Recommended Cafes and Restaurants for a Trip to Korea 🇰🇷
anya0320
9 days ago
Hello!!
This time, I want to share some of my recommended restaurants and cafes from my trips to Korea.
I love doing cafe-hopping in Korea, so I visited tons of places!!
Out of them all, here are the spots I especially recommend.
First, let me start with cafes!
The first one is 【antique coffee Yeonnam】. This cafe is a place where you can enjoy lots of different cakes and tarts, along with coffee.
As soon as you walk in, you’ll see cakes displayed with lots of flowers, and you can choose from there.
The space is also really large, I visited around 3 PM on a weekend, and I was able to get in without lining up.
First you grab a seat, then take a tray and pick your cakes. They have a wide selection, from Mont Blanc tarts and muscat grape tarts to berry cakes and scones, it’s so hard to decide...
👆🏻This is an actual photo of the inside!!! There were already a ton of cake options when I went, but it sounds like if you go around lunchtime, they have even more varieties.
This time I chose a chocolate banana tart and a fig shortcake!
They also have lots of drinks besides cake, and I was in the mood for something refreshing, so I ordered an ade!!
Time to eat!!
The chocolate banana tart wasn’t overly sweet, the banana sweetness matched so well with the truly bitter chocolate flavor, it was so good.
The fig shortcake looked super filling, but the sponge was really light, I finished it easily!!
We visited as a pair so we ordered two cakes, but if you’re alone, one might be the limit...
The second one is 【ongoing】 in Anguk!!
This cafe is near the famous Gyeongbokgung Palace, it’s a small, cozy place with about three seats inside and one terrace seat.
What it’s famous for is their roasted sweet potato brûlée.
👆🏻This time we also ordered an ade, a croque monsieur, and Earl Grey tea.
They use a whole roasted sweet potato, and the crispy brûlée topping with the sticky, creamy sweet potato texture is just amazing!!
My recommendation is to add ice cream on top of the roasted sweet potato brûlée.
It makes the flavor even milder, and it’s so delicious.
This place opens from 8 AM, so this time we came for breakfast.
We visited on a Friday morning, and it was just us inside, it was so quiet and relaxing for breakfast!!
There were also a few locals taking out just an Americano, so their Americano seems really good.
Next time I visit, I want to try the Americano too.
The third one is 【pie in The shop】 in Hongdae.
This is a cafe where you can enjoy lots of different kinds of pies!!
I popped in because it looked tasty as I was walking by, and later when I looked it up, I found out it’s actually pretty famous for having great pies.
There’s seating in the basement and on the second floor, and it’s very spacious, so I think you can get in without waiting.
I visited around 3 PM on a weekday, the second floor had some people, but the basement was almost empty!! Both spaces are totally photo-worthy, so I think it’s perfect for cafe-hopping.
👆🏻There were so many different pies lined up!!
It was so hard to narrow it down from so many options...( ; ; )
Everything looked good and I couldn’t decide, but this time I picked an Earl Grey pie and a chocolate banana pie!!
👆🏻We also ordered an ade and tea together!!
I was studying while eating pie, and the space was wide and comfortable with great lighting and atmosphere, so I really recommend it.
The fourth one is 【ouvert seoul】 in Hongdae.
Here, we had the croissant plate.
ouvert seoul also has a branch in Jongno, but this time we had been shopping in Hongdae, so we visited the Yeonnam branch in Mapo-gu.
There are more than 10 seats including counter seats, and when I went it was full, but after waiting about 10 minutes we were able to get in.
Inside was almost entirely locals, and from what I could see there weren’t any Japanese customers!!
But the staff were kind and the vibe was really nice, so I think it’s easy to drop by casually.
This is what we ordered this time!!⬇️
The fifth one is 【Bipo Blooming】 in Hongdae.
You can eat lots of different cakes here, and they’re especially famous for their shortcakes with beautiful cross-sections displayed in the showcase!!
The cafe isn’t very big and it’s on the second floor of the building, I visited around 2 PM on a weekend, and there was already one group waiting. I think we waited about 20 minutes.
For the waitlist, you can write your name on the paper next to the entrance!! I wrote my first name in Hangul, and I was able to get in with no problems.
What I really wanted was their most famous strawberry shortcake, but it was already sold out when I arrived...
So this time, I had a chocolate banana shortcake and a fruit shortcake topped with all kinds of fruit like figs, bananas, and kiwi.
There were big chunks of fruit on top, but not just on top, there were lots of fruit pieces inside too, it was super filling!!
Here’s the actual photo⬇️
The portions are so big that in Japan it feels like it would cost around 1,500 yen per slice, but here I could eat it for under 10,000 won.
The sixth one is 【London Bagel Museum】.
It’s so popular that I don’t think anyone traveling to Korea hasn’t heard of it, it’s a must-wait kind of place.
I’ve visited about four times in total, and I’ve been to the Anguk branch and the Apgujeong branch.
I usually stay in Myeongdong, so I often use the nearby Anguk branch, but when I traveled to Korea in February, I also stopped by the Apgujeong branch.
The Apgujeong branch also has seating on the second floor and feels spacious, so the wait for dine-in seemed smoother than at the Anguk branch.
The Anguk branch opens at 8 AM, and the on-site waitlist starts at 7:30. For someone like me who’s not a morning person, it’s basically a challenge, but my recommendation is to arrive by 7:00 and line up for the waitlist!!
It depends on weekdays vs weekends, but if you arrive around 7 AM on a weekday and register for the waitlist, you’ll usually be called in the first or second round, so I think that’s the shortest wait.
This is for dine-in, but if you’re doing takeout, I think you can get inside even sooner.
Near the Anguk branch there’s Starbucks and lots of other cafes, so especially in cold seasons, I recommend using them while you wait.
Now, I want to introduce some restaurants!
The first one is 【Wolhwa Sikdang】 in Mapo-gu!
When you think of Korea, you probably think samgyeopsal!! At this restaurant, you can try their “beeswax samgyeopsal,” which you can only eat here.
This beeswax samgyeopsal is a super rare menu item that’s only available to people who make a reservation at least two weeks before visiting, and this time I made my reservation via Instagram DMs!!
I wrote both Japanese and Korean in the reservation message, and they were very kind and helpful, so I felt at ease heading to the restaurant.
Here’s the actual photo⬇️
This was my first time trying beeswax samgyeopsal, and it was honestly so delicious that it made me think, once you eat samgyeopsal here, you can’t eat it anywhere else!!
The owner was also so kind, they explained the food and gave us lots of extras, it was a place I was truly satisfied with!!
After our visit, they even sent a message via Instagram DM saying, “Please enjoy the rest of your Korea trip!!” It wasn’t just the taste, the owner and staff were wonderful too.
So please make a reservation and go check it out.
The second one is 【Manpo Makguksu】.
You can eat makguksu here, and they also have very large mandu dumplings.
The restaurant has seating on the first floor and in the basement, and it’s a very local place, inside it was only locals.
The menu is only in Hangul on posters on the wall, so if you can’t read Hangul, I recommend using a translation app to read it.
The staff were really kind, and they even taught us how to eat it and how to mix it, so I think it’s a place I can recommend even to first-time Korea travelers or people who don’t speak Korean!!
This time I ordered makguksu and mandu⬇️
The makguksu came with a whole chicken, boom!! I was worried whether two of us could finish it...but we ate it easily.
So, what did you think of the places I introduced?
From famous spots to local gems, there were so many places I wanted to recommend!
If you’re wondering where to eat on your Korea trip, I hope this gives you some ideas.
Thanks so much for reading.
