Vegan Restaurants and Cafes in South Korea
One major concern for vegans and plant-based eaters who come to South Korea is if they will be able to eat well. What I've learned is that while it may not be as easy as it is in countries like the United States, there is no need to fret! With a little bit of research, you'll find that there are plenty of vegan/vegetarian restaurants with delicious meals of all varieties! Here is a compiled list of all the places I've tried so far and I'll continue to update the list as I discover more!
Restaurants
Plant
Plant is by far the most popular vegan spot within Seoul, and for good reason. I've visted a few times now and each time the food has been amazing! They offer an entirely vegan menu along with gluten-free options. Plant also does seasonal menus such as Thanksgiving dinners, pumpkin spiced lattes, and Halloween themed cakes so you'll never feel like you're missing out on the festivities. The price is a bit steep in comparison to other reastauraunts, however it's definitely worth visiting every once in a while to treat yourself!
tempeh rainbow wrap
apple pie, hummus and roasted squash salad
Halloween Gingerboo cookies
Hours: Mon - Sat 11am-10pm (Kitchen closes by 9pm)
Tel: 02-749-1981
Address: 2nd Floor, Itaewon-dong 130-43, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Vegetus
Tucked away at the corner of a quaint street in Yongsan-gu, Vegetus is a great place to pop into for a delicious meal and drink with a relaxed atmosphere. While I found the brownie to be sub-par, the burger was fantastic and the staff were incredibly friendly. If you're looking for a good place to eat and drink with friends I'd recommend Vegetus.
Vegetus Burger
Brownie
Hours: Mon- Fri 12pm-9:30pm (Break time 3-5 pm) Weekends 12-9:30pm (No Break time) (Last order 9pm)
Tel: (kakao) 070-8824-5959
Address: 서울 용산구 용산동2가 22-12 (1st floor , 59, Sinheung-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)
Cook and Book
Cook and Book is a cute little restaurant built into the basement of the owner's own home. The smoothies and juices are delicious and the place is well known for their veggie burger. Regarding the burger, I will say that if you order it expecting a classic patty between a bun it is slightly disapointing. However, removing that expectation lends to it actually being really yummy and filling, more-so resembling a fillet on top of rice. Overall the place stays true to their saying, "slow and steady," offering a comfortable space with home-style food.
Veggie Burger with Brown Rice, Green Juice
Hours: Thur-Mon 12:00pm-8:00pm (Break time 3pm-4pm) (Last order 7pm) Closed Tues, Weds.
Tel: 02-325-1028
Address: 361-26 Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Yammy Yoli
Yammy Yoli is a bit tricky to classify as it exemplifies characters of a bakery, cafe, and restaurant all in one. This small building sells a variety of unique breads and pasteries with drinks such as coffee, teas, and smoothies, along with a selection of burgers. Their breads are extremely delicious and the homemade vegan cream cheese that comes with the chibatta is wonderful. However, I don't recommend Yammy Yoli for buying toast loaves or basics breads, as they are pricier than other bakeries. Besides that, their other more unique items are tasty. Another bonus is you can sample everything!
Olive Cibatta with vegan cream cheese, Avocado 'Cheese' Brushetta
Hours: Sun-Sat 9:00am-9:00pm (Lunch 12:00-1:00) Burger order starts at 10:00am.
Tel: 070-4122-0082
Address: 6-5, Yanghwa-ro, Seoul, South Korea
Cafe Sun
Cafe Sun is a cozy vegan spot in Hongdae. It's a good place to go for a warm homemade meal and to escape from Hongdae's hectic streets. The food is made with an obvious sense of delicate care; being run by a single older women it feels like you're being fed by a your own mom or granny. the place also sells vegan pantry goods such as crakers, dressings, pastas, and protein bars. Full cakes can also be made to order.
Vegetable Stew (with Brown Rice)
Hours: Mon - Fri 11:00am-8:00pm, Sat 12:00-5:00pm
Tel: +82 2-336-8457
Address: 51, Donggyo-ro 17an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04001, South Korea
Cafes
The Raw by Twins
Moving onto desserts, The Raw by Twins is a small take-out shop that is well known for their all-organic, raw, gluten-free, vegan donuts. While I personally can't really call them donuts, as they're more like crumbly jam-filled granola bars, they are insanely delicious. The sweetness from the coconut-base and inside jam filling makes The Raw a perfect place to stop for a dessert that's garanteed to satisfy a sweet-tooth. Even now I'm craving one!
Disclaimer: If you do not like coconut, you will not like these donuts. The base is made almost entirely out of raw coconut so it really comes thorugh as the dominate flavor. If you are a fan of coconut, prepare yourself for sweet coconut berry goodness!
Injulmi rasberry donut and mugwort blueberry dounut
Injulmi rasberry donut
Delicious.
One thing I must point out is the crumble-factor; these delectable donuts are a bit of a challenge to eat. While The Raw by Twins is a take-out only shop these treats are best eaten while sitting down. Since the base is not a cooked dough it breaks into pieces when bitten into, some more easily than others. The sweet potoato donut, for example, became a sad deformed mess after two bites. The jam-filled aren't too bad, but messy when the jam begins to ooze out. The chocolate ones stayed together the best. After the first bite I usually just open the donut into two halfs and eat it like an open-face sandwich.
Sweet potato
Green tea strawberry
Dark chocolate caramel
Having sampled all the donuts, excluding the seasonal black sesame, I've concluded that my favorites are the injulmi rasberry, green tea strawberry, and snickers. The rasberry and strawberry jam provides stronger flavor than some of the cream-filled options such as the sweet potato. The sweet potato, to my dissapointment, not only didn't taste like sweet ptoato, but didn't taste like anything at all. Same goes for the mugwart- mugwart generally doesn't have a strong flavor, but even the blueberry jam that filled it didn't do anything for me. Both of the chocolate donuts I thoroughly enjoyed, but prefer the snickers because of my undying bias for all things peanut-butter.
In conclusion ...
Do Get: Injulmi Rasberry, Green Tea Strawberry, snickers, Dark chcolate Caramel
Pass on: Sweet Potato, Mugwart Blueberry
Beginning from the top: Green tea strayberry, snickers, dark chocolate caramel, sweet potato
Hours: Wed - Sun 11:30am-7:00pm
Tel: +82 70-8866-0986
Address: 436-8 Hapjeong-dong Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 04021
Cafe Banchanggo
Cafe Banchanggo, while not entirely vegan, is a cute study spot that offers yummy vegan scones, carrot cake, and drinks like lattes or hot chocolate. The scones comes out warm and they crumble in the mouth perfectly. This place is a great spot to relax, read a book, or study.
Honey grapefruit tea and scone
Hours: Mon - Fri 12:00 - 4:00pm, Sat 2:00 - 4:00
Tel: 02-969-4254
Address: 42-54, Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul
OON'S
Oon's is a multi-story cafe with a modern feel, offering a more sleek style space with food made from high-quality ingredients. Here, the owners and staff show a very obvious care for their food and customers. This cafe's distinct feature is its use of sesame and perilla in a multitude of different fashions, being used to make oils, spreads, be baked into cookies, or sprinkled raw. This gives all of Oon's dishes a unique depth of flavor and style. Personally, I found the sesame miso dip to be my favorite.
Soy latte, veggie salad sandwich on ciabatta with sesame oil dressing, sweet sesame miso dip with tofu crackers
Hours: Mon - Wed, Fri - Sat 11:00am-3:00pm
Tel: 010-4859-1347
Address: 1F 729-31, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Ap Euroui Bakery (앞으로의 빵집)
Ap Euroui Bakery offers a very small variety of seasonal vegan dishes in a comfortable and clean space. At my time of visiting, the smell of freshly baked quiche filled the air; it smelled amazing. While the menu is not expansive and the baked goods aren't visually amazing to look at, the owners are very sweet and the fact that I found a place to get vegan yogurt bowls from was enough to satifsy me. Each table also offers a writing pad and pen to pass that time as you wait for your order!
Cafe latte and vegan yogurt bowl
Vegan Yogurt Bowl
Hours: Tues - Wed, Fri - Sun 11:00am - 8:30pm (closed mon, thurs)
Tel: +82 10-3073-0305
Address: 종로구 익선동 삼일대로 32가길 29-1
Bonus: Convenience Stores
A newer achievement for South Korea's vegan community is the addition of vegan meal options in convinience stores. While before, it was difficult (virtually impossible) to find vegan kimbap or pre-packaged meal sets, now most convience stores have three options: Vegan kimbap with mock soy-based bulgolgi, an oil-based pasta and veggie set, and a vegan burger. My personal favorite is the pasta dish, which comes with chickpeas, mushrooms, tomatos, olives, and squash. The squash is what makes it for me as it comes with a bit of a sweet dressing (I'm assuming agave). Not bad for convinience store food!
Along with food, there's a few drink options. Korean-brand soy milks have always available. You can also usually find Almond Breeze milks, which come in unsweetened, original, chocolate, and banana so you don't feel like you're missing out on the banana milk craze! Another recent addition has been Almond Breeze's cafe lattes.
Well, that's it for now! Thanks for reading an happy eating!~ Have any questions or recommendations for other places to try? Feel free to send me a message or comment below!