UPDATE: The Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul has been closed since 2017.
Hello Kitty is adorable, pink, frilly and a way of life. Most of us grew up knowing about Hello Kitty from seeing her at Sanrio stores, from friends or traveling to Asia. Why not go a step up and go to a place out of a Hello Kitty fairytale? If you have ever wanted to step into Hello Kitty’s life, you can now do so in an entirely pink house and cafe in Hongdae. There are two Hello Kitty themed cafes, but the one in Hongdae makes it the cutest Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul.
Blog Posts You Might Like
- MeerKat and Friends Cafe in Hongdae
- The Most Instagram Worthy Cafes in Seoul
- The Most Pink Instagram Worthy Cafes in Seoul
Recommendations
I’m gonna be real honest here. You’re not going to the cafe for the food. The food is puke adorable (like so adorable you will spew rainbows and unicorns) and comes in Hello Kitty’s painfully cute decor, but it’s not really anything special. I had the chocolate cake and besides the cake being super cute, I wasn’t impressed.
If you want the cafe all to yourself, the best time to go is when it opens until about noon. Most people in Seoul don’t go out until after noon, so you can enjoy the quiet and the photo sessions all for you. Bring your selfie stick and open the happy upon entering the cafe.
Related: Thanks Nature Sheep Cafe in Seoul
Cafe Experience
You will absolutely adore this cafe. Even if you’re not into Hello Kitty in your home country, after moving to Asia, you’ll understand she is an essential part of life. Walking up the stairs to the cafe, your heart will pump with excitement when you set your eyes upon a light pink house covered with trees. As you journey upstairs, you are greeted by subtle Hello Kitty lawn ornaments. Upon reaching the main balcony you will be enthralled by all the welcoming shades of pink and even a picture machine! The interior of the cafe is the cream of the crop as the designers definitely poured their heart and soul into what would be a Hello Kitty dream house in Seoul. If you go upstairs, you’ll see her bedroom and various displays featuring the cat herself.
Related: Meerkat and Friends Cafe in Hongdae
You will especially fall in love with all the details put into Hello Kitty’s bedroom. If she were real, she would want it to become exactly that. From the adorable chair, vanity set and four poster bed, go ahead and snuggle up. I dare you. Let your inner girly girl come out and there is nothing visually displeasing about Hello Kitty’s cafe.
Be aware the sweets are super cute and don’t taste as good as they look. By all means kids, never judge a book by its cover. I would go for the recommendations on the menu in the cafe as those are probably the best desserts and drinks.
How to Get There
Just an FYI, the cafe is located in the back alleys of the main road so it looks kind of ghetto. Never fear! I will give you effortless directions! From Hongik University Station go out exit 9. Walk down the road until you see Angel in Us. Turn left and walk down Jandari ro until you see a 7 Eleven. Make a left.
Address: 364-14 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Hours: 10am-10pm
32 Comments on Cutest Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Super cute cafe! If I was in Korea, I would definitely go, my inner child would be super happy there!
Any excuse to let the inner child out is an awesome excuse! 😉
Thanks for the write up – we’re heading to Seoul in a couple of months so I think it’ll be the time to pull out my inner girly girl :D!
I’m so excited for you to come to school! We should meet up if you get a chance! 😀
Lovely pink article about Hello Kitty! As a person who had been living in China, I can confirm the craze about this chain.
In addition, as a person who is very fond of Korea, I am planning to visit it in the foreseeable future. I was not going to visit Hello Kitty, but this sentence “The food is puke adorable (like so adorable you will spew rainbows and unicorns)” got me really interested! :)))))
Thanks for the insights, Gina!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you thought that line was funny. I’ve actually used it in real life and thought it would be funny on my blog too! I hope you find my other Korea posts helpful!
Oh my goodness, I have never seen anything like this place. I now have a mental image of you spewing rainbows (very funny). Not my cup of tea, but very pleased to have read about it here.
There were definitely rainbows and unicorns spewed. Hahaha.
Very nice. I have never been there, but have seen it from the outside. I didn’t know it included a bedroom and furniture.
Also I gave up trying deserts in most places in Korea.
This might be a nice place to take the kid though! 😀
The kids would probably like it. Why did you give up trying sweets and desserts? 🙁 Some places are actually not too bad!
While I like pink as much as the next girl (maybe more so!) I’ve never quite got the whole Hello Kitty thing.. I’m not sure even a move to Asia could get me on board! Must have been something to see though. And that cake! yum 🙂
Asia would definitely get you on board! In America, I thought it was so silly and strange. When I came to Asia I was like, “Why do I not have more Hello Kitty in my life?” Lol. You will feel the same!
Agree with you, Gina. This IS the cutest Hello Kitty Cafe. I stumbled upon it when I was in Hongdae a couple of weeks ago. I tried their tiramisu and cheese cake — not so bad actually 🙂
It is super cute. The tiramisu is probably good (isn’t everything coffee in Korea good)? 😉 Most other sweets that don’t have to do with coffee are okay. I don’t drink coffee (shocker). So I always go for different sweets.
What do you mean “if she were real,” Hello Kitty didn’t authorize this cafe? Haha just kidding. I’m amazed at all the detail that is in the decor of this cafe. Korean definitely put a lot of thought into interior design and I wonder how well would a place like that do in the States…
If she authorized this cafe, Hello Kitty herself would definitely be living here! I wanted to buy all the adorable Hello Kitty merchandise where she’s in hanbok because it was so cute! I think this place would be super packed! The Hello Kitty dessert mobile goes around and people just lose their minds.
Oh my! I went past their old location in Hongndae a few times on my previous trips to Seoul and so I thought they had closed down. I’m so happy to see that they just moved locations 🙂
I really love how you mention the food and how you don’t go to the Hello Kitty cafe for the food 😉 You’re there for the ALL THE CUTE THINGS! x
I wish I could have gone to the old location, but this place just rocks! I gotta keep the realness on my blog. 😉 I went there for a cute explosion! 😀
Adorably pink. Though Not really a place i could stay long in, this Hello kitty cafe is really getting its fair share of fame. It has now become a to-go-to place of Hello Kitty fans. I do know of some people from my country who had to out this in one of their itinerary (and really went there!)… So yeah, it’s now a tourist attraction:-).
The first Hello Kitty cafe I actually experienced was in Taiwan! Back when I was a newbie blogger, I had no idea what I was doing. Although if I get a chance to go back to Taiwan, I would cover this cafe in it’s full splendor. I’m glad Hello Kitty is now a tourist attraction! She deserves it!
Oh man this post brought back all kind of feels! I am kind of sad I never got the chance to go here…every time I was in Seoul it was always rushed. I have been to the Hello Kitty World in Jeju though. Have you been there? Also didn’t you find the food to be so expensive in this cafe? It’s nice to see honesty about the food. I felt the same way with the Hello Kitty cafe in Jeju
I would love to go to Hello Kitty World in Jeju! I’m planning a trip there with my boyfriend at the end of June and I definitely must stop by there! The food is really expensive. I think that for the cuteness the price is right but not the taste. Thumbs down on the taste for sure!
There are so many times, I cant even count, where I tried looking for that damn cafe while I was in Hongdae. But everytime i’ve looked for it, it never seemed to be where everyone said it was! Im sooo sad I missed out on it!!! I heard that the lattes are imprinted with a Hello Kitty image. Maybe next place I have to visit is Hong Kong’s Hello Kitty Bun bar. Seriously the Sanrio characters are the best!
Sanrio always makes me so happy! There was a shop in a mall where I used to live called Too Cool. I loved to go in there and buy all the anime stuff and look at all the adorable Sanrio displays. I never got sick of it and it was definitely always a stop for me. The cafes in Hongdae are kind of hard to find, but totally worth it!
OMG that looks so damn adorable! I love all the pink in it. It’s like the perfect playhouse for almost any little girl 😮 !!!
I have a love/hate relationship with Hello Kitty but this cafe looks adorable! Another reason for me to go back to Seoul 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is just waaayyyyy to adorable. And the amount of pink is just insane. I am sure there is nothing I can do to even convince my Hubby to come with me to a Hello Kitty cafe. So it’s going to have to be a selfie stick for me. I can imagine that people would spend hours just taking photos.
I believe for “Hello Kitty” lovers it’s a perfect place to be 🙂 I was never so into this character but always the pink color looked positive 🙂
I love Hello Kitty! I lived in Japan for 2 years and there were so many sanrio themed things over there – I always love visiting them! This one does look extra cute though!
I’m so glad that I found your wonderful blog on Google! I’m dying to try out the Hello Kitty Cafe. It’s on my bucket list. That cake you posted looks delicious 🙂
Alexis
http://www.dollier.com
Thanks for checking out my blog! I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
What till the public realizes this is the previous ‘BLΛCKPIИK HOUSE’ once owned by YG Entertainment and the site of their reality show. Knew I recognized it 👍😁