Seoul | Thanks Nature Sheep Cafe

So far we have been to a cat café and a poo café while in Korea. It was only a matter of time before we added sheep cafe to our list! (Also on the list: raccoon cafe and owl cafe.) While in Seoul one wintry weekend, we stopped by Thanks Nature sheep cafe to defrost over a cup of hot tea. And to pet some sheep!

Based on photos I saw online it looked as if we would be sipping our hot drinks among a sea of freely roaming sheep. The excitement built as we walked down the flight of stairs to the basement level cafe, anxiously peering inside the cafe window for my new woolly friends.

As I stepped down the stairs I noticed a small fenced-in area in the nook of the stairwell. Within this space was another, smaller, fenced-in pen that contained a little house, some food, a few heaters, and two very fluffy sheep.

Were these THE sheep we came to see? Where were the rest of them? Were there more inside the café? Most importantly, were they real?

We didn’t spend too much time pondering it over – it was freezing cold and we needed something hot, fast.

Inside the cozy cafe we peeled off all our layers and ordered two tall glasses of some exotically named flowering tea.

Once I had warmed up a little I stepped outside the cafe to visit the sheep in their pen. The sheep were not interested in me at all.  But since when has that stopped me?

Both of the sheep remained planted firmly in their heated home, an area off-limits to pesky grabby tourists (like me).

I soon gave in to the cold and returned to my hot mug of flowering tea. Every so often I glanced out the window to check on the sheep to see if they had sneaked out of their pen. They were too smart for that.

Before we left I tried to lure the sheep outside to the enclosed play area. Once again they remained disinterested and unwilling to budge, preferring chewing on the wooden fence over an annoying crazy-eyed lady who was way too into petting sheep and dead-set on booping sheep noses. 

Never fear, dear puffy sheep. One day I will be back. And next time you will not escape!

DETAILS | SEOUL SHEEP CAFE

Thanks Nature Cafe (aka Sheep Cafe) | CUISINE: Coffee, tea, waffles, desserts | COST: Inexpensive (though kind of pricier for a cafe given it’s an animal-themed cafe | LOCATION:  마포구 서교동 486 서교푸르지오상가 B121, Seoul, South Korea 121-842 (KOREAN) Seogyo Prugio Apartment store B121) 121 B1, 486, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu (ENGLISH). Roughly in the Hongdae neighborhood in Seoul, near Hongik University.  | DIRECTIONS: By subway —  Take Hongik University Subway Station (Line 2), Exit 9. Make a left turn once out of the subway and go up hill at the first intersection towards Hongik University’s main gate. The cafe is located in the basement level via a set of stairs — look for the cafe’s sign and sheep photos. | DESCRIPTION: It’s a cafe! With sheep! Unlike many other animal “theme” cafes — cat, dog, etc — the sheep are kept outside in a heated (in the winter) sheep pen instead of roaming around the inside of the cafe. I had envisioned that the sheep and the cafe would be integrated but actually the sheep are a couple steps across and outside the front of the cafe. Apparently the sheep are rotated every six months/are only there ever six months, so be sure to check their Facebook page to make sure the sheep are around when you plan your visit. | VERDICT: Seeing sheep in a city environment, as part of a cafe, is somewhat a surreal experience. For what it is, it’s fun. The sheep seem to be well-cared for (yes, even in the winter months) and the cafe menu has a good variety of drinks and sweets. If I were to visit again, I would probably go during the warmer months so I could play outside more with the sheep.