La Caffe in Seoul, Korea
UPDATE: La Caffe’s owner writes in the comments below: “Big thanks to all our lovely customers. LaCaffe currently closed. We are renovating to cafe related business workshop, not cafe. See you soon with big news.” La Caffe is a restaurant and cafe hidden away in the neighborhood near Wangsimni station. I heard that they had...
Lugo Coffee
Lugo is a well appointed cafe in the huge Garden 5 shopping mall, complete with their own roaster in shop, La Cimbali and Ditting espresso set up, as well as kit for hand drip. Combining the two main Korean cafe trends, they offer all their coffees (around ~10 single origins) as either espresso shots or...
Choi Ga
I’ve been keeping an eye out for good coffee on the northeast side of Seoul, but so far I’d only been able to find Star City’s Star Kitchen and Lotte Mall’s Cantata kiosk, which are above average, but nothing to go out of your way for. Then I came across a post at Jihye Chang’s...
Dallmayr Kaffee
Dallmayr is a German coffee company that has several cafes in Seoul. I tried visiting their Gangnam location, but it’s either out of business or being renovated. Their Nambu Terminal location is open, however, and it’s unique and quirky, even by Korean standards. With its operatic sound track, dark interior and antique accoutrements, it’s not...
Coffeelab
Coffeelab is a quirky specialty cafe located in Hongdae and run by Bang Jong Koo. I’ve only been there twice – the first time just long enough to drop in and try a single espresso. I finally made it back this weekend. Click below for my thoughts and photos. Click here to continue reading!
Seoul Grand Hyatt & Guerilla Brewing Tactics
Our friends Seung Jin and Diane are blogging their way through a gastronomic exploration of Seoul’s culinary landscape, which led Claire and me to a nice Sunday brunch at the Grand Hyatt last weekend. The food and setting was very nice, and perhaps it was just the company influencing my perception, but I’d say the...
Black Cat Espresso
I got a ton of Intelligentsia’s Black Cat espresso in the mail, so I took a bag to my friend’s cafe to play around with. They only have one grinder so I didn’t have much time to play with the grind, but I did have one of my hand mills with me (a Kalita with...
Caffe Themselves – Roasting
I picked up a couple bags of coffee on my last visit to Caffe Themselves (read my review here) – labeled “Indonesia Mandheling” and “Brazil Cup of Excellence #25.” It’s too bad that they aren’t labeled more specifically. After a little searching online I figured out that the Brazil is from Fazenda Djanira. Can’t tell...
Coffee Factory
Coffee Factory is one of my favorite cafes in Korea. It’s in the popular Samcheongdong neighborhood around Gyeongbokgung palace, the Presidential Blue House, and a number of foreign consulates. It’s an upscale but unpretentious area that blends traditional and modern Korean culture with its various art galleries, old and new architecture, tea houses and coffee...
Republic of Coffee – Kenya & Costa Rica
I received these two coffees from Lee Jong Hoon (Korean Barista Champion ’09) and his girlfriend and partner Seol Mi Gyeong, who run Republic of Coffee together. Two great people and very dedicated coffee professionals that I feel privileged to have met! The Kenya AA Top Mchana is complex and fruity. Dry red wine is...
Paradise Roasters
One tactic for coffee fiends in Korea is to ship coffee from the states. Compared to the ~$30/lb price you pay here, it can be just as economical. And unless you’ve found a competent and well sourced roaster in Korea (see our reviews here), it’ll probably be much more interesting coffee, roasted with more finesse...
Caffe Themselves
When I came to Korea in 2007 for a summer at Yonsei University, I was excited to see that Seoul is jammed full of cafes – in fact, I don’t think there’s any place in this city where you’re more than a five minute walk from a cup of coffee (if you know of a...
