{"id":31009,"date":"2026-02-23T21:41:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=31009"},"modified":"2026-02-23T21:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:41:37","slug":"why-these-korean-cafes-in-london-are-exploding-in-popularity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=31009","title":{"rendered":"Why these Korean cafes in London are exploding in popularity"},"content":{"rendered":"


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KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>. BTS. Kimchi. For the past dozen years, a cultural force known as hallyu, or the \u201cKorean wave\u201d, has engulfed the world. What began as a modest export of South Korean soap operas to other parts of East Asia in the late 90s metamorphosed into a transnational obsession with K-pop, K-dramas and Korean cinema, skin care, fashion and food.<\/p>\n

In its latest soft-power incarnation, the wave is manifesting in London\u2019s Korean cafes<\/span>, where high-concept design meets casual dishes laced with gochujang (Korean fermented chilli paste) and innovative hot drinks.<\/div>\n

The model has proven popular, fuelled by social media and the appeal of all-day hang-outs that invite frequent visits. But these places are not exact replicas of their Seoul counterparts; instead, they have their own identity, subtly influenced by their owners\u2019 experiences in the UK.<\/p>\n

In December, Tokkia opened in Covent Garden as London\u2019s first Korean-style matcha house, specialising in green tea lattes and Korean salt bread<\/span>. What distinguishes it from Japanese matcha places is its playful lack of ceremony.<\/div>\n

Also new in London are Angel Dabang, where the specialities are dabang<\/em> coffee \u2013 made creamy with condensed milk \u2013 and kkwabaegi<\/em> (twisted doughnuts), and Look Left by Yugu, which focuses on mugwort lattes and Korean fusion plates. Both spots draw crowds, and Angel Dabang is already looking to relocate to a bigger space.<\/p>\n

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\"Kkwabaegi,<\/div>
Kkwabaegi, or twisted doughnuts, are one of the specialities served at Korean cafe Angel Dabang in London. Photo: Instagram\/angel_dabang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Tokkia\u2019s owner, Sooji Im, says the Korean cafe trend is not new to the UK. It has been active for a few years, cemented by the arrival of Bunsik, the street food chain serving Korean corn dogs that opened in the capital in spring 2021 and quickly went viral. Other popular, affordable snacks include tteokbokki<\/span> \u2013 chewy cylindrical rice cakes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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KPop Demon Hunters. BTS. Kimchi. For the past dozen years, a cultural force known as hallyu, or the \u201cKorean wave\u201d, has engulfed the world. What…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[738,5023,498,1833,3934],"class_list":["post-31009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-cafes","tag-exploding","tag-korean","tag-london","tag-popularity","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}