[Recommended Cafes near Changdeokgung Palace] Anguk 153 & Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro

Changdeokgung Palace, a palace during Joseon Dynasty that is located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The landscaping at the palace's secret garden (huwon)  has high historical value and is the place where you can feel the true beauty. It is the representative royal garden in Korea.

There are many cafes around this beautiful Changdeokgung Palace that keep the unique atmosphere. In this post, we will introduce two cafes to you - Anguk 153 and Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro.

#1 Anguk 153

Anguk 153 is a bakery cafe that represents Anguk Station. You can enjoy a variety of bread and beverages, and it is also one of the popular place in Seoul for bread lovers. 153 Anguk-dong is a very historical area. The building has been built for more than 100 years and it was the house where Lee Jun, a special envoy served as Hague Envoy under the mandate of Emperor Gojong in 1907.

When you enter this bakery shop, it feels like time has stopped as the bread smell stimulates your sense of smell. This shop is full of bread that will make your mouth water just by looking at it.

Anguk 153 is famous for its natural fruit yeast bread and milk bread, but you can also find other types of bread here.

On the first floor of the building, you will see the display of the bakery. When you go up to the second floor, you will see the order counter on the way up. It is spacious on the second floor, and it is filled with sunlight. The ceiling of the building is over 100 years old and cozy interior design will catch your attention. It offers a great atmosphere for those who want to read quietly or catch up with friends.

We ordered and tried the spinach potato bread and iced vanilla latte. Although we have only tried one type of bread, we could feel the true value of Anguk 153.

Spinach potato bread combines a salty and savory taste, and it was chewy. Besides that, the coffee also tastes good. If you want to enjoy some bread and coffee at a space that is historically meaningful, we would like to recommend Anguk 153 to you.

[Information about Anguk 153]

1. Getting There: At AREX Seoul Station, transfer to Subway Line 1 - At Jongno-3ga Station, transfer to Subway Line 3 - Get off at Anguk Station Exit 1, Walk 58m

2. Address: 51 Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

3. Opening Hours: 08:00 ~ 20:00 daily

4. Instagram: https://instagram.com/anguk_153

5. Contact Number: +82-2-733-1530

※The above information is subject to change.

#2 Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro

Rendejavous is a combination of the word rendezvous (which means meeting) and deja vu (which means precognition). It symbolizes a familiar place that seems like you have been before. Cafe Rendejavou at Daehakro is a cafe built with the concept of Jeju cave where you can feel the sensibility of Jeju Island in Seoul.

On the first floor of the cafe, there is an order counter and small tables. You can feel the sensibility of Jeju Island by looking at the basalt stone wall.

If you follow the large chandelier and go to the basement, you will see the spacious cafe area. Since it is not easy to go on a long trip, it is a good idea to visit a place like this that has nice atmosphere.

Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro uses darker lighting than regular cafes, so it creates a more quiet atmosphere. Perhaps it is because of that, it feels exceptionally quiet and calm inside the cafe. This is a cafe located in a city, with interior that can make you feel relax being in the nature.

There is a circle-shaped wall in the innermost part of the cafe that looks impressive. It is also a photo zone in this cafe where visitors take many photos. It boasts a unique atmosphere as though you are passing through a cave and going to another space.

You can try the Soda Blended and Jeju Green Tea Blended that seem to be symbolizing the blue sea of Jeju Island, and it feels like as though you have traveled to Jeju Island. The scones is crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside.

In your next visit to Seoul, why don't you come to Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro and be on a nature-friendly trip in the city?

[Information about Cafe Rendejavous Daehakro]

1. Getting There: At AREX Seoul Station, transfer to Subway Line 4 - Get off at  Hyehwa Station Exit 4, Walk 236m

2. Address: 18-5 Changgyeonggung-ro 34-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

3. Opening Hours: 11:00 ~ 23:00 daily

4. Contact Number: +82-2-764-7779

※The above information is subject to change.

[Quiz on Disinfection] Where are Spee and Nareu now?

 

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, AREX is doing the disinfection work on daily basis.

Spee and Nareu are working hard to help AREX for the disinfection activity.

Let's take a guess, where are Spee and Nareu now?

Is it the station office?

Or at a shop?

Could it be the library?

Maybe Incheon Airport Terminal 2?

The answer is Incheon Airport Terminal 2 Station.

Did you guess it correctly?

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, AREX thoroughly disinfects

the final stop, Incheon Airport Terminal 2 Station such as 

inside and outside the ticket gate, convenience facilities and others.

Just a reminder for you:
Please wear a mask when taking AREX train.

Till the day COVID-19 disappear, below is the
✨ AREX daily disinfection checklist ✨

✔ Disinfect trains that return to Seoul Station
✔ Disinfect the escalator handrails with alcohol disinfectant
✔ Disinfect the station platform
✔ Check the disinfectant mat
✔ Provide hand sanitizer
✔ Disinfect the touch surfaces on ticket machine

Besides that, we also disinfects other facilities
such as single journey tickets and ticket gates every day.

Don't let our guards down,

please follow the COVID-19 preventive guidelines.

Do wear the mask correctly when using public transportation

and stay safe, everyone :)

[Visit AREX Station] Depart from Seoul Station To Seoullo 7017 and Hoehyeon-dong

 

[Visit AREX Station] 🔍

by. Airport Railroad [AREX Magazine]

Let's check out AREX Station with Spee and Nareu! 🚄

Let's depart from Seoul Station to Seoullo 7017 and Hoehyeon-dong!

Gaedanjip

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 10 mins]

Jeoksan House, built in the 1930s, preserves the painful memories of Japanese colonial era. The old look was maintained, which was remodeled and transformed it into a retro-style cafe with modern view. Gaedanjip is operated by residents to maintain the sustainability of space without damaging the significance of regenerative building. The signature menu is specialty coffee and handmade yokan. This place is significant as a space that creates employment and profits for local residents, and promotes co-prosperity of the local economy.

[Information about Gaedanjip]

 1. Address : 150-1 Hoehyeondong 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Tues - Sun  09:30~20:00  *Closed on Mondays

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/cafe_stairs_

 4. Contact number : 070-4419-7776

Hoehyeon Cafe

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 8 mins]

Chef Kim Gon of Ichie, Apgujeong Rodeo's representative Izakaya, has opened a restaurant that serves simple Japanese dishes. The stairs, red exterior wall, and vines match with each other, which reminds us of a scene in Japanese animation. There is only one menu - Dugeundugeun Stamina Set that consists of menchi katsu, ebi fry(fried shrimp), chicken karaage, napolitan pasta, and potato salad. They provide free refill for rice, so you can probably guess why it is called "Stamina".

[Information about Hoehyeon Cafe]

 1. Address : 9-8 Toegye-ro 2-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Mon - Sat 11:30 - 21:00  (Break time 15:00 - 17:30)  *Closed on Sundays 

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/ichieseoul

 4. Contact number : 02-318-8011

Yuga

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 16 mins]

It is a well-known restaurant acknowledged by local residents. It is known as the best place for Chinese food among office workers who work nearby. It is operated by a Taiwanese family for three generations, so you can taste Chinese cuisine with great taste. Although it does not have too fancy taste, the restaurant features a traditional Chinese style.  The most popular dish is Yuringi (fried chicken with hot and sour sauce). The sweet and sour taste is great and the price is very affordable too. In addition, it has been certified as "Good Store" in Korea.

[Information about Yuga]

 1. Address : 68 Toegye-ro 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Mon - Sat 11:30 - 21:00 (Last Order 20:30; Break Time 15:00 - 17:00)  *Closed on Sundays

 3. Contact number : 02-3789-9688

Overte

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 12 mins]

It is a vegan donut store made of 100% vegetable ingredients. Because of the attractive visual, it is quite difficult to tell that the donuts are vegan donuts just by looking at it.  The taste is moderately sweet, light and savory, so even if you are trying it for the first time, you do not have to hesitate to try it. Garlic and cream cheese doughnut is popular because of the unique combination of sweet and salty. Besides that, you can order cafe latte, vanilla latte and cappuccino for vegan. You can also try organic barley coffee which is not a coffee, but it is popular because it tastes like coffee.

[Information about Overte]

 1. Address : 34 Toegye-ro 10-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Weekday 08:00 - 20:00 / Sat 11:00 - 17:00 (Until ingredients are finished) *Closed on Sundays

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/overte_donuts

 4. Contact number :  02-6084-6404

Nelbosco Bakery

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 12 mins]

Nel bosco means "in the forest" in Italian. It goes well with the image of a bakery cafe that pursues a combination of healthy food and healing space. The bread served every day according to scheduled time uses poolish and is baked at a low temperature to enhance its flavor while keeping moist and stretchy texture. It is recommended to try Cream Brioche Coconut, which combines custard cream with plenty of vanilla beans and crispy coconut toppings.

[Information about Nelbosco Bakery]

 1. Address : 16 Toegye-ro 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Weekday 07:00 - 21:00  / Weekend & Public Holidays  09:00 - 19:00  / *Opens all year round

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/nelbosco.official

 4. Contact number :  02-3484-9581

Gelateria Ginkgo

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 13 mins]

It is a "real gelato restaurant" that embodies Italian taste and is certified by the Italian government as Ospitalita Italiana. There are about 10 flavors of gelato made at the store every morning. They use only Italian ingredients with very fresh fruits as the base. The representative menu is Pistachio and Stracciatella. Although you have to pay extra for this, but it is recommended to try the one with plenty of roasted pistachio as it tastes really good.

[Information about Gelateria Ginkgo]

 1. Address : 40 Toegye-ro 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Weekday 11:30 - 21:00 / Saturday  12:00 - 21:00 / Public Holiday 10:00 - 21:00 (Break time 17:00 - 18:00) / *Closed on Sundays

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/ginkgogelato

 4. Contact number :  02-772-9733

Hide and Seek

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 14 mins]

Located at the foot of Namsan Mountain, it is a dessert cafe remodeled from an old garment factory. It is located at the factory and residential area, and the installation of fake walls and mirrors, as well as the arrangement of chairs that make other seats visible, gives you a feeling of playing hide and seek. They periodically change the menu and interior, which is also fun for you to "seek" it.. The popular dessert is croffle with brown cheese. With thick vanilla bean ice cream and salty brown cheese, it gives the taste of sweet and salty. You can feel the crispy waffle texture outside, and is soft inside like the croissant.

[Information about Hide and Seek]

 1. Address : 70 Toegye-ro 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : 10:00 - 21:00 daily

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/cafe_hideandseek

 4. Contact number :  070-4225-7915

Piknic Cafe

[Seoul Station Exit 8  → Walk 10 mins]

It is a complex cultural space located in the alley of Hoehyeon-dong. The exhibition hall takes up the entire building from first to fourth floor rooftop and a series of exhibitions are displayed here which attracts attention of the people. In Shop Piknic on the B1 floor, you can purchase exhibition-related products. If you go to the Cafe Piknic that is made of some kind of conceptual art work, you can sit around the one table and enjoy seasonal drinks while listening to carefully selected music. Along with a variety of tapas menus, you can enjoy 60 over kinds of natural wines at the Bar Piknic. There is also Zero Complex, a French fine dining restaurant with one Michelin star.

[Information about Piknic Cafe]

 1. Address : 30 Toegye-ro 6ga-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

 2. Opening hours : Exhibition hall, Café: Tues - Sun 10:00 - 18:00 
Piknic shop: Tues - Sun 10:00 - 18:00 / Bar Piknic: Tues - Sun 18:30 - 22:00 
Zero Complex - Tues to Sun  12:00 - 15:00 (Lunch),  18:00 -22:00  (Dinner)

*Closed on Mondays

 3. Instagram : www.instagram.com/piknic.kr

 4. Contact number : 02-318-3233 / Cafe 070-8821-6374 / Zero Complex 02-533-0876

Seoul Museum of Craft Art - The First Craft Art Museum in Korea that Connects Traditional and Modern Daily Life

 

"Let's see how Pungmun Girls' High School has changed!"

Seoul Museum of Craft Art, which opened on July 15, 2021, was built at the former Pungmun Girls' High School. Prior to Pungmun Girls' High School, King Sejong built the house of his son, Prince Yeongung. This was the place where King Sejong passed away. In the late Joseon Dynasty, it was a place with a lot of history - it was Andong Palace (Anguk-dong Palace) built by King Gojong for the wedding procedure of King Sunjong. In addition, Anguk-dong was also the place where studios that supplied high-quality craftworks to royal families and noble person located since the Joseon Dynasty.

Doesn't craftwork have the power to make daily life special? Located in a historical area, Seoul Museum of Craft Art plays an important role to connect traditional and modern daily lives through craft.

Seoul Museum of Craft Art 

As soon as you get off at Anguk Station (Subway Line 3)  Exit 1, you can see Seoul Museum of Craft Art. The museum remodeled five buildings of Pungmun Girls' High School, and expanded two more buildings - the information building and a Hanok space (currently under construction), which adds up to a total of seven areas. The craft yard, which used to be a school playground, had no fences or doors, so anyone can take a rest there.

Exhibition Building 1, which is the main building of the museum that connects the other buildings as one. The appearance of Pungmun Girls' High School in the past remains.

How to make reservation for Seoul Museum of Craft Art?

This place is open to everyone, but if you want to visit the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, you have to make reservation due to the social distancing rules. However, it might not be easy to get reservation. It is a popular place that was opened earlier in July. There isn't many slots available per day, so you may need to make reservation a month before. 

Reservation can be made on the official website of Seoul Museum of Craft Art, by selecting a slow between 10:00 - 18:00, Tuesday to Sunday (6 slots available; maximum 90 per slot; 80 mins per slot).

You can only enter the museum 10 mins before your reservation time. If you wish to visit the Children's museum, you need to make reservation separately.

Let's start from Exhibition Building 3

When you arrive at the museum, firstly, you need to check your reservation at the information desk located on the first floor of Exhibition Building 3. Exhibition Building 3-dong consists of sarangbang, permanent exhibition room, visible storage and others. In the permanent exhibition hall of Exhibition Building 3, there are on-going exhibition named Embroidery in Bloom and Bojagi, Embracing Daily Life.

At the "Embroidery in Bloom" exhibition hall, you can enjoy the three-dimensional characteristics of embroidery that are different from paintings through the embroidery folding screen. Embroidered vase is considered valuable gift because it is used to pray for peace. Grape bonsai was embroidered in Autumn, lotus bonsai in Summer, plum blossoms and camellia bonsai in Winter, and five petal bonsai in Spring.

Heo Donghwa (1926-2018), who was a collector, museum director, and artisan, devoted his life to collecting embroidery and bojagi. Mr. Heo Donghwa donated about 5,000 collections, including embroidery and bojagi collected during his lifetime, to the Seoul Craft Museum.

Bojagi (fabric) is used to store, decorate and carry things easily. When did Koreans start using bojagi? It can be seen from the record of Hongpok in the story of Yukgaya's founder in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms that it has been used for a long time.

The handmade bojagi is made of patterns with red dye on which fabric.

The Embroidery Bojagi contains many trees and birds with strong contemporary colors.

Double goose is one of the best gifts to give to newlyweds. It is more elegant if you tie it with a Bojagi  and give it as a gift. Inside the exhibition hall, you can try tying the goose bojagi or book bojagi.

The reason why Seoul Museum of Craft Art become famous on social media is because of the scenery of Seoul that can be seen through the window. It lighting is good and warm in front of the window, and it become a photo zone.

The special exhibition hall on the 3rd floor of Exhibition Building 1 was showing "Craft, Moving Beyond Time and Boundaries" when we visited.

A small table to put bowls and other things, and it can be lifted and moved around. It is a practical furniture but in modern times, it emphasizes the artistic aspect to match the space / room, making your life more special. Nowadays, many people are attracted to aesthetic as much as practicality. Isn't this what modern crafts are like?

The moon jar was a nickname for the 18th-century Joseon Dynasty white large porcelain jar as it is white and round like full moon. The two bowls are made by using the spinning wheel and attached to face each other up and down. In order to complete the round shape, it is said that high-level skills are required.

In modern times, craftworks use new techniques such as synthetic materials (for example, plastic and plywood), working with 3D printer and others. It is creating a unique modern ceramic culture.

Don't you think our daily lives become more special and outstanding thanks to the artisans who pursue new materials and technologies without following just the traditional techniques?

In the exhibition room on the 2nd floor of Exhibition Building 1 and 2, there is permanent exhibition entitled "Artisans, Making the Better World". During the Japanese colonial era, craftwork was popular as tourism item, and capitalists participated in the production and selling of craftwork. They began to distribute it through department stores or shops.

These are celadon incense burner made in Japanese colonial era by imitating the Goryeo period celadon. You can try smelling the scent.

The local craft room on the first floor of Exhibition Building 2 displays craftwork made by craftsmen and artisans of intangible cultural assets in Seoul. The above photo is showing the Somokjang (Wood Furniture Making) workshop and tools of Artisan Shim Yongsik.

[Information about Seoul Museum of Craft Art]

1.Getting There: At AREX Seoul Station, transfer to Subway Line 1 - At Jongno 3-ga Station, transfer to Subway Line 3 - Get off at Anguk Station Exit 1, Walk 4 mins

2.Address: 4 Yulgok-ro 3-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

3.Contact Number: +82-2-6450-7000

4.Operating Hours: Tues - Sun 10:00 - 18:00 (Closed on Mondays)

5.Admission: Free (Reservation is needed)

6. Reservation tips: Visit Seoul Museum of Craft Art website (https://craftmuseum.seoul.go.kr/main),
select the time you wish to visit between 10:00 - 18:00 (6 slots; maximum 90 per slot; 80 mins per slot).

Please make reservation at least 3 weeks in advance. It is less crowded on weekday afternoon as compared to weekend. You can only enter the museum 10 mins before your reservation time. If you wish to visit the Children's museum, you need to make reservation separately.

※ The above information is subject to change.