Paju Cafe | Dirty Trunk

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Paju, a small city just a 45-minute drive outside of Seoul, is a popular destination for Seoulites. The city offers a sense of tranquillity from attractions including Paju Book City, Heyri Art Village, English Village and Provence Village.

Dirty Trunk is a cafe that's gained an immense amount of popularity on social media and has secured its place as the must-visit cafe of Paju in the last year or so. Its factory-like interior and high ceilings give a sense of grandness upon entrance. Arrays of desserts and the beautifully-lit kitchen are very eye-catching, and seats and couches throughout the venue give this place a very welcoming feel.

Dirty Trunk | Information

• Address: 경기 파주시 지목로 114
• Hours: Every day 9:00-22:00

Dirty Trunk | Directions

• Paju's public transportation is not very accessible. We highly recommend you drive there or wait for our Paju small group tour packages!

Dirty Trunk | Reviews

We drove about 5 minutes to get to this cafe from Paju Lotte Premium Outlets. A nice parking attendant greeted us and directed us to the underground parking lot.

I mean, have you ever seen a cafe that has its own parking lot underground? Even before entering the place I was amused.

This was the first view I got when I entered the place. So spacious!

I walked past the many tables and finally spotted baked goods lined up neatly on display.

Look at the variety! I told myself I'll have to get some after my lunch here.

By the time I was getting to the end of the pastry shelves, colourful round cakes awaited me.

Mmm, cake. I told myself maybe I'll get cake after lunch. 😋 We finally got ourselves to the counter and ordered a Nashville Chicken Burger, Spoon the Bolognese, a Latte and an Americano.

Once we ordered at the counter, we were given the notification bells. When the bell vibrated for the first time, we went to the counter to pick up our coffees.

The pickup station for food, which is connected to the open kitchen, was not too far from the order counter. After a 10-minute wait, the bell vibrated for the second time to let us know our food was ready. I got to the pickup station, put the notification bell into the return shelf and received my food.

Nashville Chicken Burger: 15,500KRW

As you can see from the picture, the two huge chunks of fried chicken are so tender that you can cut straight through the meat. The hot sauce sprinkled on top tasted close to Frank's RedHot. The fries came out fresh, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. It also came with a piece of pickle and a piece of pickled radish. Overall, very very delicious!

⭐New Menu Item | Spoon the Bolognese: 15,000KRW

I tried my first bite of this pasta after I had a bit of the Nashville burger. I think the hot sauce from the burger was so strong that it made the taste of the pasta a bit bland, but overall, the sauce with ground meat inside and chunks of tomatoes gave it a very refreshing taste. If you're looking for something light and fresh, this pasta is a great option.

Latte: 5,000KRW

The foamy top layer and the warm liquid underneath balanced really well together.

Americano: 4,000KRW

Overall, the food and drinks were amazing. The portions were super generous too. (Un)Fortunately, I had no room left for dessert afterwards.

Across from the pastry display, I could see lots of merchandise for sale.

You can find long comfortable couches that can seat a large group on the first floor.

On the other side of the room, I could see gigantic tables and chairs of different colours, which gave the room a very rustic, yet stylish vibe.

They utilized the space really well by making cute little tables and cushions along the stairs. Possibly because of the crazy popularity, from the photos I've seen, even these small tables fill up on weekends and holidays. It was interesting to see that lots of people chose those tiny seats over many large tables available.

On the second floor, I could see more spacious tables and seatings along with books displayed from top to bottom.

This was the nice open view I got from upstairs.

On the right to the counter, there's a bar dedicated to Heineken draft beer and other alcoholic beverages.

Little tables and a tall mirror can be spotted by the bar. This is a pretty popular photo zone for visitors too.

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