Best Specialty Coffee Places in Seoul
There is an abundance of specialty coffee in Seoul, so it’s absolutely impossible to name the best of the best since there are so many coffee shops!
Nevertheless, I did visit quite a few of them on my 9 day trip to Seoul, so here’s a list of my favourite specialty coffee places that I tried.
What I thought was interesting is that many open quite late (at least for me), often around 10 or 11AM. However, they stay open to quite late and it seems a lot of people like to drink coffee in the evening, perhaps after dinner paired with some dessert, which I found surprising. I wouldn’t be able to sleep to be honest!
MAAT Specialty Coffee
Probably this one was my favourite coffee shop in Seoul, and I’m not exactly sure why! The vibe was just generally so nice a cozy; the coffee was great and the owner was super nice (and spoke excellent English!).
The cafe is located in a small street in the Seongsu neighbourhood, and it was so relaxing sipping my coffee while the jazz tunes were playing. It was also one of the few ones that opened rather early, so maybe that’s why I like it so much!
Open daily 8AM - 6PM (weekends 10AM - 7PM)
Low Key Coffee
Another beautiful coffee spot in the Seongsu area, is Low Key coffee. They’ve got amazing filter coffees and the space is quite big so you can easily work from there as well. What I liked about this cafe is that it was indeed low key - it was always very quiet and while the decor is nothing spectacular it just felt really cozy and welcoming.
Open daily 9AM - 6PM
Anthracite Coffee
Anthracite has multiple locations in Seoul; the one I went to was in the Hapjeong area (in Hongdae). Really loved the industrial, kind of dark and moody design vibes and the coffee was excellent. You can also buy coffee beans there. If you go upstairs, there is a massive space and you can easily work from there.
Open daily 9AM - 10PM
Perception
Perception Coffee is an amazing coffee shop located in the Hongdae area. The design of the cafe is aesthetically super pleasing - the wavy wooden panels at the ceiling give the space a somewhat Japanese vibe. The coffee was top-notch as well - definitely try some of their filter coffees. They also have a very crunchy canele, which I highly recommend! Their Tiramisu also looked great - though sadly I didn’t get to try it.
Open daily 9AM - 10PM (On weekends 10AM - 10PM)
Milestone Coffee Roasters
Another great coffee place with two locations in Seoul is Milestone Coffee Roasters. I went to their location in Hannam, which was at a lovely corner in a small side street. As their name suggests, they roast their own coffee, and serve both espresso and filter coffee drinks. They also have some pastries and cakes.
Open daily 10AM to 8:30PM
Center Coffee Seoul Forest
This beautiful cafe is located right at the edge of the Seoul Forest Park, which is located in the Seongsu neighbourhood. They serve great specialty coffee and what’s particularly nice about this cafe is that you can sit at the window and sip your coffee while gazing into the park. It’s also a pretty decent spot to work from.
Open daily 10AM - 9PM (except Mondays closed)
Coffee Nap Roastery
I wasn’t able to check out this one but it was high on my list to visit! It’s supposed to be an excellent coffee shop with high quality coffee.
They are quite famous because of their red brick display inside the shop, which seems to be very unique. Definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in the area!
Open daily 10AM - 9PM (on weekends 11AM - 9AM)
Peer Specialty Coffee
Peer Specialty Coffee is another lovely coffee shop I found in the Seongsu area. I did see that they also have another shop in another location. On top of amazing coffee, they also serve delicious pastries - I had a flaky croissant that was so good.
This cafe is also a great place to work from; I loved the tunes they played and the wifi was really fast. Oh and you can easily self-order from the screen so if you’re an introvert (like me) you don’t even have to talk to anyone! 😄
Location (Seongsu)
Open daily 10:30AM - 8PM (On weekends 12 - 8PM)
EOE Coffee
This beautiful cafe is located close to Bukchon village. I loved the interior design of the cafe - it felt like nature and interior were gorgeously blended together. The coffee was good - they had some great filter coffee. They also serve ice creams, which looked delicious!
Open daily 10AM - 6PM (On Weekends from 11AM - 7PM)
Perlen Specialty Coffee
This one is a bit of special place located in Hongdae: they serve a specialty coffee and dessert Omakase! They seem to specialise in something that is a “Coffee Whiskey”, which is non-alcoholic.
I also thought that the price was really good - just around 24 euros for a three course dessert and coffee pairing! While the coffee is a bit bitter for my taste, I enjoyed the desserts, the ambiance and the service. Highly recommend if you feel like doing something a bit different when in Seoul.
Open daily 12 - 9PM (except Monday closed)
