14 Coffee Shops And Cafes In South Korea Featured In Korean Dramas To Relive The Magic

Felicia Dei

Last updated 12 Mar 2024

Cafes in South Korea featured in Korean Dramas

If you're a huge fan of Korean Dramas, it'll come as no surprise to you that you can already tell that South Korea is a dreamland for cafes and coffee shops. Apart from Instagram-worthy food and interior, South Korea is also known to have some of the best coffee in Asia.

Though we are unable to jet off to South Korea right now to visit some of your favorite K-Drama filming locations, you might want to add some of these cafes onto your South Korea bucket list. From What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim to The World of Married, here are 14 must-visit cafes featured in your favorite k-dramas.

Helsinki Espresso Bar
Cafe Zino
Foresta Book Cafe
Alex the Coffee
Oriole
White Birch Story Tea Cafe
Sasimgadeuk
The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince
Creativity Garden
C'est Real Cafe
Cafe Island in the Woods
Cafe Poete
Arriate Tea House
Hesse Boulangerie

1. Helsinki Espresso Bar

Viewers of The World of Married and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? would be familiar with this sleek, European-style cafe Helsinki Espresso Bar. In World of Married, Ye-Rim and Sun-woo meet to discuss her ongoing marital issues. While in the latter, Park Min Young meets up with school friends in a cafe called ‘Belsinki’ - which is actually Helsinki Espresso Bar.

Helsinki Espresso Bar

Address: 10 Jeongjail-ro 213beongil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

2. Cafe Zino / Chocolatier Zino

If you’ve watched even a handful of Korean Dramas, you would’ve most likely seen a clip of Cafe Zino already. We guess it’s pretty popular amongst K-Drama location scouts considering it’s been featured in 18 K-Dramas to date, according to Koreandramaland.com - including Crash Landing On You, What’s Wrong Secretary Kim?, and most notably, Goblin.

Cafe Zino’s grandiose European style is often used as a backdrop for upscale dining and formal settings.

Cafe Zino

Address: 94-5 Daedong-ri, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

3. Foresta Book Cafe

Who wouldn’t want to dine here? With floor to ceiling windows and an entire wall covered in books, this definitely makes for a cafe atmosphere we’d be down to visit all the time!

Foresta Book Cafe has been featured in several dramas, including the finale of Park Seo Joon’s She Was Pretty.

Foresta Book Cafe

Address: 59-6 Heyrimaeul-gil, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do

4. Alex the Coffee (Goyang Branch)

Many would most likely remember this cafe from an iconic scene in What’s Wrong Secretary Kim? Lead actors Park Seo Joon and Park Min Young were on a lunch date at Alex the Coffee when they were spotted by a colleague’s friend.

Alex the Coffee (Goyang Branch)

Address: 103-30 Tongil-ro 493beonan-gil, Sinwon-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do

5. Oriole

In case you missed it, Oriole was actually used as the fictional ‘DanBam’ restaurant (with the famous Tofu Stew dish) owned by Park Seo Joon’s character. But apart from Itaewon Class, this cafe-bar has actually been used as a set location for several other K-Dramas in the same year of production.

The best feature of Oriole would have to be its rooftop bar! In fact, this part of the cafe-bar is actually what’s featured frequently in the dramas.

Oriole

Address: 43 Sinheung-ro 20-gil, Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

6. White Birch Story Tea Cafe

White Birch Story Tea Cafe is nestled in a narrow alleyway deep inside the bukchon village of Samcheong-dong. It might as well be the area’s best kept secret, masking its quirky and cosy interior behind a traditional hanok exterior.

The quirky cafe charmed its way into the silver screen - and fans of Goblin, most especially, are likely to recognize both inside and outside of this cafe. It was also featured in Dae Jang Geum Is Watching and Touch Your Heart.

White Birch Story Tea Cafe

Address: 74-15 Yulgok-ro 1-gil, Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

7. Sasimgadeuk

Over at the idyllic neighborhood of Yeomni-dong, you’ll find a small yet uniquely designed cafe called Sasimgadeuk. Sasimgadeuk features a hanok exterior as well, however it incorporates notes of modern architecture through the glass windows and abstract line chairs. It also doubles as a wine bar at night, too!

This cafe-wine bar is featured in the very first episode of Netflix’s My Holo Love where Han So-Yeon (Ko Sung-hee) encounters Holo, an AI hologram, for the first time.

Sasimgadeuk

Address: 11-3 Baekbeom-ro 24-gil, Yeomni-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

8. The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

We can’t do a K-Drama Cafes piece and not include the iconic coffee shop in Coffee Prince! In the OG K-Drama series, Gong Yoo’s character runs a cafe, 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, where the female pretends to be male to land a part-time job.

1st Shop of Coffee Prince

Address: 5 Wusan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

9. Creativity Garden

Post-Goblin, fans petitioned for a Lee Dong-Wook - Yoo In-Na drama - and they got it. Touch Your Heart is filled with romantic scenes that we haven’t gotten ever, including a very specific cafe date where Lee Dong Wook’s character gifts Yoon In-Na jewelry.

Some might have been blinded by the matching necklace and earring - Creativity Garden caught our eyes! The remodeled hanok was given the simplest modern touch through minimalist furniture and surrounding glass windows. A perfect date location if you ask us!

Creativity Garden

Address: 6-5 Baekseokdong-gil, Buam-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

10. C’est Real Cafe

This quaint neighborhood cafe C'est Real Cafe was featured in the K-Drama hit series W-Two Worlds, chosen as a meeting place for the main characters Lee Jong-Suk and Han Hyo-Joo.

In another drama, On the Way to the Airport, the cafe was a frequent scene-stealer as the characters visited regularly, supporting a colleague who manages the shop.

C’est Real Cafe

Address: 1572-7 Beopheung-ri, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do

11. Cafe Island in the Woods

Cafe Island in the Woods will put you in a trance - that’s if you see it right away. The charming cafe exterior is covered in green vines, camouflaging it to its forest-y surroundings.

The cafe was featured in multiple K-Dramas through the years, including Another Miss Oh and Cinderella and Four Knights.

Cafe Island in the Woods

Address: 14-14 Aenigol-gil, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do

12. Cafe Poeté

Cafe Poete holds quite the history, Not only has it been featured in K-Dramas like Weightlifting Fairy Kim-Bok-Joo, Ex-Girl-friends’ Club, Plus Nine Boys Love Rain, and The Snow Queen - it has also gone through multiple name changes.

Before renaming to Cafe Poete, it was formerly Cafe Blute, and before that Four Season House, and originally Yoon’s Color. For a while it also exhibited the props and sets of the popular four-part drama series: Autumn in My Heart, Winter Sonata, Summer Scent and Spring Waltz.

Cafe Poete

Address: 12 Wausan-ro 14-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

13. Arriate Tea House

The Arriate Tea House was featured several times through the MBC series I’m Not a Robot. In fact, they note that it’s one of Ye Ri-El’s favorite cafes and we can definitely see why. Decorated with greenery and floral arrangements in every nook and cranny - we’re pretty sure she doesn’t just go for her ‘apple tea’.

Arriate Tea House

Address: 520 Nonhyeon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

14. Hesse Boulangerie

There’s so much to love about Hesse Boulangerie, a book cafe featured in WWW, Touch Your Heart, and most notably, Romance is a Bonus Book.

First, the cafe exterior boasts a unique shadow-art type mural so you can check off ‘instagrammable’ on your list. Second, it's got both an indoor and outdoor space suitable for any dining preference, and finally, it doubles as a bookstore and is actually located close to the Forest of Wisdom library.

Hesse Boulangerie