Seoul is a city of 9 million coffee drinkers. While cafes can be found at almost any corner of the street, quantity does not translate to quality. Coffee Hanyakbang is one of our favourite cafe visits in Seoul due to its location, and charming interior.
Coffee Hanyakbang in Seoul
While Coffee Hanyakbang is located in the busy Euljiro area of Seoul – the cafe is not visible from the streets.
The coffee shop is hidden behind old shophouses – accessible through a narrow alleyway from Euljiro 9 gil.
Just look for the alleyway next to Shillawon restaurant (or just check out our Instagram reel) to get to the cafe.
Rustic decor, old Shanghai feels
Coffee Hanyakbang immediately stands out with its choice of decor which befits its hidden location.
Exposed concrete ceiling and peeling walls are matched by authentic Chinese and Korean antiques – imported specially by the cafe owners.
Furnitures on display here include a Chinese medicine cabinet, ornamental wall dividers, and grandfather clocks.
In fact, the name Hanyakbang “한약방” is a translation of traditional Korean medicine room.
Manually roasted, dripping like it’s hot
Hanyakbang roasts its own beans manually at the back of the cafe, and offers single-origin beans for patrons to take home.
While the cafe is known for their hand-drip coffees, we decided to get their latte (decent!) and share a dessert.
Mont blanc
Hanyakbang offers a great selection of pastries and desserts – from delicate financiers to grapefruit tarts and chocolate truffles.
Upon recommendation, we shared the Mont Blanc (KRW8).
This dessert tasted as lovely as it looked – fresh chestnut encased with bread-like sponge cake, and finished with mousse.
We enjoyed this a lot due to the many unexpected textures – soft mousse, hints of coconut flakes and chocolate bits, and the earthy crunch of chestnuts.
Summary
We’ve visited a few cafes during our Seoul trip – and still considered Hanyakbang to be one of the best due to its lovely location, rustic decor and good dessert.
Coffee Hanyakbang 커피한약방
Address: 16-6 Samil-daero 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Hours: 10am-10pm (Mon-Fri)
11am-10pm (Sat)
11am-8pm (Sun)
Phone: +82 70-4148-4242
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_hanyakbang/
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