One In A Million • 원인어밀리언

When this place was just opened a couple of years ago, I swear it popped up so much on my Instagram explore page and it seemed like everybody went to this place to take a picture with the pink banner in front of the cafe entrance or their Instagrammable Rain Coffee menu. One In A Million (원인어밀리언) is probably one of the most well-known cafe in Hannam-dong (한남동) area. Both locals and tourists came to this place to either hang out or take pictures around the cafe.

I visited this cafe for the first time last summer during one rainy day and the place was pretty empty. There were a couple people inside but being it was a weekday and it was raining, the place was pretty quiet, which was perfect for me. The cafe has indoor and outdoor area and it is pretty spacious. Marble tables, black chairs, and white walls dominated the interior of the space with the combination of green plants placed around the cafe.

Since I’ve been here on a couple of different occasions, my friends and I got to try a couple of different things. Since I always go for the non-coffee options, I ordered their grapefruit ade and green tea latte. They were okay. The carrot cake wasn’t bad either. My sister tried their coffee and she said it’s not bad. My other friend actually ordered their Rain Coffee, which is essentially a hot Americano served with cotton candy. I didn’t try it, but it’s definitely pretty to took pictures at.

All and all, I think this place is a good place to hang out at with your friends if you’re looking for a cafe around Hannam area. They have the drinks and dessert menu with pictures on a tablet so it’s pretty helpful when you are deciding what to order, especially if you want to order a pretty-looking drink menu from the selections. I didn’t really took a whole bunch of pictures here, but hopefully the video could give you a good sense about the space.

Here’s the video of the space:

One In A Million • 원인어밀리언

Address: 서울특별시 용산구 한남동 684-62
Telephone: 02-794-2414
Hours: 11:00 - 23:00 (Monday to Saturday) | 11:00 - 22:00 (Sunday)

Instagram: @oneinamillion_cafe

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Ban Bossy Boutique • 밴보시부티크

Finding Ban Bossy Boutique (밴보시부티크) on my first visit to this place was quite and ordeal. Originally, I was looking for a cafe called Plank & Gilt. I looked up and followed the direction to this cafe, and I was so sure that I already arrived at the right spot. But then, there’s no Plank & Gilt sign found anywhere in the building of the address or anywhere close to that spot. I even try to check out the area surrounding the building and made my way around the block twice. After a good 20 minutes of searching, I was ready to give up when I finally noticed that there’s a cafe on the third floor of the building where Plank & Gilt was supposed to be, but the name’s different. At this point, I thought might as well check the place out. Better than nothing right? I stepped into the cafe and, lo and behold, the interior of the cafe is the same as Plank & Gilt but the name on the wall is now Ban Bossy Boutique. Turned out, the cafe changed their name to Ban Bossy Boutique but kept everything else the same.

Ban Bossy Boutique is one of the nicer cafes I found around Hongdae (홍대) area. The cafe is spacious, with a lot of natural lighting coming in from the big windows surrounding the space. The interior is a combination of marble tables and various furnitures with different pastel colors combination, such as pink, mint, grey, white, and rose gold as accent color. This place is definitely a good place to take photos and the cafe is very Instagrammable.

As for menu choice, they have plenty to choose from. Coffee, tea, juice, and desserts are available for more lighter options. But if you want something more fulfilling, there are food options available as well as beer and wine options to go with that. I was happy that I was able to order tea from their 28 tea bags collection (pretty rare for cafes to have good extensive tea selections). This place is definitely a good place to hangout with your girlfriends and my tip is to come during day time if you wanna take some photos inside the cafe and enjoy the view.

Ban Bossy Boutique • 밴보시부티크

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 408-17 3층
Telephone: 02-337-9896
Hours: 12:00 - 22:00 (Weekdays) | 11:00 - 22:00 (Weekend)

Instagram: @banbossy

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Midnight in Seoul • 미드나잇인서울

Supposedly known as Seoul’s first cereal cafe, I visited Midnight in Seoul (미드나잇인서울) last spring with my cousin when we were exploring Gangnam (강남) area. The cafe’s interior is definitely unique. When you step into the cafe, you’ll be greeted with different kinds of cereal on display against the pink walls surrounding the space. There’s also a sitting area inside a dark purple room decorated with pink and turquoise furnitures and a ‘sh*t happens’ neon on the wall. At this point, you’ll probably start to pull out your phone to take some snaps around this Instagrammable cafe (if you haven’t already).

Originally opened by actor/K-pop singer Yoon Kye-sang, photographer Kim Rin-yong and Hong Sung-hyeon, and stylist Lee Jin-kyu, the cafe has now changed ownership to the singer Jo Kwon from the popular K-pop group 2AM since last year. They also have expanded their cafe to a new section right next door so the space is now bigger than before. (The new area was still under construction when I was there but I believe it’s now has been completed looking from their Instagram updates.)

The main menu here is obviously a different range of cereals. You order based on whatever you feel like eating and build your own cereal bowl. First, you choose your base cereal, add a dairy product, and finish it of with toppings if you wish. They also serve drink menu on the side.

The concept of a cereal cafe is definitely unique. I mean, coming from a person who spend a lot of my time living/traveling alone, I do sometimes crave cereals but having to buy a whole box of cereal just to fulfill my one time craving is a bit much (and yes I know some brands do offer the one serving cup version, but the choices are very limited). So this type of place could come in handy at times when I crave for cereals.

But I have to say, the menu price here is a bit on the expensive side. One bowl of cereal ranges from ₩3,500 to ₩8,000 (without the additional dairy and topping fee), depending on which cereal you chose. But maybe that’s okay, since they are location in Gangnam after all. In any case, come here to get your cereal fix or maybe just to check the place out. Who knows, you might bumped into Jo Kwon or one of his friends ;)

Update:

On October 31, 2018 Midnight in Seoul announced in an Instagram post that they’ll be closing the cafe on November 1, 2018.

Midnight in Seoul • 미드나잇인서울

Address: 서울특별시 강남구 논현동 63-16
Telephone: 02-545-6321
Hours: 10:00 - 22:00

Website: Midnight in Seoul
Instagram: @midnightinseoul_official

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