Cafés in Gangnam & Yeoksam

Getting to Gangnam station, Yeoksam and Samseong

Line 2 is the spine: Gangnam, Yeoksam, Seolleung and Samseong stations all sit on Teheran-ro.¹ Gangnam station, whose surroundings are shared with Seocho District, is also on the Shinbundang Line.³ It was the busiest stop on the Seoul Metro network for 26 years, 1997 to 2022, before slipping to second in 2023 and third in 2024, with 149,757 people a day getting on or off.² For Coex, use Line 9: exit 7 of Bongeunsa station connects directly to the Starfield Library.⁴

Roasters and espresso bars on Teheran-ro's lanes

Teheran-ro and its numbered lanes hold the longest run of cafés in the area, with Gangnam-daero (강남대로) and Bongeunsa-ro (봉은사로) behind them. 502 Coffee Roasters is at no. 142 on the main road, Euros Coffee Roasters on 37-gil and Select Coffee Lab (셀렉커피랩), with Wi-Fi, at 39-gil 50. All three serve specialty coffee.

Some counters are up in the towers: Prabean Coffee on the ninth floor at Teheran-ro 22-gil 11 and 카페덱스터 on the fourth at Teheran-ro 138. Towners Espresso Bar is at 28-gil 41, Worxpresso at 83-gil 21 and Vrew Coffee at 87-gil 57. At no. 231, 아방베이커리 센터필드점 is in the west wing and Hypebeans Seoul in the east basement.

Royal tombs, a temple and Coex

Seolleung and Jeongneung (선릉·정릉) are a wooded block among the towers, the tombs of the Joseon kings Seongjong and Jungjong and of Queen Jeonghyeon, listed by UNESCO in 2009 with the other royal tombs.⁵ Exit 10 of Seolleung station is five minutes' walk away.⁴ 노크 커피바 선릉 (nokk Coffee Bar) on Yeoksam-ro 67-gil has Wi-Fi and outdoor seats.

Bongeunsa (봉은사), a temple founded in the Silla period about 1,200 years ago, faces Coex at Bongeunsa-ro 531 and charges no admission.⁴ Starfield Library inside the Coex mall was also free in 2023, open 10:00–22:00.⁴ %Arabica and 가배도 코엑스 are at the mall's address, Yeongdong-daero 513, and Epigram (에피그램) at no. 511. Farther south on the same road, the specialty roastery Entete (앙떼띠커피로스터리) is on the third floor at no. 326.

Gangnam-daero and the hours after work

Alver at Gangnam-daero 102-gil 34 opens daily 10:00–23:00, with Wi-Fi and outdoor tables, and 달공장 카페 on Juheung-gil keeps 10:00–22:00. 둘리와 피카츄 at Seolleung-ro 107-gil 30 is open 24 hours. 고양이카페 모카 강남점, a cat café, is at Teheran-ro 1-gil 29, and Thanks Bread & Coffee at Gangnam-daero 62-gil 34. For specialty beans away from the main road, try Hammersmith's roastery at Nonhyeon-ro 94-gil 7 or Roasting Factory on Eonju-ro 71-gil. 북 카페 레벤, a book café at Hakdong-ro 116, opens 09:30–21:00 Monday to Saturday.

Daechi-dong's school crowd

To the southeast, Daechi-dong is known for hagwon (학원, private cram schools), which began opening there in the 1960s and now number more than 950; Line 3's Daechi station serves the neighborhood.⁶ Its cafés include 프레세르 커피 로스터스, a specialty roaster at Daechi-dong 955-25, and the bakery 대치동제빵소 at Samseong-ro 75-gil 40.

A study café (스터디카페) is a different business: cubicles, outlets and kiosk payment around the clock, normally about ₩4,000 for two hours or ₩10,000 a day as of 2023.⁷