Nothing better than an added level of fandom fun to a café experience.
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Ever wanted to change up your café-hopping routine or add another coffee shop to your favorites roster? Then check out these K-pop themed cafés found all around Metro Manila where you can not only enjoy Korean and Korean-inspired food and drinks, as well as your favorite idols’ music, aesthetic, and content, but you can also gather with fellow fans and make some new friendships bonding over your faves.
While these cafés are mostly themed after specific idol groups, they’re pretty multi-fandom. They accept fandom events or cupsleeve events (or CSEs) for many idols and groups, and function like regular coffee or pastry shops, but with added K-pop twists found in their menus or aesthetics. From well-established OG cafés to newly-launched businesses, make sure to add these K-pop themed cafés to your list of must-visit places as a K-pop stan.
CHINGU DACHI CAFE+
Chingu Dachi has mastered the art of riding the Hallyu wave and bringing joys to Filipino K-pop stans (and soon, J-pop stans). Starting out as a K-pop shop that hosts group orders and sells albums and official and fanmade merch of almost every group you could think of, they’ve branched out into starting up a café in the heart of Manila, Chingu Dachi Cafe+. Fans can avail of their menu and drinks and also take some cool 0.5x photobooth pictures inspired by viral South Korean photobooth DON’T LXXK UP right in the café.
Location: 2F 1655 Piy Margal cor. Don Quijote St., Sampaloc, Manila
CAFE 408
Opened in 2023, Cafe 408 was the first EXO-themed café in Metro Manila, and offers not just a great menu, but also all the EXO content an EXO-L can dream of. From magazines with members gracing their covers to modern table set-ups, the café is perfect for the minimalist, metropolitan EXO stan. Cafe 408 also hosts plenty of cupsleeve and K-pop events every month.
Location: Isidora Hills, 2F The Rock Lifestyle Hub, Holy Spirit Drive, Quezon City
PURPLE 7 CAFÈ
The vibrant and Insta-worthy café has a pretty plentiful menu of drinks, snacks, pastries, and meals you can enjoy while taking in the detailed and artistic layout of the shop. Purple 7 Cafè is themed after K-pop global icon BTS, if you couldn’t tell, and they’re open from Tuesdays to Sundays, with weekends being for reservations only. They’ve got it all, from refreshing drinks to true ARMY energy, and you can host birthdays, cupsleeve events, and more right within their vibrant walls.
Location: One Cedar Wood Place, 37 Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City
RKIVE CAFE
The Rkive Cafe is a sophisticated and chill photo-studded café in Makati that not only features photos of BTS in gallery-style and a wide variety of food and drinks, but also champions ARMYs love for their idols and their creativity. Rkive has a couple of initiatives that make them stand out from other cafés, such as the Perspectives exhibit where fans could show off their artwork and creativity through art exhibits, Introspection online magazine where ARMYs written work can be read by fans and non-fans alike, and the Book Pantry where customers can donate books and take home books donated by other customers. How cool is that?
Location: 1266 A. Apolinario St., Cor. Belarmino St., Bangkal Makati City.
HARUMAN CAFÉ
Location: 403 D.V. Laurilla Street, Makati
FROM HOME
This soon-to-open café in Pasig is bringing together all members of SM supergroup NCT into one minimalist café titled after one of the most heartwarming NCT U songs ever: From Home. The café is set to open this February, with a coffee and non-coffee menu ranging from PHP 98-148. They will also be open to accommodate cupsleeve events, so try to check them out to be the first to discover a new hangout for NCTzens in the Metro.
Location: 3rd Floor, Star Sirius A, Sandoval Ave., Pasig City, Metro Manila
Continue Reading: Craving For That Caffeine Fix? Here Are 9 IG-Worthy And Cozy Cafes in Metro Manila
