Cafes Abound in South Korea

I remember back in 2001 when I first traveled to Europe, the only place I could find a big cup of strong coffee was at McDonalds. I went to countless cafes and always ended up with a teeny tiny demi-tasse of espresso or a large bowl full of cafe au lait.

Coffee has taken over the world since 17 years have passed and it has become a beverage of choice for many including Koreans (thank God).

A popular South Korean cafe is Paris Baguette where you can find yourself a sweet or savory snack & coffee. They offer adorable take out coffee cups with a Parisienne character clearly who has joie de vivre.

In the above, I snapped a pic of the Paris Baguette less than a five minute walk to my brother’s place.

I remember when I came to Daejeon, South Korea in 2012 and there were a number of cafes, but it was once again more specialty coffees like a caramel macchiato or a latte, but now in 2018 you can order a straight up coffee or an Americano just about anywhere. Even at a convenience store; you can pick up some ramen noodles and coffee to boot!

Another popular cafe in South Korea is Angel in Us Coffee. It is a strange name for a cafe, but quite popular and several are set up across the country.

They have angel winged back cozy chairs to snuggle up in and it would be a great spot to sip on a coffee and read a good book.

Even their lamps are decked out with the Angel in us Coffee logo and the cage is in the shape of a mug. Adorbs, I know…

You can also order some simple food like sandwiches or pastries and of course other non-alcoholic beverages if you don’t fancy coffee.

My sister in-law and I went to Nonsan on Friday to visit the Mr. Sunshine TV set and in the Glory Hotel they had a Dal.Komm cafe inside the hotel where you could order coffee, tea or a cold juice to drink. It was pricey but the fact a cafe was set up to serve tourists just goes to show you how popular coffee is considered a necessity.

Of course in any major city of South Korea you will find your standard number of good old American Starbucks, but the menu items are quite different including the beverages offered.

I had an Americano with green tea cake which was delicious. A sweet treat I cannot purchase in Canada is always fun to try.

The juices and sandwiches are different from what you will find in the US or Canada and some of the lattes offered were unfamiliar to me. You can still have sugar with your hot or cold beverage of choice but they offer simple syrup if this is your preference.

There are many more cafes I did not feature in this blog and because of the priciness of take out coffee in Korea, I brewed my own at my brother’s place. I would say a common price point for an Americano at size medium ran between 4,000 wan to 5,000 wan which is like four dollars and some change to five dollars and some change. Presently, the Korean wan is worth more than the Canadian dollar if you were to look at 1,000 wan to one dollar.

I bet you are now in the mood for a hot cup of java. Go for it and enjoy.

Peace & Love – Rachel