Coffee shops everywhere have truly evolved that I’m no longer surprised when someone used “old school” to describe the likes of coffee giant Starbucks. Even here, in my town, coffee shops have ceased to be places that merely offer a selection of coffee-based beverages. They now sell experiences revolving around a specific concept, from the weird to the fantastical, from the whoa to the duh, and so when I heard about poop-themed cafes springing up in this or that city, it was not surprising at all.
I’ve seen photos of the poop cafe somewhere in Taiwan, and I must say I had doubts whether I’d actually be able to eat anything – and, most importantly, keep it down – if I get to go there.
The Ddong Cafe, or “Poop Cafe” in Insadong, fortunately, was more on the cutesy side.
Yes. Poop can be cute. Depending on how you use it.
Atop Ssamziegil…
Ddong Cafe is located at the top floor of Ssamziegil in Insadong. If you just follow the spiraling walkway, waaaaay up until the end, you’d find yourself on the doorway to the Cafe.
Anyway, you won’t miss it, since the walls are made of clear glass, so you can easily see the interior and the decor that will pretty much tell you you’ve come to the right place.
There were a lot of customers when we got there, but there were still several tables unoccupied. Thank goodness, because it was also raining a bit, although it slowed down, outside.
The clientele was a mix of families with young kids and groups of teenagers to their mid-twenties hanging out. I doubt this concept would be something that sits well among the elderly, after all.
There are small tables, tables for larger groups, long counters with tall stools, and there were even a couple of low tables in the cozy corners with bean bags but, predictably, they were already occupied when we got there, with no signs of the occupants vacating it any time soon.
Let’s talk about the decor. Nothing fancy or swanky, in fact it was more on the comfortable side, with plushies and what looked like handmade crafts lining up the walls, and adorning the tables and seats.
Like this giant poop pillow set up against one of the seats. And notice the tiny poop shaped pillow stuck on the back of the chair. All the chairs with hard backs have them, for back support, I suppose, but mostly for the place’s aesthetic, really.
And look at the tiny plant beside it. No plain flower boxes here, because they took the shape of urinals, with the plant thriving right inside it. 🙂 And the plant urinals were built into the floor.
On the counter are a number of knick knacks and small curio items, several of them still in keeping with the theme (which is poop, if you don’t already know). I think most of them are for sale, like small charms, key chains, magnets, cellphone charms, etc. Like those colored poop-shaped cellphone charms are 5,000 KRW apiece. A bit steep, if you ask me, because that’s already more than the price of one beverage.
And yes, that’s a miniature toilet bowl right there, acting as a small receptacle for small spray bottles. Incidentally, those spray bottles contain scented liquid, which I was pretty sure at that time were for the hands. But now that I have discovered products like I-poo (Korean) and Deja-Poo (Philippines), then I am having doubts.
Wall graffiti seems acceptable, it seems, as long as it still adheres to the overall concept? Although I figure this was done by the owners of the place, and customers aren’t really allowed to draw directly on the walls themselves. XDD
But this is probably the closest to customers getting what they wrote up on the wall of the cafe: on small poop-shaped notes. So they can get those sheets of paper from the counter, write something, then stick them up there.
Most were in Korean, though we didn’t really go around to check out all of them. Neither did we even try to put our own notes up there, even if there were loose sheets lying around on the tables.
Time to order!
Between tea and coffee, I’d pick the former any time, because I’m not much of a coffee drinker. So under other circumstances, I’d have ordered any of their flowerades. But they were in tall plain glasses, which is kinda boring.
So I ordered their Rose Latte instead. Rog ordered their Mojito Latte. Each costs 6,000 KRW (Php285 or ~USD 5.40). Yeah. Pricey.
But look at those toilet bowl cups! XDD They’re huge too, so there’s a substantial amount of the beverage in there!
They had breads, pastries and pasta, with the Ddong bread being a popular one even in their kiosk outside. They’re basically slightly flat pieces of bread shaped like poop, and costs 1,000 KRW each.
They also have waffles, which are popular from what I see. The classic Ddong Waffle (12,000 KRW), Ddong-a Ice Cream Waffle (6,000 KRW) and Ddong-a Gianduia Waffle (6,000 KRW). From the photos, they looked like your normal waffles, but they are served in flat plates that look like urinals, like that flower box I mentioned earlier.
So what I ordered is their spaghetti pasta because I honestly can’t remember the last time I had it.
The server’s hand shook a bit when he delivered it (because man, these are heavy!!) so some of the Mojito Latte spilled over, down the sides of the bowl and… yeah, I’m pretty sure you know where I’m going with this if you use just a bit of your imagination.
So how did it taste?
The lattes are just your typical latte, but you could get that subtle rose hint to it, and that bit of minty tinge in the mojito.
(Then again, I think it’s more the presentation and experience than the taste for these ones.) They were quite good lattes, though.
And I liked the pasta, which Rog and I shared, because there was just a lot of it (and keep in mind that, it hasn’t been four hours since we had those snacks at the Innisfree Green Cafe in Samcheongdong earlier.
But once we cleaned up the pasta (“cleaned up” is a relative phrase in this case, so I’ll let you be the judge of that), this is the time you have to use your imagination again and just… look at the bowl. LMAO.
You can check them out on FB: facebook.com/ddongcafe if you want to know more.
The thing about concept cafes is that they are often a hit or a miss. Sometimes the concept can pretty much overshadow the actual quality of the food and beverages served, because they pay more attention to the aesthetics more than the culinary part.
Which is understandable because I think more than half of the people that go to concept cafes are more concerned with the aesthetic more than the gastronomic bit.
Also, sometimes concept cafes have steeper prices than your usual coffee shops. Again, because they are presumably selling a whole experience rather than just something that satisfies your palate.
For the Ddong Cafe, however, I have to say I liked their pasta. And the servings look generous as well, which kinda makes the steep price tags somehow acceptable. And I liked their latte, just the right flavor for me (and I don’t like sweet lattes, FYI).
If you’re on a coffee shop tour in Seoul, make sure to include this in your itinerary. It also helps that it is located in an area with a lot more things to offer, so you can hit lots of birds with just one stone.
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