Have a cup of coffee at the real cafe where the K-drama series The 1st Shop of the Coffee Prince was filmed!
If you've watched the Korean love drama series The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, I'm sure you'd like to visit the coffee shop in that was used as their filming location. That's right, there's a real Coffee Prince Cafe in Seoul!
I'm a big fan of the K-drama TV series too so on a recent trip to South Korea, I made it a point to visit the Coffee Prince Coffee Shop. If you'd like to learn more about the cafe as well as hear about my Coffee Prince Seoul experience, please read on.
All About The Coffee Prince Cafe
What's so special about this popular Korean drama tourist attraction.
The Coffee Prince Coffee Shop as we now know it was originally a nondescript cafe near Hongik University in Seoul called "Fruit Garden Mama". Betcha didn't know that!
When production for The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince TV series began, the director chose this coffee house as the main location for the Kdrama and had it remodeled.
The show became very popular not only in Korea but also all over Asia that when the series ended, the coffee shop's owner decided to retain the illustrations on the walls and windows, keep the new layout and use "The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince" as the shop name.
If you're a true fan of Coffee Prince, you will surely enjoy visiting the place and reliving Han Kyul and Eun Chan's love story.
Our Coffee Prince Coffee Shop Experience
What we saw, what we did.
When my husband and I visited the shop in Hongdae, we were happy to find the painting of sunflowers by Han Yoo-Joo on the wall, Go Eun-Chan's doodles on the glass windows, and almost every prop that you can find in the drama. Coffee Prince photos, t-shirts, and other fan merchandise are on display for sale by the bar.
I wish we could have seen the actual cast members working there but instead we were served by a couple of young male and female baristas, possibly students at the nearby University. They were friendly and game enough to pose for pics but of course, nothing beats seeing Eun Chan, Han Kyul and the rest of the TV series characters working behind the bar. There are framed autographs by the cast members hanging on the walls - I guess that's as close as we can get to actually seeing them in person.
My husband ordered Hot Cocoa and I got a Green Tea Latte. They tasted alright, there's nothing spectacular about them, but as expected they were a bit on the steep side. We paid KRW 7,000 (equivalent to around US$ 6) for the latte and KRW 6,500 (equivalent to around US$ 5.65) for the small cup of cocoa but then we figured we don't get to set foot on Seoul a.k.a. K-drama land on a regular basis anyway.
I expected to see Korean tourists there since Coffee Prince has a large fan base in its home country but I was surprised to see American and Japanese tourists taking photos under the signage with their trademark peace ("V") signs. That was when I realized that Coffee Prince and Korean love dramas in general have really made it into the world market. Awesome.