Unique Cafes in Hongdae: Sheep, 8 Themed Floors, Roasters

Thanks Nature Cafe is Hongdae's most popular animal café. It keeps 2 sheep named Maengu and Jjangu in a pen down the stairs, and you can feed and pet them while staff watch. That makes it the easiest first pick among unique cafes in Hongdae. There's one catch: the sheep aren't at the café year-round. After that, choose by mood: a roaster, a themed café, or a pink photo stop. Here's the sorted list below, with a catch for each place.

Feed and pet 2 sheep first, then pick a second stop by mood

A traveler's hand holding out feed to a sheep over a low pen fence while a staff member stands nearby.

Start at Thanks Nature Cafe, the Hongdae sheep cafe, but make sure the sheep are out on the day you go. Then match your second stop to your mood. Felt or Zombie Coffee Roasters suit a coffee-first stop. Hongdae Cafe's 8 themed floors or the Stylenanda Pink Pool Cafe suit a themed visit.

What the sheep café looks like once you head downstairs

A basement café room with a glass wall looking onto a sheep enclosure, and a bench running along the glass.

The café sits on a basement level in Hongdae and has an outdoor terrace. The seating is separated from the animals by a glass wall, so you can also just watch them from your seat. Sipping a drink a few steps from small sheep can feel a little surreal.

It works well for families. Kids can watch the sheep from a bench or through the glass. The drink menu includes oat milk, which non-dairy drinkers will notice.

The sheep are seasonal, and crowds change by time of day

A calendar page and a smartphone on a café table next to a coffee cup, with morning light coming through a window.

Going in the wrong season means missing the main attraction. The sheep are not at the café year-round, so check whether they are out before you build a day around them. Time of day matters too.

Some themed cafés are only a trend and fade, so confirm a place is still open before you walk over. Two favorites of one longtime visitor closed permanently after the first visit.

Felt and Zombie Coffee Roasters: what drinks and beans cost

Felt is the cheapest way into the Hongdae coffee roasters scene. Its menu has 6 drinks plus an affogato option, priced ₩4,000 to ₩6,000. It also roasts its own beans, and bags of Brazil, Costa Rica and El Salvador beans run ₩10,000 to ₩16,000. The room is minimal, with records and a stereo. Long benches run along floor-to-ceiling windows instead of ordinary tables and chairs.

The sign is easy to miss, so check the location before you go. Zombie Coffee Roasters roasts on site. The interior is dark, with brick, black-and-white walls and a concrete floor. Its cappuccino is often called very creamy.

Two more roaster-minded stops are worth a look. Silhouette Coffee is named for the long white curtains over its windows. The owner roasts the beans and serves hand drip, siphon and French press coffee. It also serves Belgian, Danish, German and American beers. Many of its drinks are standard espresso and filter coffee, though, so it is less unusual than it sounds. Coalmine Coffee sits beyond a door and a small courtyard. For an espresso con panna you pick blend A (medium-light) or blend B (medium-dark).

Prices rise at the prettier places. Poete, the flower café, charges around ₩9,000 for most teas. It is a little expensive for food and drinks, though trays come with a small glass vase of flowers. Cafe Comma also has pricey drinks, which its atmosphere may justify.

Hongdae Cafe (written ㅎㄷ Café) is the one to pick among themed cafes in Hongdae. A rooftop looks out toward Yeouido, and below it are 8 themed floors. You can find LP jam sessions, a desert-themed oasis and K-pop shows between the floors.

For an instagrammable cafe in Hongdae, the usual answer is on the top floor of the Stylenanda clothing store. Next to the dining area is a separate pastel room set up for photos. Expect the pink to fill everything.

A few more options exist. 943 King's Cross is a Harry Potter-style café that one longtime visitor calls a favorite. At caFACE, your selfie is printed on top of your latte. Bamvoo is known for a great croissant and an orange latte. The Hongdae cat café asks everyone to order a drink, which acts as the entry ticket. Cat cafés are not special to locals, so it is a weak pick if you want something unique.

Four criteria for each café: what stands out, what you can do, price, and catches

Each café is judged on four criteria. First, what stands out: is it an animal, a theme, or a roaster? Second, what you actually do there. Third, the price, if one is listed. Fourth, the catch, which might be sheep that appear by season, a sign that is hard to find, weak Wi-Fi, small tables, or the risk of closure. A dash (—) in the table means no price is listed for that place.

Side-by-side table of Hongdae's unusual cafés

Café	Type	What stands out	Confirmed price	Catch
Thanks Nature Cafe	Animal café	Sheep pen down the stairs, glass wall to café seating	—	Sheep are not there year-round
Felt	Roaster	Records, stereo, long window benches	Drinks ₩4,000–6,000; beans ₩10,000–16,000	Sign is easy to miss
Zombie Coffee Roasters	Roaster	Brick, black-and-white walls, concrete floor	Beans ₩10,000–17,000	Dark, moody interior
Hongdae Cafe (ㅎㄷ Café)	Themed	Rooftop plus 8 themed floors	—	Check it is still open
Stylenanda Pink Pool Cafe	Themed, photos	Top floor of the clothing store, pastel photo room	—	Photo-focused
Silhouette Coffee	Roaster	Owner roasts, hand drip, siphon, beers	—	Many drinks are standard
Poete	Flower café	Flowers on the tray	Most teas about ₩9,000	Has moved several times

Which café suits quiet coffee, photos or laptop work

Animals or kids: Thanks Nature Cafe, with a morning visit if you want it calm.
Quiet coffee: Felt for window benches and a balanced latte, or Zombie Coffee Roasters for a dark roaster room.
Photos: the pastel photo room at Stylenanda, or Hongdae Cafe's 8 themed floors.
Laptop work: the Hapjeong branch of Anthracite, in a former shoe factory. It is large, seats are easy to find, and it is the safest pick for a laptop.

Cafe Comma has weak Wi-Fi, which makes it a poor fit for studying or working. Tteogi Joa (떡이조아) can also have a lot of Wi-Fi problems. Cafe Noriteo (카페 놀이터) has low, small tables with little space for a laptop or notebook.

Whether Redbig works for studying depends on the time of day and on how you like to study.

Before you go: what to double-check

Check opening hours before you go. For the other cafes, there are no prices to compare. The sheep at Thanks Nature Cafe are not there all year, so your visit may miss them. Poete has moved several times, so confirm its current address first. Some themed cafes fade with trends. Seat counts and outlet availability are not known. If you plan to work, note the weak wifi at Cafe Comma and the small, low tables at Cafe Noriteo.

One place needs extra care. Poete has moved several times, and one listed address is in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, not Hongdae. Check its current address before you go.

For a first visit, pair the sheep café with one roaster or one themed floor.