#288 Korea’s Cafe Culture – Coffine Gurunaru @ Gangnam, Seoul
In Korea, there is a variety of cafes that you cannot count with your fingers. I was surprised to see many cafes other than Starbucks literally scattered everywhere. Seoul is such a cultural and vibrant city itself but with the addition of the many cafes, you see how creativity meets innovation. Today, I will be talking about my first cafe visit with Vivian to Coffine Gurunaru.
Coffine Gurunaru
커핀 강남1호 점 511-0058
서을시 강남구 논 현동 165-3
Coffine Gurunaru is unlike many of the cafes at Seoul as it serves both COFFEE and WINE. Thus, the name is labelled as COFFINE. Korean cafes usually have themes that shows their originality and their cafes are decorated beautifully. Coffine Gurunaru is no exception. It’s theme colour is purple, which stands out from the rest of the cafes. It was January 5th 2013 when we visited the cafe so the Christmas decorations are still on. When we were roaming around the area the previous night, there were many customers at about 11+pm but when we went there early in the morning at 8+am the following day, it was practically empty. We soon realized that people prefer to hang out at cafes at night than in the morning. The servers could not speak much English so we had to do lots of sign language to communicate and place our order. Usually at cafes, you place your order at the counter, get a number tag and collect it after it vibrates.
P/S: Coffine Gurunaru has many chains in the city so do not be afraid if you cannot find it in a particular location.
Vivian got the Besyeri Tiramisu Cake, which costs 4,800 won (~CAD$4.97 / USD$4.48 / SGD$5.67). As for me, I got the Origin Honey Butter Bread and a cup of hot chocolate for 4,800 won and 3,000 won (~CAD$3.11 / USD$2.80 / SGD$3.55) respectively. The portion of the Honey Butter Bread is huge and eating half of it makes me bloated already. It is deliciously sweet nonetheless but not my favourite type of desserts. I prefer desserts such as gelato, waffles and such so stay tuned for my next entries on other cafes I visited at Korea! The hot chocolate is too sweet for my liking but I needed something hot to walk along to the train station as it was freezing cold outside. I find that cakes and beverages served at cafes costs more than the Korean meals itself. Even one of the taxi drivers told us so! Well, it is no surprise as people our generation love chilling out at cafes these days. You pay for the ambiance, food and drinks, no?
Ratings for Honey Butter Bread: 3.25/5★
Ratings for Hot Chocolate: 2.25/5★
PAYMENT METHODS: CASH/CREDIT
OPENING HOURS:
Mon-Sun: 08:00-24:00
Nearest Station: Line 7 Nonhyeong-dong
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Service: 6/10
Food (Taste & Appearance): 5.5/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 6.5/10★
Coffine Gurunaru was the first cafe I visited in Seoul but after venturing to other cafes, I never really went back to Coffine Gurunaru again because of the selection of the food here. It is a nice cafe to hang out at though.
