a full-blown bakery location, just a small shop inside of a hotel, and while the croissants were good, i was really hoping for better given the caliber i was expecting.

upstanding coffee

99-11 sinheung-ro, yongsan district

my favorite coffee shop that we visited in seoul was a little off the beaten path. not really walkable or near a train station, we had to navigate via bus and then do some walking. upstanding coffee is located inside shin heung art market, a sort of building complex from the 70s that has been preserved/renovated for indie arts and food shops. it took a little while to locate this little coffee shop in the winding alleys even once we were inside the marketplace.

the space is hyper minimal and small, with a narrow winding staircase to the upstairs seating area. we were the only patrons there given the rainy day, but it was just so cozy, and hands down the best flat white we had in seoul.

cafe the gl (closed)

this wasn’t a planned stop, but on the day we were wandering around the hongdae area, we were rather tired and in need of some caffeine and sustenance. being a college town, there were plenty of the expected aesthetic coffee shops in the area so we picked one that looked nice and got some caffeine and kaya toast. unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like this spot is open any longer, but i’m sure there are similar spots nearby.