Update: Temple of Ungnyeo 웅녀의신전 is temporarily closed until further notice.
You’ve seen cafes in Korea with interesting entrances. From vending machines to refrigerators, basically, anything can be an entrance to a cafe. One of the hottest cafes in Seoul right now is a cave-themed cafe known as the Temple of Ungnyeo.
We honestly did not expect a cafe like this to be along the main Insadong street. Seongsu-dong maybe, but Insadong? The only thing that comes to mind is probably just traditional goods and teahouses.
Usually, the entrance is sealed, and you have to press a button to open the sliding door. But the cafe has attracted lots of crowds recently, so they just left it open.
Temple of Ungnyeo Ambience
After entering the cafe, there’s a short corridor that leads you to the main seating area. The seats are arranged in a way that they surround the huge basin of water. Getting some Arthdal Chronicles ritual vibes right here.
The mirrored interior made the place look bigger, but in reality, the cafe was smaller than what we expected. The only seats available were the ones surrounding the basin of water, so you might experience some awkward eye contact with the people seating opposite you.
Nature sounds playing in the background plus water dripping into the basin constantly made us feel as though we were really in a cave. There’s also a media art installation room (out of nowhere) that’s a popular #ootd spot among instagrammers.
Who is Ungnyeo?
At this point of time, you must be wondering who’s Ungnyeo?
Well, the cafe’s concept goes really well with the story of Ungnyeo. In a Korean tale, there used to be a tiger and a bear (named Ungnyeo) who lived in a cave and prayed to Hwanung to transform them into humans.
Hwanung told them that he would turn them into humans if they stayed in their cave for 100 days and consumed only garlic and mugwort. Both agreed but on the 20th day, the tiger was too hungry and left the cave. On the 21st day, Hwanung decided to award the faithful Ungnyeo and turned her into a beautiful woman.
Ungnyeo ended up marrying Hwanung and gave birth to Dangun, who is known as the founder of Gojoseon (Old Joseon).
Temple of Ungnyeo Menu
Just like the tale, the cafe focuses on items with mugwort (also known as artemisia) such as Mugwort Spanner and Mugwort Blending Tea.
If the earthy, herbal flavor is not your thing, you can go for the usual coffee items such as Americano and Latte.
Plat Green
Coming in a beautiful shade of green and brown, the Plat Green (5,500won) is basically like a mugwort latte with a shot of espresso. You can experience the fragrant aroma of mugwort with each sip. And yes, it’s spelled Plat Green at the cafe.
Ungnyeo Macaron
One might mistake this for a matcha macaron but it’s actually a mugwort flavored fatcaron (3,500won) with red bean filling. The fragrant mugwort cream paired really well with the red bean filling. While the fatcaron might look pretty sweet at first glance, the sweetness level was bearable.
Cafe Opened By Missha
The cave concept cafe in Insadong is also said to be a marketing strategy by Missha (Able C&C) featuring their Artemisia line of products. Upon collecting our orders, they even gave us a free mugwort sheet mask.
The Temple of Ungnyeo is a pretty interesting place to visit, especially if you like themed cafes. Since there are not many tables and seats, the place can get crowded really quickly, so we suggest visiting during off-peak hours. If you’re not based in Seoul, make sure to add this to your list of must-visit cafes in Seoul for the future!
Temple of Ungnyeo 웅녀의신전
17-1 Insadong-gil, Insa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Mon-Sun, 10am-9pm
Nearest Subway: Jongno 3-ga Station (Line 1,3,5) Exit 5
*This is an independent review by MiddleClass.sg.
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