Located a few minutes away from line 1 Uijeongbu station is the Uijeongbu location of Krum Coffee, which also has a branch in Yangju. Krum Coffee is on the second floor of the building.
The café is one big open room with fairy lights and a mini Christmas tree in the center of one table. A light jazz music is playing, and on this occasion we could see someone in the back of the café roasting coffee.
When selecting a pastry, go for one of the jam cookies rather than the pound cake, which we found a little hard. And be adventurous and ask what coffee is on the siphon bar if you’ve never had siphon coffee! (But remember to stick around and watch it being brewed, as that’s part of the fun.)
KrumCoffee signageglass door to Krum Coffeemenu in Koreaninterior scene: round tables, a full length mirror, and some wall shelving unitsclose-up of the shelving units, featuring glasses, cups, and coffee brewing equipmentsome pre-packaged coffeeinterior sceneinterior sceneinterior sceneview outside the window of downtown Uijeongbuthe bartwo siphons on the end of the barwater boiling in the base of a siphoncoffee being brewed in the top of a siphonfinished siphon brewing, coffee now in the basepound cakes and cheesecakes for salecookies for salea tray with a hot latte, iced pour-over (with a sampling of the ground coffee to smell), an iced latte, two pound cakes, a raspberry jam cookie, and some coffee candyclose-up of the latte arta writing board and pen on the outside of the café
There’s something different about this café… I just can’t put my finger on it…
Not only is it open 24 hours, but it is an automatic, unmanned café. You insert your card (even transportation cards work!), get the cup corresponding to your order (either a hot cup or a cup filled with ice), move it to the assigned area, and that’s it.
If you happen to feel a bit peckish, you can also check out the ice cream and snack display, which is also unmanned (and they have macarons!). Just insert your card to pay and open the door.
the cup area, featuring a machine in the middle that dispenses hot and iced cups; to the left is the coffee machine and to the right the “ade” machinedouble fridge with ice cream and snacksleave a suggestion or send an encouraging note on the bulletin boardslightly messy condiment barsleeves, straws and lids above the condiment barview of the café with 6 seatstwo seats along a table with fake yellow flowersclose-up of the cup dispenserinstructions on the wall in Koreanview of the corner with the condiment bar and bulletin boardclose-up of the fridge door lockselection of ice cream bars and mini ice cream cupscookies, Combos, chips and chocolate in the fridge
“The neighborhood of Seongsu—for which our very first Korean café is named—is changing. In what was once an industrial pocket of the South Korean capital, cafes and galleries are springing up to serve the up-and-coming area referred to by some as the Brooklyn of Seoul.
While Blue Bottle brings much of its Bay Area roots, there’s plenty of old-school Seongsu-dong to hold onto. We’ve used the neighborhood’s trademark red brick, for example, to showcase classic Blue Bottle merchandise, as well as items that can only be found in Korea. Our menu, however, offers the same delicious coffee that can be found in our cafes in the U.S. and Japan.
From the street level, guests will first encounter our roastery against the backdrop of high-rises and trains. Down below is our café, and though located on the basement level, the glass walls and open layout create a calm, sunlit spaciousness—perfect for getting coffee with friends or shopping while you wait for your espresso, single origin, or blend coffee.”
It was interesting seeing the roasting equipment and the espresso machines they probably train the Korean baristas on, but I’d disagree that the area is “sunlit.” It was pretty dark, actually, in the way that a fancy restaurant might be dimmed in order to achieve a romantic effect. The overall feel was pretty industrial, but I loved the red brick touch on the merchandise and how the merch was a separate area from the ordering line. Behind a wall in the seating area was an area of several couches where a few families were sitting.
I imagine that on the weekends, seating can be hard to find. As evidence, I present the blue footprints that start from the entrance at street level and wrap around the front lobby area and then down the stairs to the café. People line up for Blue Bottle, and this café is certainly not going to be any different.
Much to my friends’ amazement, I did not order a coffee, instead opting for a strawberry fizz, which was quite lovely. The barista spoke to me in broken English until asking me to write my name on the screen in front of her, and when I wrote it in Hangul, she was visibly shocked and told me that she didn’t know I spoke Korean. (Spoilers: I don’t, but I could understand what she was saying and where she told me to wait until my name was called.) The fizz reminded me of when I worked at the Mint Plaza Blue Bottle location and I’d pour myself a Cascara Fizz in my Blue Bottle glass mug for the ride back to Oakland.
Unfortunately, my friend’s orange blossom latte tasted like the barista dumped their grandma’s perfume into it, which is not how I remember the drink tasting the last time I went to Blue Bottle. I suggested that she ask for them to just make her a regular latte, but since we had already had coffee that day, she wanted to let it be.
Out of all the Blue Bottle cafes I’ve visited in Korea thus far, this only gets a special mention for being the first to be opened in Korea. Go if you want a gander at the roasting and training area, but I still prefer grabbing a drink at the Gwanghwamun location and sitting alongside the Cheonggye stream.
red brick exterior of Blue Bottlethe iconic Blue Bottle against a stainless steel colormenu in Korean and English posted outside–notice the $25 coffee macarons and 2 alcoholic coffee beveragesblue footprints wrapping around the lobby areaview of the roasting equipment upon entering; café seen belowselection of merch, with display items sitting on red bricksanother selection of merchred bricks stacked to make shelving for coffee to take home and other merch with its own cashier stationa peek at the training room, with several espresso machinesview of the barside view of the bar with a vase of pink flowers and coffee macaronsselection of pink flowers in a round clear vaseseating area with tables and chairsview of the pour-over station and beverage hand-offmerch wall at a glancearea lined with couches and iconic blue bottle on the wall
Address: 7 Achasan-ro Seongdong-gu (Ttukseom station — exit #1)
Take a ten-minute walk behind Yangu Station (Line 1) and you’ll stumble across a pretty little café called Enough You.
The café has amazing croiffles with a variety of toppings and the interior is quiet and calm. There are tropical trees, round mirrors, soft lights, a billowing white sheet hanging down from the ceiling over wrap-around windows, and even semi-external seating where you can pretend you’re enjoying the nice spring weather even though you still need your winter coat…
There’s literally nothing else to do in the area, but if you find yourself on Line 1, be sure to make a pit-stop!
the Enough You café with the words “Enough You” in large white letters on the side of the buildingview of the billowing white sheet under the ceiling windowsa large round mirror posted on the wall underneath “enough you” in neon lightsview of the front door and ordering counterfunky white paper lanterns above a high light wood tableview from the café, featuring wicker furniture and green tropical plantswhere the billowing white curtains meet the windows looking out into the parking lotan oblong illuminated shelf featuring some art magazinesa cute table for two near the front doorOreo croiffle and iced americanohallway to the bathrooms, featuring a large oblong mirror at the end
In the center of one of Seoul’s three business districts, our Gwanghwamun cafe sits at the bottom of a 20-story office building at 11 Cheonggyecheon-ro alongside the Cheonggye Stream. Restored in 2003, the banks of the stream now serve as a public gathering space and cultural arts venue. We designed the cafe for local workers seeking a reprieve and tourists looking for a coffee near Cheonggye Plaza and Stream.
To continue the feeling of flow from the outdoor urban plaza, we designed the cafe with the idea of openness, with multiple windows reaching from the floor nearly to the ceiling facing the square. To keep the guests’ focus on the coffee and coffee professionals, we set the bar in the center of the space, wrapping it around the two structural columns. Inside the cafe, we offer plenty of seating and perching options at red oak tables and bars, but on nice days, we imagine many guests will take their coffee for a walk along the Cheonggye Stream.
I would highly recommend going to this Blue Bottle café, getting your drink to-go, and sitting outside along the banks of the Cheonggye stream.
the iconic Blue Bottle on the windowthe entranceone long table off to the side of the barview of the bar when you first walk in; products for sale are framing the baran Oakland California bag for salebags of coffee for salethree kinds of cold brew in cansmenu in Korean and Englishseveral round tables to the right side of the baranother view of the barview of the bar from the left sideseveral kettles and the infamous Blue Bottle Coffee book for salea notice that milk, sugar, spoons, and lids must now be requested due to Covidthe trash can with separate spots for unfinished drinks, paper, and plasticthe pour-over bara barista calls out two NOLA floats: New Orleans Cold brew with scoops of soft serve ice cream on topan iced single-origin coffeeview of part of the Cheonggye stream featuring a waterfalla view of the stream as it cuts down through Seoul
Apparently I have made it my quest to visit all the Blue Bottles in Korea. I have been to the one in Gwanghwamun Square and on Jeju Island, so it was only appropriate that I introduce the new teachers to Blue Bottle in a new-to-me location: Samcheong.
the iconic Blue Bottle logo on a white brick background
“In the heart of Seoul’s historic Samcheong neighborhood, our three-story cafe all but shapeshifts as you climb its floors. Conceived by Schemata Architects, each level is as much about the breathtaking views as it is about coffee. The stand alone building is set between past and future: the Gyeongbokgung Palace of the Joseon Dynasty on one side, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) on the other. The ground floor offers a view of the museum. After you place your order there, you can head to the second floor, where baristas prepare pour overs and espresso drinks, and where the picture window frames the sweeping lines of the terracotta-tiled roofs of the hanoks, traditional Korean homes. Take your coffee to-go and meander the labyrinthine surrounding streets, or head to the third floor. There, on the outdoor patio on low-slung couches or inside by the topmost picture window, you can enjoy a siphon coffee or take in the panorama of the palace and the soaring hills beyond.”
I get what they were going for, and it’s true: one can easily peer out the windows onto the rooftops of hanoks, but it’s a bit annoying having to order on the first floor and walk upstairs to get your beverages, and then walk up another flight of stairs to (maybe, if you’re lucky) find a seat. Seats here aren’t plentiful but if you wait around long enough, a spot or two might open up. Good luck watching a barista prepare your siphon coffee though–I’m not sure what the protocol is here if you order one and there already happens to be someone sitting in front of them. (At Mint Plaza, we would kindly ask if guests would move so the siphon-buyer could get the most out of the experience.)
I confused the barista because I ordered two drinks. No, really. I want two coffees. First, a pour-over, because pour-overs are what Blue Bottle does best. Second, since the location has oat milk, I’m going to get a latte, and this location had an orange blossom latte that I decided to try because Blue Bottle doesn’t serve your typical caramel-mocha-praline-hazelnut-frappa-gatos. (Rumor is they never planned on selling mochas, but after adding chocolate to the menu to make hot chocolate, they couldn’t ignore customers’ cries to sell a mocha. For what it’s worth, Blue Bottle mochas are my go-to, because they make their own chocolate ganache in-house with Tcho chocolate and it is delicious.)
The Guatemalan pour-over I had iced would have been better hot, but the orange blossom latte was surprisingly really well-made. The orange blossom flavor fit with the espresso in a very nice way that balanced out the acidity of the espresso and the brightness of the orange flavor. It was tasty.
The space is bright and inviting and it was certainly busy when we went. We had to wait about ten minutes until we found a spot where we could sit on the first floor. There was a steady stream of guests that day and the baristas seemed equipped to handle the volume, even my sudden realization that despite asking the cashier if they had oat milk, I forgot to actually order my latte with oat milk and had to go back to the cashier on the first floor and change my order and had her run to the second floor to ensure my drink was made with oat milk. Whew. If only there was a better way to communicate to the baristas on the second floor.
the baristas working on the second floorpeople waiting for their drinks on the second floorview of the bar on the second floorview from the first floor, where we eventually found a seatview from the first floortwo painted footprints in the iconic Blue Bottle blueonly in Korea: praline and hazelnut chocolate hotteoktraditional terracotta rooftops of hanoks, seen outside a windowpeople sitting on the third flooranother view of the third floorlooking at the siphon brewers on the third floorbusy first floorfirst floor seating at one large tableview of the cashiers from the lineexterior shot featuring the Blue Bottle logo on the building and a sign out front
Instagram knows that I like cafés, and one day it recommended a Godzilla-themed café that I instantly put on my to-visit list. Surprisingly, I happened to be in the area the very next day and made Mary trek out to visit it after we visited the Trick Eye Museum (underwhelming, to be honest) and the Love Museum (erm, over… something, it’s definitely something).
Café Ookii has a “no kids” policy and for good reason: the walls are lined with Gojira toys spanning all evolutions and editions of the well-known *checks kaiju wiki* “Irradiated Prehistoric Amphibious Creature.”
I ordered an iced americano, which was passable, and couldn’t resist one of their massive kaiju cupcakes which was mostly just icing. In retrospect, I wish I would have gone with one of their cutely designed cookies instead.
Two things of note happened while we were there: 1, I discovered that the woman who had swapped out my conch stud for a ring had managed to close the ring around the strap of my mask (which thankfully was a disposable one I could cut at home), and 2, a young man, obviously drawn to the Godzilla-aspect of the café, came in and struck up an intense conversation with the owner and barista.
two framed Godzilla postersvarious Godzilla figurinesvarious Godzilla figurinesvarious Godzilla figurinesvarious Godzilla figurinesway to the bathroom, featuring a plant on a stool and a framed Gozilla poster a Godzilla figurine holding a roll of toilet papervarious Godzilla figurinesvarious Godzilla figurinesfour framed Gozilla posters and a side view of the barvarious Godzilla figurines with a bright yellow poster on the wall featuring a cartoon Godzillavarious Godzilla figurinesa massively iced cupcake next to an iced americano a massively iced cupcake in brown with big loops of icing and two crazy edible eyes on topa figurine of the original Godzilla actor in a white tank top and shorts, his hand resting on a Godzilla costume heada view of the exterior, featuring a sign saying Cafe Ookii against a mountain backdrop; it is on the corner and in a red brick building
If you’re in Hongdae, take a trip out to see this unique café!
EDIT: As of March 24th, it looks like this business has closed. Best of luck to the owners in their next venture!
My friend Nora and I trekked out to Dongducheon to visit Soyosan Top Bakery, a pretty large coffeehouse and bakery in the same key as Geronimo Coffeehouse that I reviewed here.
The front of Soyosan: a large cylinder that is attached to the main wall, going up four stories.
There were a few art exhibits in the café itself, as well as a jewelry shop. (And, according to their Instagram, a hot spring and fitness area, a “complex cultural space.”) You could watch the chefs preparing the pastries behind a large glass window. While there are no pour-over/filter coffee options, my iced mocha was good and the iced americano was okay, hitting more of a walnut-like flavor than I’d like in my espresso. There was also an espresso machine on the second floor that had been opened up so you could see inside, which was really interesting for me, seeing as I’ve used machines for over four years and have never seen the inside of one.
All in all, the brunch menu was tasty so it’s worth a visit.
view of the interior, including a large house-like structureclose-up of structurehouse-like structure seen from abovetables with mix-matched chairsart display of gas masks atop some sort of military cylinderclose-up of a gas maskframed paintings agains a wallinside peek into the bakerya person wearing a white shirt, apron and baker’s hat inspects the pastriesthe back of the espresso machine (customer-facing), with the name “Soyosan-top Bakery & Coffee” printed on itordering line with posted menu boardsreclaimed seating rows in front of the bakeryan illustration of a figure wearing a dress over the word “woman”mirrors hang in the women’s restroom on exposed brickbrunch: eggs, has brown, sausage, bread and a mini saladsteps with pillows for more seatingview from steps; the pastry tables can be seen in fullvase of multi-colored flowersview of the second floor seatingthe words “coffee time” illustrated on exposed brickmore second floor seatingan espresso machine with the panels off, exposing the insidesmore detail of the espresso machinethe house-like structure next to the entrance
Korea has a lot of cafés. They are literally on every corner, and seem to be popping up even in the midst of a pandemic.
That’s the case for DAWSt Coffee, which opened in December of 2020.
This was actually the second café of the day, and the one I preferred due to it being a specialty roaster and not just your average cute-af café.
The café was simple, decked out in dark colors and mid-century modern furniture. They had a string of empty coffee bags in the back of the shop which was really cool, and they offered two distinct pour-over and espresso options. The Kenya Gititu AA pour-over that I had (iced) was amazing, easily one of my top coffees of all time. (And only for 4,000 won!) The espresso was also smooth and nutty, and the barista sweetened the deal with 서비스 –a fresh cream pastry to share.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to the barista but noticed that they were testing some coffee when I left, which makes my heart happy. These are the kind of cafes that are really needed in the world–not the gimmicky, instagram-worthy ones, but the ones where serving great coffee is the priority. These are someone’s dreams, and dreams that they must keep rolling and evolving, and dreams that need support from people who enjoy good coffee and good people.
Geronimo Coffeehouse in Yangju (Gyeonggi-do) is an absolute must-visit. They took what looks like an old warehouse and transformed it into a massive, two-floor coffeehouse with a full menu, lots of flowers, and a lot of charm.
Geronimo Coffeehouse exterior, a large red-brick building with lots of windows
What makes it an unique experience is that some of the seating in the café is shoes-off-sit-on-the-floor, but there are plenty of chairs around (even a few swinging ones) if you don’t want to take your shoes off.
I like to order the pancake breakfast set (15,000 won) which includes 3 pancakes, assorted fresh fruit, syrup and whipped cream, a mini salad, and an americano (although the americano can be subtracted). (I’ll take mine iced, thanks.)
The coffee menu is something different. Coffee snobs, listen up! You’ll want to take notes.
A simple Yirgacheffe Elris pour-over from Ethiopia will cost you 9,000 won (that’s roughly $9 US.)
It goes up from there:
Red Plum from Colombia–12k
Mocha Mattari from Yemen–15k
Hawaiian Kona–17k
Geisha Lake from Panama–18
Blue Mountain from Jamaica–20k
Loscabos Coffee Blend–22k
Geronimo Coffee Blend–25k
$25 for a cup of coffee? Did I do it?
You bet I did.
Sweet, glorious bean juice in a navy blue mug with gold detailing on the rims and handle
Was it worth it? I mean, it was a damn good cup of coffee but I’d probably recommend something else. I had the Mocha Mattari from Yemen twice (both iced*) and really enjoyed that, but I know that I like coffees from Yemen. (Previously, the most expensive cup of coffee I’ve ever bought was the Yemeni coffee Blue Bottle served for $16 + a complimentary sesame cookie for pairing purposes. I got the coffee half-off since I was a Blue Bottle employee.)
In addition to the great coffee, they’ve got a great pastry selection which is self-serve and self-pack-for-takeaway.
Even though the space is large, it fills up fast so I would recommend going as soon as they open to snag those cute instagram photos.
*Some may come for me for this, but good coffee is going to be great both hot and iced. It is worth noting that the Geronimo Blend is only available hot, which means that you’re paying for a premium cup of coffee that they’ve tested and only want to serve to you in the parameters of what they’ve tested, which is, duh, a hot cup of coffee. Maybe you’re more likely to drink a cup of hot coffee black? All I know is: science and psychology, it’s there.
Koffee & Kpop 