Hidden in the hanok clusters of Bukchon is a small and quaint little café specialized in purple sweetness. Just look for the alley with a light flow of extremely satisfied people walking out of, with some even holding an unfamiliar purple item in hand. Stroll into the pathway and continue down until you find a small white sign with a cute purple blob. There you will find Café Bora (Bora from the Korean word for purple), It’s a dessert café serving deliciously unique purple delights. From ice cream to bingsu, your summers won’t be complete without some purple.
Their iconic purple is made from special purple sweet potatoes produced in the seaside city of Boryeong. They serve purple ice cream, purple bingsu, purple porridge, purple jjinbang (steamed bread), purple rice cake macaroons, purple latte, and last but not least, dried purple sweet potato chips. They also have flavors but purple is what they are known for. Their bingsu deserves a try as almost everyone gets a little surprise by the realness of the scent/flavor of sweet potatoes. Decorated with a small flower, the bingsu also come with a side of extra purple porridge to add onto your bingsu as well as the purple potato chips to add some extra crunch. Bora Café is the only place in Seoul and perhaps the world where you will be able to get purple bingsu, so if you ever have the chance, the café will be well worth your time.
