South Korea the Land of Theme Cafés
One thing countries like South Korea and Japan are famous for, besides their rich culture and fantastic food, is theme cafés. The concept of cafés where you are allowed to pet various animals or do some activities is somewhat unusual for Europe. I always admired the cat cafés I saw on TV and wanted to try them. From my time in Seoul, I know it can be hard to navigate what cafés are good and worth a try. Here are three recommendations of theme cafés in Seoul I have personally visited and liked. So go and check them out!
1. Devils Dice Board Game Café
This is one of my favourite recommendations ever. I come from a family, where we play a lot of board games. My dad has hundreds of card and board games and the collection is continuously growing. Some are more fun, some need to be avoided (in order to keep the peace lol). When travelling abroad it’s usually not really possible to bring big cards or board games with you, so the thought of having a place where I could choose from my favourite board games while enjoying a delicious matcha latte excited me.
There are of course many different board game cafés in Seoul or in South Korea that you can visit. This one is the only one I had time to try. But I’m sure other ones are just as fun. Just make sure to bring some friends.
How does it work?
When you enter the devil dice café it can be a bit overwhelming. The café has various little tables and spaces where you can sit with your friends. Each table has a tablet where you can order your drinks and look through the game catalogue. They also had a paper version of the catalogue and it was hilarious looking through the board games and seeing what we’d recognize.
Before you start playing you have to order a drink per person. That’s quite normal for theme cafés. You either pay an entrance fee and buy a drink or like this board game café you pay for a drink and for the time you spend there. At Devil Dice Café you play as many games as you want and at the end, you pay a fee for the time you’ve been there. I believe the price was around 3,000 KRW per hour. We first didn’t really understand the explanation and thought we had to pay per game. So we went to pay but then wanted to play another game. The misunderstanding was quickly resolved and they gave us our money back so we could pay the full amount at the end.
But before you play you order some drinks and look through the catalogue. To get an employee that brings you a game you can just ring the button on the table. They will come and you can show them what game you want and they will bring it to your table. You can also just go up to the counter and ask for it. We decided to start with some easy games that everyone in our group would know. In total, we played around 3 different games lasting an hour or two and time flew by super quickly. But of course, you can also play a bigger more extensive game and stay there for hours.
How to get to the Devil Dice?
Because I lived in Gangnam I’ve only seen the branch that is close to exit 11 of Gangnam station. But devil dice has multiple branches in and outside of Seoul. Here’s a list of them.
The one I went to and liked was located very close to Gangnam station. The entrance was a bit hidden next to a restaurant and you had to take the elevator to get to the café. If you’re looking for signs saying Devil Dice you will find it easily.
Address: 29 Teheran-ro 1-gil, Gangnam-gu
Or open directly in
2. The Walz Dog Café in Gangnam
This was the very first theme café I tried in my first week of being in Korea. We had no idea how things work and also not how to tell if something is a good café.
I’ve visited a few dog cafés during my time in Seoul and I noticed one thing. If it’s a good place they will give you some type of instructions on how to pet the animals and what you are not allowed to do. It’s for the animals’ protection but also for you. Some dogs/cats/animals don’t like to be lifted up or touched on their head and will react harshly if you still do it.
Sometimes the cafés give you treats or little toys to play with. But some dogs just love being cuddled or pet. In the Walz dog café, the dogs were so friendly and happy to be pet and just wanted to be cuddled. This one black dog just wanted to lie on my lap. After a while, I wanted to get up and drink my coffee but he crawled right back on my lap. It was adorable (in the picture below you can see my genuine reaction).
How does it work?
Most animal cafés generally work the same. You pay some type of entrance fee and order a drink and you can stay and pet the dogs. However, sometimes there are limitations to how long you can stay, like in one cat café that we visited you paid for like 2 hours. They didn’t really check though how long we have been staying. But personally, an hour or two is enough anyway.
At the Walz café, I paid 14,000 KRW for the entrance fee and an iced coffee.
How to get to the Walz Dog Café?
Address: 134 Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Or open directly in
3. Paint Café
A friend of mine actually found this paint café in Seoul and asked us if we wanted to join her and paint something. It was one of my last days in Seoul and I liked the idea of just sitting down, painting and reflecting (although I was probably more complaining about how ugly my drawing was lol).
It’s so much fun to do with friends and to see how their paintings grow and change. We also saw a couple that did this as a date activity. They were so cute painting together that I almost threw up.
How does it work?
At the café, you can get a drink (as in most cafés). They offer canvases where you can either get a template or an empty canvas. I decided to go with a template as I had no idea what I wanted to draw. They even gave me a coloured-in picture of the template so I had an idea of what colours I could use. I went with similar colours. It obviously ended up looking completely different.
You will also get a painting apron and you can put on other things if you feel like it. (I thought the beret was a nice touch). After you are happy with your painting they will dry it for you and put it into a plastic bag so you can safely take it home without any accidents.
How to get to the Paint Café?
Address: Olympic-ro 10-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul
Or open directly in
4. Letter Café
Here’s a little bonus for you. I know this is a recommendation I have already published in my post about chain café alternatives in Seoul. But this café is just so cool, that I think everyone should visit it. Here are two reasons why:
- I love the idea of writing a letter to your future self. I’ve done some variations of this before and it’s always fascinating to see how differently you think and write even with just a few months in between, let alone a whole year.
- The coffee there is fantastic and vegan. I love drinking coffee with oat or soy milk but in Seoul, I found it surprisingly hard to find cafés where they served milk alternatives. And if they did it was hard to ask for it. (If you know a great place that serves alternative milk in Seoul let me know!).
How to get to the Letter Café?
There are two different cafés like that in Seoul.
Address: 24 Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Gyeongbokgung)
Address: 18-12, Sinheung-ro 15-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (Close to Namsam Park)
Or open directly in (café close to Gyeongbokgung):
If you’re more interested in normal cafés but are sick of all the chain cafés try this list of recommendation of alternatives to chain cafés.
Angela
Angela, the mastermind behind theslowtravelista, is a passionate traveler who embraces slow travel's essence. With a knack for immersing herself in diverse cultures, she treasures connections formed across the globe. Beyond her adventures, Angela's vibrant personality shines through her love for spontaneous hair changes, hitchhiking escapades, and culinary delights. Join her for travel insights, laughter, and unforgettable adventures.
