Cafes in Seoul

A GLASS OF is a Seoul specialty coffee destination whose name promises exactly what it delivers — a glass, carefully filled, of something worth pausing for in a capital's café culture that continues to set the global pace.

A coffee shop in Yeouido's basement with a perfect early rating, suggesting a café that knows its character and audience precisely in one of Seoul's most office-dense financial zones.

Ilgi is a Seoul specialty coffee address whose Korean name — record or diary — signals a personal, considered approach to the cup: a café that keeps its own log of what good coffee means and serves accordingly.

A Seoul specialty café whose American state name participates in the deadpan naming culture that the city's coffee scene has developed. The coffee is serious, the room is considered, and the irony is light enough not to become the point.

A basement coffee shop near Teheran-ro in Gangnam with a perfect early rating from a very small number of guests, operating in Seoul's most commercially dense business corridor with uncommon precision.

A precision coffee shop in Yeonnam-dong with a perfect five-star rating from early guests, suggesting a café with a clearly defined point of view and uncommon execution.

Viva bossa is a Yeonhui-dong cafe in Seoul with a perfect rating from its small founding community — a neighborhood coffee spot in one of the city's most residential and creatively minded western districts.

A polished specialty café in Hannam where the paprika group's design sensibility meets serious espresso. Hushed and precise, with a following among Seoul's style-conscious crowd.