3 Cutest Animal Theme Cafes in Seoul, South Korea
I’m sure you’d miss your pet(s) when you’re away traveling, huh? Do you enjoy looking at sheep and petting them?
You’d want to stop by in Seoul to check out their animal cafés. They got dog, cat and sheep cafés!
As soon as I learned about Seoul’s quirky cafes culture, I was so mind-blown by that because we don’t usually see those kind of stuff in the United States. I was so determined to visit at least few of them and I ended up visiting two (dog and cat) out of three on the same day I flew in! I visited my third one (sheep) on another day.
I couldn’t have done this with out my awesome host, Hoon, who is also a Deaf Korean living in the area. He took me around and showed me the cafes. He also filled me in on how South Korea is so big on cafes.
Because of the cafes culture in South Korea, I decided to a bit more research and discovered that there were few more around the world.
Hey! They’re are now on my bucket list. Not just animal, but also including themed cafes such as maid, butler, vampire, Alice in Wonderland and cuddling cafes in Tokyo, Japan!
When you’re in Seoul, be sure to give these cafes a visit!
Bau House Dog Café
There was no questions that I wasn’t disappointed with Bau House Dog Café. Do you know why? Few dogs rushed up to me and greeted me with their lovable wagging tails when I came in with Hoon. I immediately felt at home with the dogs. Let’s say it was such a relieving therapy for me from travels.
One of attendants approached us and asked us to purchase a drink to to take a seat and play with the pups for up to 30 minutes. The drinks are at least 10,000 KRW (~$8 US Dollars). It’s quite pricey, but drinks are doubled as an entry fee, so it made sense to me.
If you want to stay at the dog café longer than 30 minutes and you do not want to purchase another drink, you can pay 2,000 KRW (~$1.50 US Dollars) to stay for another 30 minutes. Cheap, I’d say.
Nonetheless, the café had its own dog residents and there were about a dozen of them plus visitors’s dogs. The dogs were all extremely friendly and cuddly. A giant fluffy wolf-like dog slobbered all over me when I brought my eyes down to her eye level. There were a Golden Retriever, a Labrador, a Husky, a Beagle, a Cavalier King Charles and few more breeds that I couldn’t identify.
Some of them wouldn’t approach you if you didn’t have an open packet of treats. You could purchase a bag of treats for 3,600 KRW (~$3 US Dollars).
Besides, the café is divided into two parts: small dogs and large dogs. The café also functions as a dog hotel, so there are always a few extra pups to keep you company while sipping on your coffee.
The café was actually very clean and attendants were quick to clean up accidents or slobber. Not only that, they would intervene the dogs if they became too wild or began to horse around a bit too much. The environment was very calm and relaxing with coffee as well. Small dogs would jump up to your seat to sit on your laps while large dogs would chill or make friends with visitors.
Hoon pointed out that the dogs were more laid back in the afternoon and evening while they would be active in the morning. It was about mid-afternoon at the time and I’d say the dogs were sort of lying around more than they interacted with the visitors. If you want to get the best of the dogs’ energy when you visit, the best time to visit clearly would be in the morning.
Overall: this is my favorite of all. Because dogs. Obviously. Not only that, they’re a lot more interactive than the cats and sheep cafés. This spot will definitely make you feel right at home!
Information
- Address: Jeil Bldg. 1F 394-44 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
- Website: http://bau.cyworld.co.kr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bau5152
Godabang “Cat’s Attic” Cat Café
In case you didn’t know, there are many cat cafes in Seoul you can choose from and I’m confident that any of them would do you great! I went to Godabang Cat Cafe because it was in the next building from where the dog cafe was.
I got to admit that the cats were a bit more active here than the dogs at the dog cafe. Pretty usual in general though. Cats would be usually a lot more active at night rather than daytime whereas dogs would be active along with their owners during the day. Clearly, come here at night if you want the best of cat’s energy.
Just don’t expect the cats to be very interested in you. Not to play with you. Not to be handled by you. Well, I almost got scratched by one of the cats there when I tried petting them upon my arrival. That says a lot, huh?
But you might get lucky though, you never know. If you’re a cat lover and/or magnet, then you should be all good to go. =P
Anyways, you would be required to purchase a drink here, which would also essentially serve as your admission fee. I’d say drinks are a bit cheaper here. Drinks would start at around 8,000 KRW (~$6 US Dollars), but the owner gave me a cup of coffee on the house because she was touched and inspired by my personal experience on traveling solo and blogging.
There are few etiquette rules to keep in mind when you’re at cat cafés:
- Do not pick up or handle the cats.
- Do not get rough with the cats (slapping, spanking, pulling from the tail, etc.).
- Do not disturb the cats when they’re sleeping.
- Turn off the camera flash if you want to take pictures.
Here you will see some cool breeds and fancy ones like Russian Blue, Persian, Sphynx (also known as the hairless cat) and few more I couldn’t identify as well. I was mostly fascinated by the Sphynx cat because it was my first time seeing one up close in real life. Petting it was kind of weird to feel its texture. It’d approach and cuddle on your leg when you’re having coffee.
I wanted to mention how awesome the owner of this café was. She took the time to entertain her customers and visitors when it was feeding time for the cats and that was when they had become a little more active and aggressive, especially when the crowd grew. How lucky of me to arrive at the right time when it was their feeding time! I was told it was probably the best part of visiting cat cafés anywhere in Seoul or South Korea.
What she had done was smearing some wet cat food on my hand and then a cat jumped and sat on my shoulder to get close to the food on my hand and ate off it. They were crazy over this stuff. You could even buy a can of food or little treats for the cats and that’d make them swarm all over you, which basically would be the best part for cat lovers.
Overall: cats are weird and I’m definitely a dog person! Don’t get me wrong, I like cats and I do have a cat back home myself, but I love dogs just too much! If you have the cat charisma, any cat cafe will do you just perfect! Just don’t expect much interaction with the cats here. Go to the dog cafe if you’re down for intimacy and cuddling.
Information
- Address: 51-14 Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Godabang-Cat-Cafe/278645925479630
Thanks Nature Café (Sheep Café)
Visiting the sheep at Thanks Nature Café was nothing like cat and dog cafes, I got to admit. You won’t find a flock of them in the café. Only two sheep would be seen and they don’t really wander or roam through the cafe as freely as the cats and dogs at their cafés.
You will find the café in the basement of the building, and you will see that it has been beautifully decorated with a lot of greenery and simple, clean design sheep-related artworks and decors. It gave out that zen-like atmosphere, which was quite nice for me.
The sheep just stay and chill in a small pen outside the café where you can pet them, feed them, take pictures or selfies, and enjoy your coffee alongside them. That’s pretty much it. The café usually notifies visitors and customers via their Facebook page when the sheep would be out of the pen. That way they can come in time to get a closer interaction with the sheep and that way people can also prepare to spot sheep wandering around knowing that it’s still a cafe, not posing a barn as a café. Haha!
You can pet the sheep when they are out of the pen, but do not hug any one of the sheep. They don’t really like that very much and, out of respect, you are to be gentle with the sheep when they approach you and when you pet them.
Overall: I’d say it was ok-ok for me, but I still though this was cool as we do not have this in America. If you grew up on a farm and you need your livestock fix, this’d be a great spot for you. If you’re not into this but you want the most of interaction with animals in general, the answer’s the same: visit the dog café!
Information
- Address: 486 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TNcafe
THIS IS JUST SO GREAT!! Especially for me, as I am totally obsessed with all animals (except spiders, they freak me out and I am still sure that they are the real aliens)
I want to go to South Korea so much now! Thanks for sharing your stories, they are beautiful!