Ddo-ong Cafe (poop cafe), Insadong

Poo. Dung. Faeces. Number two.

No matter how you put it, in the wise words of Taro Gomi, "everyone poops" and there ain't no shame in that. In fact, pooping is a ritual that should be celebrated. (It's far better than being constipated, is it not?) So.. If you're an open-minded cool cat who's down for glorifying poop in its resplendent nature, then Ddo-ong Cafe in Insadong is the perfect place for you.

The theme of the place is poo and, in true Asian style, it takes excrement and portrays it in the cutest way possible -- using swirly spirals, cartoon faces, and a multitude of toilet-shaped decorations.

A poop pole and a message tree

The wisest words I have ever heard

Paying homage to the humble squat toilet. Hurrah!

Toilet door

Drinks range from 4,800 to 7,000 won and you can request your hot drink to come in a toilet-shaped mug. (If you don't make any requests, it'll simply come out in a regular mug with poop decorations on it.)

Rose latte, 5,500 won, dark chocolate latte, 6,500 won,
and a poop scone, 800 won.

Another view of the poopy goodness.

Can't get over the adorable poop latte art. XD

If you like the toilet mug enough, you can purchase it for 20,000 won, along with other mugs that have various poop decorations printed on them.

I personally loved that my rose latte came with an actual rose in it and a big, white, smiley-faced turd. Talk about amazing (*cough* Instagram-worthy) presentation. Here's a closer shot for good measure:

You can probably tell that my drink was stone cold by the time I drank it because I was too busy being a photo-whore. u__u;; Still, it was pretty good. Combining coffee and roses definitely made for an interesting and unusual flavour.

Cafe counter & interior

I'm a sucker for any place with succulents

All in all, the cafe has a nice atmosphere and is a great place to lounge about with friends. If you're flying solo, it's still a nice, chill place where you can sit down and ponder the deeper questions in life. You know, matters such as who created the spiral shape that's so synonymous across Asia with poop? Is there anyone or anything that has ever dropped a dingleberry in a perfect spiral?

Yeeees. Deep thinking, this stuff is.



Ddo-ong Cafe, Insadong
Hours: 10am - 9pm
Address: 서울시 종로구 관훈동 38 쌈지길건물 4층 (4th floor, Ssamziegil Building, 38 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Anguk Station exit 6, take the first left into Insadong and continue down the street until you see the Ssamziegil complex on the left. Ddo-ong Cafe is on the fourth floor.

Blind Alley (raccoon cafe), Sookmyung Women's University

Move along, cats and dogs... the raccoons are here to take over! Yes, you read that right.

Raccoons. At a COFFEE SHOP.

Because dog and cat cafes are so five years ago. *Valley girl accent*

Now I'm no animal expert but when I first heard about this, it worried me a little that someone would want to combine raccoons and coffee together in the same place. What came to mind when hearing the word "raccoon" was always something like this:

Image credits: africageographic.com

We don't have raccoons in Australia, so I'd kind of imagined them to be snarly, disease-ridden little beasts that gave zero f*cks about anything.. a bit like the honey badger.

Well, as it turns out, they're more like this:

Cheeky, naughty little critters, but undeniably adorable.. a bit like a a rascally puppy. I learned this after going to Blind Alley near Sookmyung Women's University, where you can get up close and personal with the cafe's two pet raccoons.

The cafe itself is cosy and comfortable with plenty of warm brown decor, and it has lots of very reasonably priced drinks. WINNING.

But let's not pretend. We all know you're really just here for the raccoons. :P They're kept in a separate section of the cafe and for obvious reasons, you can't take any food or drinks in there. 

Note: Children under 16 are not allowed to enter.

Watching the two critters ferreting around was actually kind of therapeutic. :3

A scuffle broke out over ownership of the tea towel.

So much chill!

Getting a whiff of my gnarly toes. Poor fella.

Of course the biggest concern with animal cafes is whether the animals are well treated and properly cared for. From what we could see, the raccoons here both looked happy as they had plenty of toys, lots of space and things to climb, and their own enclosure to hide in, away from prying human eyes. When one of the cafe staff came in to feed them treats, it was also clear from the way they interacted that they had a good relationship. It was nice to know that this wasn't just some dodgy, abusive circus show.

Begging for treats.. just like doggies.

A final note though... Avoid entering or exiting the area if you can see the raccoons are near the doors. The enclosure is double gated (and for good reason), but the raccoons can still get through and this is what happens when they do:

Om nom nom.. sugar and ice cream for all! O__O

Blind Alley, Sookdae

Hours: 9am - 10:30pm

Address: 서울시 용산구 청파동2가 63-20 (63-20 Cheongpa-dong2ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)

Directions: From Sookmyung Women's University Station, exit 10, make a U-turn and take the first right. Keep following this road straight for about 5 minutes, passing through the tunnel and crossing at the intersection. Blind Alley will be on your right, before you reach the university campus.

CaFace (selfie latte cafe), Hongdae

If there's one thing Koreans love doing, it's taking selfies. Anytime, anywhere, ain't no shame in snapping a picture of your own mug... Ha ha hahhh. Hah. *cough*

 
So... Taking this blatant love of self photography and combining it with the fact that Korea is no stranger to kookily themed places, it stands to reason that someone would eventually open up a selfie-themed cafe, right?

Well, at CaFace in Hongdae you can have your selfie and drink it too. Here's how:

First, select your drink from the menu. Prices range from 3,000 won to 5,000 won, and there's an added 2,500 surcharge to have your photo printed on the drink. (At the time we visited, the owner told us photos could only be printed on cold drinks.)

Next, step into the photo booth beside the counter and take your selfie. Use the tick button on the screen to send the photo to the counter where it'll be printed onto your latte using a food printer.

Finally, pick up your drink when it's done and proceed to take more photos of your own face (in latte form).

Here is an excellent stalker picture of the owner focusing on our latte as it goes through the printer. Hoho!

I went there with my monkey son on the last afternoon of her holiday here, and this was the end result of much monkeying around:

We are goons, yes.

One thing that I really liked about the cafe: there was no shortage of power outlets, so if you need to charge your phone or have some important work to do on your laptop, you can come along and plug in just about anywhere.

Sooo many outlets... >:F

They also have big, fancy booths with comfy padded seating:

I'm not sure how this cafe will fare come winter time when subzero temperatures set in and people start drinking hot lattes instead of cold... Then again, maybe people's love for selfies will outweigh the discomfort of freezing their insides with icy drinks in the middle of winter?
We shall see, eh?



CaFace, Hongdae
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 358-51 (358-51 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Website: www.facebook.com/caface.seoul
Directions: From Hongdae Station exit 9, take the second left. Cross over to the side with Forever 21, and take the third right. Go straight and take the third left. Follow the alley up and you'll see CaFace on your left.

Bangaun Salon de Thé, Nonhyeon

There is a very lovely little cafe in Nonhyeon that I've been visiting for a few months now called "Salon de Thé". Because I am such a goon with foreign languages, it took me the longest time to realise that the name means "tea room" in French. Previously (and again, blame my goonish-ness), I had thought the words were Spanish and was puzzled as to why the cafe always had French music playing in the background. Yeah. I is a n00b. -___-

Anyway, now that I have been enlightened, it makes total sense, and I'd say "tea room" is an entirely appropriate name for the place. It is, quite literally, a small room that has been converted into a cafe. Don't let that put you off though. What it lacks in size and space, it makes up for with its lovely atmosphere, great range of loose leaf teas, and adorable animal-shaped cushions.

Tea samples for sniffing

Spot the squirrel cushion!

More decorative crockery than you can shake a stick at!

Hello, little friend. :3

The other thing that really floats my boat is how reasonably priced this place is. While some cafes will charge you ludicrous prices for a cup of tea (for which they simply take a paper cup of hot water and dump in a teabag stuffed with dust and fannings), this place gives you proper loose leaf tea, steeped for an appropriate amount of time and served in beautiful crockery upon a fancy doily. How's that for making you feel classy?

Hot tea is served like so

Cold tea comes in generously sized mugs

Fruit salad

Did I also mention the staff there are awesome? There's one lady I see each time and she's always uber friendly and cheerful. :3 I think I'll definitely have to make an effort to visit here more often before I leave.



Bangaun Salon de Thé, Nonhyeon
Hours: 11:30am - 7pm, Mon - Fri
Address: 서울시 서초구 반포동 720-3 (720-3 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul)
Website:  http://blog.naver.com/bangaun_the
Directions: From Nonhyeon Station exit 3, take the first right then take the second left. Keep going straight and you'll see the cafe on your right.

My Juice, Hongdae

These days, it feels like it's just one wacky thing after another with my body. It's as though all my internal organs have turned on me, in some kind of outlandish conspiracy with the foods I love. Bread leads to yeast infections. Dairy makes me flatulent. Coffee leaves a lovely, unpalatable coating on the back of my tongue... Wah, wah, wah. And all this leads to the sadface question: what's a girl to drink at a cafe if coffee and milk are out?

"Well," you might say, "there's always juice?"

And juice there is!

Enter My Juice, a new-ish cafe chain that has been popping up a lot lately on Korean blogs and various forms of social media. Apart from the obvious appeal of selling freshly squeezed juice, which is healthy, the other attraction (I gather) is that the juice comes served in plastic drink bottles that resemble "My Bottle" (those ones that cost upwards of 30,000 won a pop). These My Juice bottles are recyclable and reusable, and you can take advantage of a nice 500 won discount if you bring yours back to use on your next visit.

Spinach, apple, & pineapple juice, 5,300 won

The procedure to fill your belly with juicy goodness is simple. Choose your bottle size, choose your ingredients (up to three), and pay up.

There's a decent variety of fruit and vegetables available, and for indecisive folks (like me) who go through great ordeals when having to decide on just about anything, the posters with recommended combinations definitely help to take the brain strain out of choosing.

Another nice thing about My Juice is the layout and design of the place. At the branch I visited in Hongdae, the decorations were simple but modern and chic, with splashes of yellow here and there. Gotta love yellow for positive energy vibes!

Another shot of My Juice. (Hah! See what I did there?)

As for the juice itself... It was tasty but a bit too sweet. I'm not sure if it's because of the ingredients I chose, or if they perhaps add in "natural fruit syrup", as a lot of places seem to do (like Beesket). Maybe next time, I'll opt for two veggies and one fruit instead.

My Juice, Hongdae
Hours: 12pm - 10pm, closed Mondays
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 332-22 (332-22 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.myjuice.co.kr
Directions: From Hongdae Station exit 8, take the first right, go straight for 2 blocks and turn left at the roundabout. When you come to the next roundabout, make a right and then take the first right again. Look out for My Juice on your left, a few metres down.

*Note: My Juice also has branches in Haebangchon, Jongro, and other cities like Busan and Gwangju. Check out their website for details on each location ^^