Anyone who has been to Korea (or watched too many K-dramas) would know that Korea has so many café, bakery, and beverage chains!
But if it’s your first time in Korea, how do you know which ones are worth trying, and what should you order at each of these places?
Hence, I created a guide to these chains. This is not an exhaustive list, and of course is really dependent on my personal taste preferences!
I’ll also update this as and when I try new stuff, so bookmark this page and check back often!
Suggested read: Best Coffee Shops in Seoul You Need to Visit
A Twosome Place
You can find coffee chain A Twosome Place almost everywhere in Korea, although I would think it’s more prevalent in Seoul (correct me if I’m wrong).
Their coffee wasn’t super memorable, but I did like this Chili Sausage Baguette Sandwich!
They are more famous for their cakes though, and they did look pretty nice but I wasn’t planning on eating cakes after touching down. Will try them next time!
Must-try: Pastries
Caffè Pascucci
An Italian coffee chain surely serves good coffee. But what I really want to share is their fantastic bingsu, which is really as good as Sulbing‘s. They really don’t scrimp on the ingredients!
I cn also testify that eating bingsu from Caffè Pascucci is a very good way to refresh yourself in the unbearably hot summer.
The only downside is that this café is not as common in Korea (at least, from my experience). You probably have to do some research if you want to find one of these.
Must-try: Bingsu (summer)
Cafe Knotted
This is a very popular local donut café chain in Korea that I found out about recently.
Their stores are always very packed and have long queues. This is because their donuts come in a variety of whimsical flavours and are chock full of cream!
The cream doesn’t taste cloying or oily or overly sweet. The dough is also chewy and fluffy enough and has a good amount of sugar frosting.
Must-try: Earl Grey & Mint Choco
Dunkin’ Donuts
I’m not a big fan of Dunkin Donuts’ coffee, but of course their donuts are really quite unbeatable.
I think most of them are quite standard offerings. If you want to spend your calories on something unique, go for the specials, such as these ones with LINE characters (printed on chocolate).
One of these will set you back by about SGD2. Slightly pricey, but I think still worth trying!
Must-try: Korea-exclusive donuts
Ediya Coffee
This is another café chain that you will find everywhere. Literally every district, and every neighbourhood has an Ediya. This is inevitable for a chain with over 1,000 stores in Korea!
If you are heading to Korea in winter, my recommendations are definitely the chocolate and mocha drinks.
Their white chocolate is amazingly good! Sweet and hot enough to warm you on the inside, yet not so cloying that you feel like you’re fast-tracked for diabetes.
Must-try: Chocolate & mocha drinks
Gong cha
Gong cha is probably not new to many of us, but Korea’s version is seriously a game-changer.
Personally, I think their hot teas are generally all very good. Their iced offerings can get a little too sweet (I used to order 50% sugar), so I recommend you order 0 or 25% instead.
The downside: Gong cha in Korea is pretty pricey, especially compared to other Asian countries.
I think the prices of some offerings are definitely worth it, though you may want to stick to drinking the more ‘conventional’ beverages in your home country instead.
Must-try: Hot earl grey milk tea
Hollys Coffee
I was previously never hooked on iced mint chocolate. That is, not until I had a taste of Hollys Coffee’s!
I tried the hot version of this in 2017, but didn’t like it very much. Fast forward to 2018: I ordered it again, but the iced version this time round. It was a fantastic combo that I’ve tried to find in many other places, but nothing comes even remotely close.
Plus, I love the small, lovely touches that Hollys Coffee provides. All our drinks came with cookies, and you can see that mine is shaped like a Christmas tree (because Xmas season). So cute!
Must-try: Iced mint choco
Isaac Toast
I might be cheating a little to put Isaac Toast on this list. But to be fair, it is a sandwich café chain of sorts!
They are extremely famous for their specialty sandwiches that come with this secret (?) sweet sauce. Filled to the brim with ingredients and barely making a dent in your wallet, it’s little wonder that they opened so many branches across Korea.
Must-try: Potato
Juicy
If you feel guilty about all that tea and coffee you are drinking everyday, you can always switch things up with fruit juice from what is possibly the biggest juice chain in Korea.
I strongly recommend trying this out, especially in summer when the heat gets unbearable while you shop.
However, I can’t guarantee that your experience with Juicy will be the same at every store.
Must-try: Mango juice
Mangosix
I first saw this café in K-drama Heirs, and it was then that I decided to mark this down on my Korea checklist.
Granted, Mangosix is more famous for their mango offerings. However, I simply couldn’t resist getting milk tea.
Mangosix’s milk tea is surprisingly good, almost as good as any other bubble (boba) tea shop’s, just sans bubbles. I’m just not a big fan of their coffee though.
Update: I’m not sure if they still operate in Korea, but I do hear that they kept their overseas branches!
Must-try: Iced milk tea
Mega Coffee
These drinks and coffees in Korea actually aren’t cheap, even though they are truly omnipresent. There are 2 notable exceptions: Paik’s Coffee, and Mega Coffee.
Mega Coffee serves truly GIGANTIC drinks. They are not even kidding when they label their beverages as ‘BIG SIZE 2 SHOT’, because these are really about double the size of your average drink.
The price, however, is not even double. You can easily get one of these for about 3000 won (SGD4), and it still costs less than your bubble tea in Singapore. Amazing.
I do suggest, however, that you don’t drink so much coffee (you would be seriously in danger for caffeine poisoning) and instead opt for their Ades.
Must-try: Ades
Paik’s Coffee
Probably one of the most famous chains on this list, Paik’s Coffee is also probably my favourite.
You will find a Paik’s Coffee almost anywhere, especially in areas where the young crowd hangs out. Why? For 1 simple reason: its low prices!
Paik’s Coffee is seriously unbeatable when you factor in the convenient locations, extensive menu, low prices, and the good quality & taste.
I can’t even find anything bad to comment on this chain, and I foresee that it will definitely continue to be popular among the student population.
Must-try: Green grape flower tea (summer)
Paris Baguette
Another one of my personal top favourites, Paris Baguette is a café chain that you will find everywhere, and I really mean everywhere.
The difference between this and Paik’s Coffee is that you can have a complete meal here and enjoy the ambience, while the latter is really more of a buy-and-go stall.
The coffees here are so-so, a little watered-down sometimes, but the pastries and cakes here are a WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL. Believe me, I can’t even get enough of this back in Singapore.
The only thing stopping me? The expensive prices.
Must-try: Pastries
Starbucks
When you have so much variety and cafés to benchmark against, it becomes glaringly obvious that Korea’s Starbucks pales in comparison by a huge margin.
You get mostly the same offerings as any other Starbucks around the world, with the occasional seasonal specials, which I frankly wasn’t a fan of.
Also read: Starbucks Secret Menu: Unique Drinks You Need to Try
Must-try: ?
Sulbing
Sulbing is widely recognised as the chain that started the bingsu craze, so you can’t say you’ve eaten bingsu in Korea if it doesn’t include Sulbing.
It’s extremely popular even with the locals, and it’s not hard to see why. They are super creative, and super generous with their bingsu offerings. Their Yogurt Tong Tong Melon Sulbing is the most famous, and one that you definitely need to try for yourself.
You can also look out for their seasonal specials, the most common being watermelon and peach in summer.
Must-try: Yogurt Tong Tong Melon Sulbing
Tous Les Jours
Its Wikipedia page classifies it as a French-Asian bakery, so I highly recommend that you check out their pastries.
Their coffee is okay – I would say about the same standard as Paris Baguette? The difference is that Tous Les Jours branches are much less prevalent.
It’s definitely not to say that they are super hard to find: it just means you are more likely to find a Paris Baguette than a Tous Les Jours!
Must-try: Milk Cream Cornet
Metcha
While people normally associate matcha with Japan, Korea does have good matcha offerings too! Other than Osulloc, one cafe I frequent is Metcha in Myeongdong.
METCHA 맷차 is a matcha-specialty café that started out with just one branch in Ulsan, and has since expanded to Gwangju, Daejeon, and Seoul.
Solid matcha that doesn’t taste bitter nor too sweet. Their matcha lattes are as good as they look and this place is ALWAYS very crowded.
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