Seoul has been known to have a love for coffee shops that started with King Gojong’s (1852-1919) love for the drink–a love borne from governing South Korea in the safety of the Russian embassy for a year due to political reasons involving Japan. Upon his return to Deoksugung, one of the smaller palaces, the emperor built a special building for drinking coffee called Jeongwang-heon which only he and special guests were permitted to enter.
In the following years, the “Dabang” (which means “tearoom”) emerged with the first one opening in the Sontag Hotel by Antoinette Sontag. Soon enough, more coffee shops started appearing in Seoul, turning into social spaces for Korean artists, politicians, and intellectuals. These days, Seoul has a colorful plethora of themed cafes ranging from seasonal cafes, themed cafes, and bakery cafes that also take note of elevating the customer’s experience. Among the many notable cafes in Seoul, there’s an especially interesting cafe called The Rain Report. Located in Yongsan, Seoul and only launched this June, the cafe offers a menu of delicious coffee paired with a fully-immersive experience with artificial rain showers.
Visitors are greeted by the sound of calming raindrops while water drips, ripples, and water flows through the cafe, giving it a relaxing ambiance within the minimalist design by the designer, GLOW SEOUL.
Combined with the relaxing artificial rain showers that come every 15 minutes from the building’s roof, the cafe has a monochromatic look highlighted by almost bare walls and ceilings where light reflecting from the water can shimmer and give a calming effect. Though the cafe has a lot of memorable features, its centerpiece is a collection of screens displaying perpetual rain in HD while other parts of the restaurant portray stormy rain clouds. The cafe/restaurant also has a menu of delicious food and beverages with their best recommendations being the Drip Coffee, the Sesame Cloud Drink, and the Almost Pistachio Desert.
Overall, The Rain Report is probably the best cafe for pluviophiles and is a cafe that magnifies the art of experiencing fine dining in the modern age.
Related read: The Parconido Bakery Cafe in Gyeonggi-Do Presents Warmth and Relaxation
