Wiki's K-pop cafe

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Rein De Guzman 

Photos = Rein De Guzman 

Starbucks, Caffe Bene, Ediya Coffee, Nescafé, Mango Six, Angel-In-Us, Tom N Toms, Twosome Place, Gongcha, Cafe Pascuccini, Paris Baguette, Ryan Cafe, Line Friends, Passion 5, Dunkin Donuts, Holly's and others: those are some of the well-known coffee shops here in Korea.

Korea has been known for being fun of having lots of coffee shops, and for having never-heard of or unusual cafés, like the Raccoon Café, Sheep Café and even Cat Cafés. Usually, people go to a coffee shop during beak time, or even to reminisce. The common things they do are socialize, and they even sometimes have group study sessions, as well. Now I think I know the reason why people have so many coffee shops everywhere!

However, did you also know that some of the families of well-known K-pop stars run their own coffee shops, too? Thanks to my Tunisian friend who brought me to one, I learned about this last time I was in Seoul.

Have you ever heard about the singer Sungmin from the pop group Super Junior? His parents run a coffee shop called the Wiki Café, located in Jong-no District in central Seoul right near Gyeongbokgung Palace. If you're a big fan of Sungmin or Super Junior, then I think you should try and go see this café yourself. The Wiki Café started over three years ago and is still dominant for its coffees and other thirst-quenching beverages, and it even has pastries at very reasonable prices.

The café is a three story building. On the ground floor, you'll see Sungmin's portrait and some letters from some of his fans and customers. The café itself is located on the second floor where you can see lots of stuffs, like a cartoon character Minions and cartoon caricature of Sungmin himself on some chairs and pillows. Some of my non-Korean friends and I went there, as our Tunisian friend introduced us to this one-of-a-kind place. We had all agreed to have fun exploring unusual palces across Seoul, so we gave this café a try. We met Sungjin, Sungmin's younger brother, who manages the café on behalf of his parents, who also love Minions, and, of course, interacting with the customers.

 

At my friend's suggestion, I tried the iced americano and honey bread. In some other cafés that serve pastries, you'll be tricked by the plating, but not at Wiki Café! The picture you see in the display is the actual size of your order. Yummy!

Since I wanted to share this café with my non-Korean friends who aren't in Korea, but who are in different parts of the world, especially with my fellow countrymen who are planning to visit Korea on vacation, I took the chance to have an interview with Sungjin. I asked him simple queries about the background of the café and everything. It was unexpected, so I wasn't able to prepare some of the questions. The interview we did is in Korean and is written below in translation. 

- Hello there, Hyungnim! 

Yes, hi! Are you having a fun time in here?

- Sure! Would you mind sparing some of your time for some questions?

Sure! That's okay!

- By any chance, how did you come up with the name Wiki Café?

Well, I think if you know about Wikipedia, we just adopted the name from it. 

- I see! When did the café start serving customers?

My parents opened this café two years and eight months ago, so around three years ago.

- Now that this café has been running since then, what are the bestsellers in your café?

Hmm. Since customers always want to be refreshed, they usually order our iced tea, our hot or cold chocolate, or our hot or cold americanos.

- One last question. What are the operating hours of this café?

We're open on weekdays and weekends from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

- That's all for this interview. Thank you for your time!

No worries!

Sungjin and I got to talk a little more and he even mentioned that he once lived in the Philippines for his studies. Since we really don't have much time, we left early.

The Wiki Café is located at 51 Sagan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea.

wisdom117@korea.kr

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