To Eat at the Apgujeong Cafe Blue Bottle, Securing a Seat Comes First

As the phrase after-meal craving suggests, if I eat a meal and don’t have coffee afterward, I feel like something is missing. So rather than thinking of it as going to a cafe, I usually end up ordering the coffee I always drink at a chain coffee shop. Today, instead of an after-meal craving, I’m going to visit an Apgujeong cafe to enjoy a pleasant conversation with someone I haven’t seen in a while. There are many places to drink coffee in Apgujeong, but there don’t seem to be many cafes. I heard you have to go to Apgujeong Rodeo or Sinsa Garosu-gil. I didn’t want to go that far, so I decided to visit Blue Bottle, located near Apgujeong Station.

Even though it has been quite some time since Blue Bottle entered Korea, there still don’t seem to be that many branches, so the Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe always seems to be crowded.

The Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe is open every day and closes only on Lunar New Year’s Day and Chuseok Day.

Monday to Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. / Saturday to Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe is located in the Andaz Seoul Gangnam building. However, parking validation is not available, so if you’re driving, it’s better to use a nearby public parking lot.

Blue Bottle’s menu is very simple. Since the menu is so limited, you might wonder why they even attach the word “cafe.” I think the reason is that they serve hand-drip coffee.

There are also various desserts that go well with coffee. It’s a little surprising that they sell granola.

At the Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe, you have to write your name after ordering. That’s because they don’t use vibrating pagers to notify you when your drink is ready; instead, they call out the name written by the customer who ordered it.

Not only hand-drip coffee but also regular espresso drinks are sold, so there is a space for hand-drip preparation at the front bar, with beans displayed next to it.

At the back bar, the beans used for espresso extraction are placed. Blue Bottle lets you choose between two types of beans, and there is also decaf, so it’s nice that you can choose the beans you want. It gives the feeling of a place where you can enjoy coffee in a more specialized way.

The Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe has seating only on the second floor. The second-floor space isn’t especially small, but because the seats are spread out generously, there aren’t many seats available. So if you want to drink coffee inside the store, securing a seat comes first.

That’s why when you tell them at the counter that you’ll be drinking in the store, the first thing they say is that seating is limited and to check whether a seat is available.

I think Blue Bottle is even more popular because of that logo.

The merchandise is similar, but that logo gives it a somewhat different feel. Even though people drink Starbucks coffee, many also buy Blue Bottle merchandise because of the Blue Bottle logo.

The Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe has floor-to-ceiling glass on both the first and second floors, so it doesn’t feel stuffy at all. Because of that, if you sit by the window, it seems like you can naturally take atmospheric photos.

I like that you can get photos that don’t feel like they were taken in the middle of Seoul.

The drinks I ordered at Blue Bottle are a cappuccino and a latte.

They fill the mug with coffee to the brim, and carrying it up to the second floor made my heart race because I was afraid I’d spill it.

For some reason, the latte art made me strongly want to carry it upstairs without spilling a single drop and take a proof shot.

It’s basic latte art, but it’s the kind you don’t usually get unless you’re at a cafe. I think that’s exactly Blue Bottle’s charm. Even if it’s the same decaf, there is definitely a difference in taste.

Blue Bottle decaf seems to have a rich coffee flavor unlike decaf from other places.

When you lift the cup and drink the coffee, you can see the Blue Bottle logo on the bottom of the cup, and it’s subtly cute. It’s easy to see why Blue Bottle merchandise is popular. Without realizing it, I found myself thinking that it would be nice to have one of these coffee cups at home.

If you’re thinking of tasty coffee at the Blue Bottle Apgujeong cafe, give it a visit sometime.