The Best Brunch Spots You Can’t Leave Seoul Without Trying!
While Seoul has an endless number of places to eat, it can be hard to find the perfect brunch spot amidst the chains and fast-food restaurants. These days, young people are discovering popular spots through social media. We created a list of restaurants and cafes that bring you the ultimate trendy brunch experience. For future weekend plans, you will definitely want to explore these trendy brunch spots in Seoul and also visit these unique cafes after your meal.
Grain
In the town of Yeonnam-dong, you can see tiny cafes and stores opening up that cater to the trendy tastes of young people. Different from the bustling streets of Hongdae, Yeonnam-dong offers small, independent stores and you can find many hidden brunch spots here.
If you are looking for a quiet cafe for a nice calming brunch experience, you should definitely try out Grain. Grain is a small brunch cafe that opened about 2 months
They also have open sandwiches with chicken salad, roast beef, smoked salmon, and other options. Just make sure to have your GPS on your phone ready with you at all times, because getting through Yeonnam’s Maze Pathway (known as 미로길) and finding the hidden stores in the allies can get pretty confusing, but definitely worth it.
While it sounds like simple breakfast food, Grain offers a high-quality brunch experience with fresh ingredients and also great taste, and will fill up your stomach while keeping you feel super healthy.
Address: 385-6 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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[Temporarily Closed] Sarr
Although pancakes sound like typical brunch food, the pancakes at Sarr are nowhere near basic. This tiny store looks ordinary from the outside and can be easy to pass by in the alleyway of Yeonnam-dong. However, once you go in, the nicely designed interior will make you will feel like you are in an upscale, fancy brunch restaurant.
This place is not your basic fast-food brunch place. In the open kitchen, one or two workers cook up the pancakes in the open kitchen with precision and care, and the pancakes take about 20 minutes to come out. However, when I visited the restaurant, no guests were complaining, but rather delighted when the pancakes came out and immediately started taking photos. And don’t worry; they are not just pleasing to look at, but smell and taste wonderful too.
The menu consists of five types of pancakes: the house original Sarr Pancake, Banana Pancake, Tiramisu Pancake, Berry Berry Pancake, and Green (Matcha) Pancake. They are as sweet as they sound and can be more for dessert than a full brunch meal depending on your taste, but you will be thankful to have tasted these pancakes no matter what time of day you have them. Sarr also offers a variety of coffee, tea, and other drinks that are also prepared with care.
If you want to have a taste of the fluffiest pancakes that melt in your mouth, enjoy a nice brunch break with a friend or date here, sharing a plate of pancakes along with a nice cup of coffee.
Address: 260-25 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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Bear’s Den
Recently on social media, trending pictures featured a special kind of bread with unique, colorful fillings made to look like certain shapes and paintings. Bear’s Den, which is actually a bakery and cafe, is the home of those breads.
You can find Starry Night Chestnut Bread which has colorful swirls to look like Van Gogh’s painting, along with other colorful breads that taste as good as they look. The special part about Bear’s Den is that you can ask to have the bread you choose sliced up and eat it along with your brunch that you order in the cafe.
The menu offers simple brunch choices but the plates come filled with food. Depending on what you order, you get the salad of the day, bacon, sausage, and eggs on the side. The dishes also have cute names such as Bear’s Plate or Hidden Honey Pot which adds to the quirky experience of eating at Bear’s Den.
If you can’t imagine what rainbow-colored breads taste like, you can give it a try and expect to be surprised at Bear’s Den.
Address: 10-9 Yanghwa-ro 23-gil, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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The Royal Food and Drink
If you need a restaurant with not only a filling brunch made from fresh ingredients, but also with a terrace offering a breathtaking view, The Royal Food and Drink is the place to go. Located high up in the hills of Haebangchon, The Royal Food and Drink is one of the best places for brunch in Seoul.
Their menu features different brunch bowls or plates, several types of sandwiches, along with a few other delicious side dishes and soups. And you know what? Out of 7 brunch options, 4 are VEGAN! All dishes use the best quality fresh ingredients, prepared with care.
But we haven’t gotten to the best part about this place: the terrace and the view! The Royal Food and Drink is inside an older building full of charms, spread over several floors, the top ones being a terrace with a view straight to Namsan Tower and Haebangchon. Get ready for plenty of Instagram-worthy shots!
Address: 406-58 Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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Little Neck
Located in Cheongdam, Little Neck is a cute little restaurant that focuses on healthy, fresh ingredients. Inside, there are posters and drawings of fruits and vegetables on the walls that only make you feel healthier while eating delicious food.
While the restaurant is not very big and not too fancy, you can tell they definitely put an effort into the aesthetics. The plants, decorations, walls, and furniture all go very well together and make you want to sit in the restaurant forever, sipping on coffee and chatting with your friends.
The menu is also very intricate and has something for anyone at any time of day. They have fresh salads (fresh ricotta cheese salad, salmon salad, caprese salad), sandwiches, various pastas, and risotto. The menu lists each ingredient, some of which are homemade and organic. At dinner they have a special dinner set for two which comes with steak, pasta of your choice, ricotta cheese salad, organic bread, and the dessert of the day.
Little Neck is definitely a unique place that will make you want to come back when you are craving fresh, homemade food in a cozy atmosphere. Be ready to expect a wait at popular times.
Address: 653-7, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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Buttermilk
If you’re the type of person that can have pancakes at any time of day, you must have heard of Hongdae’s Buttermilk. While there are not many pancake specialty places in Seoul, Buttermilk is known to have the most delicious, traditional-style pancakes you can find here. You can expect waits of up to an hour as this is the place all Korean pancake lovers come to.
The store is tiny with only about five or six tables, and not many guests can fit in at once. There is nothing strikingly special about this place, except that you can satisfy your stomach with cheap but delicious homemade pancakes that you might have missed after coming to Korea.
The menu consists of toast sets, pancake sets, which all come with sides and coffee, and plain yogurt, soup, cereal, and sandwiches. They offer plain buttermilk pancakes, but you can also try ricotta cheese pancakes or triple cheese pancakes that are filled with gouda, gorgonzola, and ricotta. While the cheese pancakes are definitely unique and worth trying, the plain old pancakes remain everyone’s favorite choice.
If you are a pancake fanatic, definitely find Buttermilk in Hongdae.
Address: 338-36 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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Cafe Able
In the trendy area of Sinsa-dong, Able is one of the most well known restaurants for a healthy, fancy brunch. It is known for its nice atmosphere and its menu offering a wide variety of brunch options. Its logo is “Farm to table, fresh to go,” which proves that the restaurant focuses on fresh, organic ingredients and healthy choices. Their menu shows pictures of each dish which makes it easier to make your decision. They offer salads, paninis, pasta, pizza, fresh juices, and also various desserts, from roll cakes to bingsoo.
While its prices are pretty high, Able offers healthy and filling brunch options. They also take reservations on weekdays.
Address: 547-6, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
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Butterfinger Pancakes
Think of all the brunch food that you can and imagine you can enjoy it at midnight or even after midnight. That goes against the idea of brunch, but why not try breaking the rules at Butterfinger Pancakes? Last on this list but definitely not the least, this place for the ultimate brunch feast is open from 7am to 3am everyday.
Along with the delicious, traditional options, they also offer an unending list of unique creations that you can only find here, such as the T-bone steak pancake. Their menu is so huge that regardless of what you go in craving, once you see the menu you will take forever to decide on your order. One of their most popular dish is the Giant Alligator that comes with four different flavors of ice cream between layers of waffles, with jam and whipped cream. Now that is a snack appropriate for any time of the day. Butterfinger Pancakes was voted Best Breakfast/Brunch in the 10 Magazine Best of Seoul 2018 competition.
If you’re looking for a casual, most American-style brunch feast with as many options as possible, Butterfinger Pancakes is the place to go.
Addresses:
88-9, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
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1317, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul
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