Update 11/20/2011: Muffino Cafe has closed! :(
One would think that someone who is newly unemployed would cut back on frivolous spending such as getting coffee and eating out, but for me, it's been the total opposite! Since I don't like staying at home during the day, I've been going to more cafes than before... it's a bad, expensive habit. I justify it by telling myself "But, but, ... I have a responsibility and an obligation to go and review these places for all my readers in Korea! This is my act of service to the public!" Well, at least that's the excuse I tell my wallet.
So anyway, there's a relatively new vegan cafe in Seoul called Muffinio, located at Seoul National University station. I actually first heard about this cafe from a reader who commented on this blog a few months ago. It took a while but I finally got around to gathering the troops for a mid-week hangout.
The interior itself is the Korean, cutesy style with wooden tables and chairs and accents of pink.
The baked goods corner.
Those vegan carrot muffins looked geuuud! Everything in the bakery section was vegan, except for the cookies in the top left corner. Even though the cafe is self-entitled as a "handmade vegan cafe," this is a bit misleading because it's not 100% vegan, as they still serve dairy milk and a few non-vegan items.
Cute packaging! Their brownies (far right) are especially adorable... and also very small. One bite-sized square is 1,500 won.
Their signature items are these mini baked cakes made with rice flour. They're labeled as "muffins," but they're really more like ddeok with various sweet fillings. 1,500won each.
Kia got the chocolate one which was dense and fudgy.
Sean's soy latte, which came with a yummy crunchy almond cookie on the side. We bombarded the nice lady behind the counter with a bunch of orders, but if we overwhelmed her at all, she didn't show it. Cool, calm, and collected~
Mmmm, delicious vegan patbingsu! This was Kia's second patbingsu ever, her first one being the day before. If you haven't had patbingsu yet, don't wait! They are a quintessential Korean summer treat, and there are many cafes and bakeries that have patbingsu without dairy- just shaved ice, sweet beans, and ddeok chunks.
I also met two new friends, Angela and Amy. They both got blueberry-cranberry smoothies which looked pretty amazing. Angela is actually one of my blog readers and she even ordered some goodies from me, so I was so happy to finally meet her in person. I always get a bit nervous when I meet blog readers but we have so many things in common and we all got along swimmingly with no awkward moments! tehehee.
Sae Hee's americano. I'm so glad to hangout with Sae Hee before she took off for her Vietnam trip, lucky butt.
I got the Persimmon smoothie (ofcourse~) and also one of their apple-cinnamon "muffins."
Chewy, dense ddeok texture with sticky apple cinnamon puree in the center. It tasted good but since most ddeok is vegan anyway, this just didn't seem that special or unique... Is it wrong of me to say that their namesake muffins weren't the best thing about Muffinio? I just wish they were actual muffins with overflowing muffin tops that I can pull off... ahhh~~ makes me miss the ginormous banana-walnut muffins I always got in college and that were partly, if not solely, responsible for my freshman 15.
On the other hand, I did love their extensive drinks menu which is verrrry vegan-friendly and their patbingsu was also pretty fantastic. Muffinio is one super cute cafe and I love that they use the word "vegan" on their signage and packaging. Way to spread the word!
Directions to Muffinio:
Seoul National University Station, Line 2, Exit 2. Walk straight about 2 minutes and Muffinio will be on your left, on the 2nd floor. It is directly above a ColdStone Creamery and a Subway sandwich place.
map.
Open 10AM-11PM
Closed every 1st & 3rd Monday of the month.
02-878-0208
관악구 봉천동 856-5 대우디오슈페리움 1단지 208호
wifi available