Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.
I never thought that I’d be spending the first night of my third trip to Seoul dressing up in Slytherin robes at a Harry Potter cafe, but recently life has been taking me to some interesting places. 943 King’s Cross Cafe is located in the Hongdae district and features magical concoctions, beautiful Hogwarts-inspired interior decor, and costumes you can borrow and dress up in. Immediately I was seduced by the Dragon’s Blood and eyeball cocktail upon entering (fortunately no advanced reservations were required). After my long flight, sipping on some vodka and relaxing at this 5 floor cafe seemed like the perfect way to relax.
I have been to the Harry Potter cafes in both Tokyo and Singapore before, but Seoul’s by far was the most extravagant. I appreciated the long boarding school-like tables they had on one floor, but they also had couches and tables for small groups on other floors. Each floor had a unique theme and the top floor even had a Christmas tree since I came here during the winter. Many paintings were hung on the walls mimicking the Hogwarts portraits. Although they couldn’t talk, under the fluorescent lighting they almost looked like they could! A dementor was hidden in one of the stairwells and gave me a great surprise. Luckily I didn’t stare it in the eyes, or else my trip would have ended there.
The menu had a lot of desserts that you could order individually, but unfortunately the food menu was designed for large groups (like many restaurants are in Seoul). Fortunately I wasn’t bothered by this because cocktails and desserts were all I wanted anyway! The main draw of this cafe is the free robes that you can borrow on the 5th floor. I had so much fun taking pictures and all of the people around me were genuinely thrilled to be here. There’s also a gift shop with some very cute Slytherin earrings that I almost bought (but I decided to look at the night market instead).
Experiencing childhood memories in a foreign country is truly something special. I would recommend coming here if you are a fan of the series because it is truly something magical.
Address
Sageun-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea