또옹카페 (Poop Cafe)

At first glance, 또옹카페 is a seemingly normal cafe, despite the odd name painted in huge letters across the windows. They also recently added drawings of the 12 zodiacs to the windows. However, once you get closer, you start to realize that there is a tree inside decorated with colorful poop-shaped papers. Then, once you are inside, you realize that the poop-shaped papers also have adorable little faces, sneakers and handwritten messages on them from previous visitors. At this point you may start to wonder what kind of cafe decorates a tree with “cute” poops?!?

Inside, the cafe is surprisingly normal. There is a long coffee bar when you enter and it is quite spacious. The space has a very casual, relaxed earthy feel to it. Several mismatched chairs and colorful wooden tables occupy the majority of the space. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the normality of it all. I suppose I was hoping for more of a shock factor.

Despite the ordinary interior, I began to to find those quirky poop hidden treasures I longed for. A few squat toilets that had been turned into mini gardens occupied some floor space, porcelain cups with poops painted on them lined the shelves and colorful plush coils of “poop” could be found on tables, chairs and in little nooks and crannies. I like to get a little silly with the plush poops.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drink out of a toilet? Well, wonder no more. One of the main drawing points of this cafe is the toilet shaped mug your latte comes served in. If you’re really lucky, the barista will even make latte art in the shape of a poop to complete the look. I can’t say they are very practical to drink out of, but they make for some very interesting pictures. The toilet mugs are available upon request, but only for hot drinks. If you are visiting during the hot and humid months, this may be a bit of a disappointment, but the cafe is nice and cool so a hot drink wouldn’t be to difficult to handle. Also, they just added a 장미라떼(Rose Latte) and 플라워에이드 (Flower Ade) to the menu which are really pretty! The rose latte has a nice floral aroma to it with a light rose taste.

There used to be no poop themed snacks offered on the menu, until very recently. Now they offer cute little 또옹스콘 (poop scones) for ₩800 a piece. It is a simple plain scone, but it tastes a bit more like a cookie than a scone. It also comes with strawberry jam, served in a squat toilet dish. Cute or gross? I can’t seem to decided. If scones aren’t your thing, then there is a small vendor right outside the cafe called 또옹데리아 (like Lotteria, but with ddong) where you can purchase red bean & walnut or chocolate filled 똥빵 (ddong bang) at ₩1,000 each. I brought my mom and youngest sister here when they came to visit, but they’re not huge fans of red bean, which is all they used to offer until recently. The chocolate filled ones are super tasty and are the perfect alternative for anyone who doesn’t favor red bean.

If you’re looking for a quirky “only in Korea” kind of place to visit, this should definitely be on your list. Since it’s located in the heart of 인사동 (Insadong) there are lots of things to do and see while you are in the area, especially if you are a tourist. It is also just a hop and a skip away from the lovely 경복궁 (Gyeongbok Palace). If you ever find yourself in the area, be sure to treat yourself to a toilet of coffee.