Mya Kwiatkowski, TEAN: Korea University Spring 2024
If there is anything to be said about Korea, it’s the abundance of cafes there are. Before arriving in Korea, I would star the occasional “You Must Visit These Cafes When You Visit South Korea” videos on Instagram or the alternative “Best Coffee in Seoul: a Guide to Cafes During Your Visit” blog postings. But I was delightedly shocked to see just how many cafes lined the streets of Anam, where Korea University is located. Most of them were chain cafes, but the accessibility to delicious desserts, pastries, and a variety of different drinks made my friends and I very happy. Sticking to what was around campus, there was a 24-hour cafe for students to study and regular cafes with comfortable seating. Even despite the large number of to-go cafes, which were fast and more affordable, going to a sitdown cafe made studying and chit-chatting with friends all the more enjoyable.
In the greater area of Seoul, Korea has a unique cafe culture. There are many animal cafes, a few of them I have been to. The most popular ones are cat cafes, in which you pay for your drink and the entrance fee is included in the price. There tends to be no time limit and, depending on how touristy the day and neighborhood is, native Koreans and foreigners alike all are there to have fun and take pictures. Overarchingly, most Korean cafes seem to serve the purpose of being picturesque—both in atmosphere and food. It became routine for my friends and I to plan our weekend adventures with a cute cafe to start or finish the activities in the place we visited. Or even if we did not leave the Anam area, a new cafe to try was still on our itinerary.
Depending on which cafe you go to, and of what theme, there is usually more than just coffee. I personally am not a fan of coffee, so I opt for a matcha latte most of the time. In the more populated and tourist-centric areas of Seoul, the cafe menus usually have a nice assortment of non-coffee beverages such as teas, ade, or milk tea, which I appreciated. Also, chances are, you’ll run into a croffle (croissant waffle) at many of the cafes—it seems as if it is all the trend now in South Korea, of which I have no complaints… they are always very tasty. Overall, no matter the time or place, a Korean cafe was always in my to-do list of the day.
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