These are some of my favorite cafes from my trip to Busan, South Korea!

When I recently went to South Korea for eight weeks, I was hitting up multiple different cafes.

Because of the program I was on, I had a Korean roommate. She was so lovely to live with, and unlike some of the other roommate I had heard about on our program, we actually hung out quite a bit and got along.

That said, she was really into two different things: drinking and going to cafes. While I only went drinking with her once, to get fruity makgeolli in Seomyeon, we did go to quite a few cafes because she knew where all the best ones were.

I did go to some other cafes on my own throughout my time in Korea. Not mentioned in a specific header is the cafe street located near Pusan National University. It’s right by the Domino’s Pizza on the main road if you’re ever in the area around Pusan National Station.

Otherwise, that area is a bit out of the way. Here are some of the more accessible places I went to throughout my program!

Suwol Gyeonghwa is absolutely gorgeous with traditional architecture and a beach view.

I found out about Suwol Gyeonghywa / 수월경화 when I was trying to find traditional cafes in Busan. They’re a bit easier to find in Seoul, but then I stumbled upon this blog post and decided to head there with my friends.

It’s located in a deeper section of Haeundae, and from where we were staying at the time in Oncheonjang, it was a bit of a hike to get there. It’s always a bit difficult to get to Haeundae from the northern part of Busan, especially around PNU. It’s about an hour or so one way.

We ventured on the subway and then walked for about 20 minutes to the cafe, then ordered the traditional dessert sets to share along with drinks. I got the traditional punch, and my one friend got the persimmon one. The one I had was really medicinal and healthy tasting, but I didn’t find anything wrong with it.

The sweets here were really good! My one friend had an allergy to nuts, so we were unable to give her any of the options in the snack box. But the real winner to me in the cafe is the architecture and the view.

Styled like a hanok, this place is so gorgeous to be inside of. And right outside the window is the express train that goes through Haeundae. Every so often it cuts through the beach view, making something so picturesque as you’re looking at the window.

Afterwards, we wandered onto the nearby beach and saw a gorgeous sunset.

Address: 부산 해운대구 송정중앙로6번길 188 4층 수월경화

Suseong Coffee is an all-black themed cafe with traditional desserts.

This was one of the first of many cafes I went to with my roommate, and we went when we first met each other that week. She told me about her favorite place in Busan, which is the Jeonpodong Cafe Street.

Located right near Seomyeon, which is about a 15 minute walk away, we ventured to the cafe street one night for some pasta dinner and a meal at Suseong Coffee. Known in Korean as 수성커피, this place is a small one located on the third floor of a building.

There are only about four or five tables located within the actual cafe, and there’s one man running this entire operation behind the counter. We ordered two traditional cakes made with red bean, and then two different ades.

And when I was that ade I ordered, which was plum flavored, was one of my favorite ones of the entire trip, I’m not kidding. We had a great conversation too as we ordered our cakes, so we thought this place was a winner. My roommate really enjoyed this spot too!

Address (via Naver): 부산 부산진구 동성로25번길 11 3층

Cafe Knotted is a Korean donut chain.

Cafe Knotted is a place that’s become well known in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, but I had no idea they had locations down here in Busan. Later on in the trip I ended up spotting some stalls at Shinsegae and the Lotte Department Store in the Seomyeon area, but this was the only standalone cafe I spotted.

I went with my language partner for Korean to this cafe after she was showing me around Haeundae. It started pouring down rain, so we decided to take shelter in one of the many cafes located along the main strip by Haeundae Station.

And that was how we ended up in Cafe Knotted. My language partner picked up an iced americano, and then we split a strawberry cream donut. This cafe is huge, it’s about three floors, and while we waited for the rain to end and for her phone to charge, it was the perfect refuge.

There’s also a nice view outside the window of the Haeundae store strips, which I enjoyed.

MAGNATE is owned by BTS’ Jimin’s dad.

I tagged along with two people on my program for this cafe, as one of these two friends was a massive BTS fan. MAGNATE was a bit out of the way for us, coming from Oncheonjang/Pusan National University area, but we found the inside gorgeously decorated.

We didn’t get to meet Jimin’s dad, just the employees working there at the time, but someone else we knew actually did run into his dad and ended up getting to meet and chat with him. We were first enchanted with the merchandise right by the door, as it was pretty nice quality.

We first ordered our drinks and grabbed some sweets. MAGNATE is pretty expensive by Korean cafe standards, and all of the Koreans I told the prices to were astonished at what we paid for a drink. I thought the quality was decent though, and I was fine with it due to converting it into USD.

The highlight for me was the cakes. I got a chocolate croissant situation that ended up being way too rich, so if you get some of the cream desserts, maybe split them with someone. After finishing up our sweets, we bought shirts—I paid 25,000 won for a Young Forever t-shirt, which was decent.

Almost all the cafes in Jeonpodong Cafe Street are worth checking out!

I mentioned the one cafe I went to in Jeonpodong before, but there were several others whose names I didn’t write down during my time in Busan. From a gothic anime style cafe to some hanoks, there were some pretty aesthetic places to go to that I spotted during my walks.

There are also cute little shops here and there, as well as actual restaurants. If you’re ever in Seomyeon and down to walk, I recommend checking out this area! I also know there are some really nice cafes in Haeundae and Gwangalli overlooking the beach, but I didn’t make it to any of those really.

And that’s a wrap on my cafe adventures this trip!

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