MK2 is a cool looking spot in the neighborhood to the west of Gyeongbokgung palace. The decor is made up of mostly mid-century modern furniture, and they have a Faema E61 espresso machine on which they churn out a pretty decent espresso.
It seems like a really chilled out place to relax and study, do some work, or meet a friend. Very quiet when I visited. The neighborhood has a lot of little trendy cafes, design studios, a used bookstore, etc. Seems like a lot of development is going on around this area, worth checking out more places.
Click here for map and directions.
Head to Gyeongbokgung station, exit 3. Walk straight and make a right down one of the side streets; it’ll be on your left. I can’t recall exactly, I might have placed the map marker on the wrong one. If it’s not that first side street, then it’s the second one further north.
View MK2 Cafe in a larger map
11 comments
Gregory Curley says:
Sep 12, 2010
Great post. Finally a blog that takes after my addiction to the bean!
Martin says:
Sep 26, 2010
Do you have any idea why the coffee-scene is so (comparatively?) good in Korea? I’m living in Shanghai/China since a year and over here… it’s quite sad actually. mk2 looks very neat from European preferences… Nice blog!
Aaron Frey says:
Feb 15, 2011
Keep in mind we’re mainly talking about the capital, Seoul. But I think it’s that cafe culture has taken off in Korea–in some parts of Seoul you’ll have easily 20-30+ cafes of one type or another within walking distance of each other (though most are serving commodity coffee or badly roasted coffee). I think it’s also fairly respectable to run a specialty cafe and be a barista, there’re also a lot of people looking abroad and trying to push quality levels to world class levels (and I think Korea has a good number of world-class cafes and roasters). I can’t speak to China’s coffee scene, but it’s probably a matter of cost, demand, differing levels of development? Koreans are quite wealthy, comparatively, and there’s a huge market to sustain the coffee business here. If you get any insight, please share – it’s an interesting perspective from which to analyze development, culture, etc.
Weekly Snapshots | 9.17.10 « Hermit Hideaways says:
Sep 30, 2010
[…] Nikon’s mid-level digital DSLR packs some serious punch. ♦ Been to plenty of cafes, but this one’s our favourite. ♦ Robert trekked down to Gyeongju and has some sweet snaps to prove it. ♦ Temple food takes […]
whitey says:
Feb 15, 2011
I’ve been to this place a number of times. It is usually quiet. Their carrot cake is quite good.
And, yes, the location is further north. It is on the second large street north of the station, not the first.
jacoba says:
Apr 5, 2011
This is defo a chill spot, they play better than average tunes.
Korea now has had the design for a while, then came the coffee but damn if the music is still wanting for a tune up.
Aaron Frey says:
Apr 5, 2011
Even better, I recently found out their flyer and stuff were designed by the very cool Korean design co, Workroom.
http://www.workroom.kr/
m.t. says:
Dec 4, 2011
thanks for this post! i visited mk2 twice on a recent jaunt to Seoul (the hot chocolate and dark chocolate cake aren’t bad either), and will probably do so again if i ever make it back to the city.
Aaron Frey says:
Dec 5, 2011
Glad to hear it! MK2 is in a fun area to explore.
Bubi says:
Dec 30, 2011
It’s always a plsaerue to hear from someone with expertise.
Tom says:
Jan 15, 2012
Was just checking out your blog for some more tips and realised that you have reviewed MKii which is one of my favourite places where I always go for a crab mayo sandwich, coffee and brownie when up in that part of town. One of the better ones (for vibe and coffee) I think.
Also didn’t realise how many other places you have on your list which I haven’t tried yet. Will have to do a ride and hit some more of them. Particularly want to see that hand built Seattle filter machine.
Tom