Exploring 943 King’s Cross: A Harry Potter Cafe in Seoul

Hello, lovely people! Today’s blog is going to be slightly different. I’m currently recovering from the flu, so I’ve been taking it easy and wanted to share something quick and fun. We recently went on vacay in Korea, and while there’s no actual Disney park within the country, there were a lot of Disney-esque and other fandom-y things that filled my little heart with joy, including exploring 943 King’s Cross: a Harry Potter cafe in Seoul!

We also went to the Disney Store at the Hyundai Center, poked around a Studio Ghibli-themed cafe, and spent an afternoon at Lotte World Busan (or what I like to call bootleg Disneyland), but today, the focus is on 943 King’s Cross, the whimsical, 7-story Harry Potter-themed cafe in Mapo-gu (within the trendy Hongdae District area).

This place has been on my bucket list for years, and if you can’t tell by the pictures, I was excited to (king’s) cross it off my list finally!

The Important Details

In case you’re here because you just searched through Google and need to find the address and directions in English, let me list all of that stuff here:

How to GET THERE

• English Address: 24 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (or you can type “943 Kingscross Cafe” into Naver Maps)
• Korean Address: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 417
• Take the green subway line (number 2) to Hongik University and walk out of exit 9. The vast building has a gigantic flying broom photo op out front, so it’s hard to miss. They used to have a trolley photo op, and I believe the cafe was once actually called 9 3/4 like the books, so I’m guessing they had to make a few minor tweaks due to copyright issues.

Hours OF OPERATION

• Cafe Opening hours: Monday through Thursday from 11:30 am – 9:30 pm and Friday through Sunday from 10 am – 9:30 pm
• Pub Opening hours: Sunday through Thursday from 7:30 pm – 5:00 am and Friday through Saturday from 6:30 pm through 5:00 am

Now, the Fun Cafe Details

I would not call this place a cafe, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s got all the cozy vibes you want in a cafe, but it’s just so much bigger than that! It is more like a multi-level hangout space perfect for remote work, studying, catching up on reading, crafting parties, and, of course, grabbing a beverage and catching up with friends.

First Floor – Food & Beverages

When we first entered, we were greeted by a gigantic dragon, a wall of wands, and a little area under the stairs that was reminiscent of the Dursley home. We were the first ones there and proceeded to purchase some treats, but unfortunately, the Happy Birthdae and Mandrake cakes were all sold out, so it may be worth calling ahead for them because that was a tad bit disappointing for me.

We ended up getting an Americano and a Butterbeer, but just a head’s up, it’s not like Universal’s. It’s an actual beer with a sweet foam and some chocolate. It’s not bad by any means, but definitely not for kids, and not exactly a dessert (which is how I would describe the Universal beverage).

Second floor – Wizard Cafe

This floor was decorated like the Hogwarts common rooms and had a little dress-up area so that we could pose in the uniforms. I believe there are rules as to how many items each person can use, but since we were the only ones there, no one seemed to care.

Third Floor – BANQUET Hall

The third floor looked similar to the Great Hall and felt ideal for work and study. If I were a local, I’d definitely take advantage of this and use it as a coworking space, though I could see it getting rowdy in here during the evening hours.

Fourth Floor – Wizard dormitory

The wizard dormitory looked to be the quieter area with beds and coffee tables so that you could have that chill sit-on-the-floor Korean experience but with HP vibes. This seemed to be an ideal area for a calmer tea/coffee session with friends.

Is It Worth the Visit?

Upon scrolling through Trip Advisor, I saw that this place got mixed reviews for not being as Harry Potter-heavy as they anticipated. It’s primarily HP-inspired, and understandably so, given that J.K. Rowling and Universal have stringent copyright laws. I wouldn’t be surprised if J.K. doesn’t get a cent from this place.

They do play the soundtracks from the films, feature treats from the books, (fake) pet owls in cages, spell books, and the decor does very much have a Hogwarts-ish vibe, but a lot of it is put together with what feels like thrifted items rather than branded props.

It’s still worth exploring 943 King’s Cross for Harry Potter fans or anyone who loves magical and/or slightly spooky things, though. It made me feel immersed in the wizarding world, even if they didn’t use officially branded items, and that’s not an easy experience to come by without paying for a full on Universal park ticket. (Just had to throw that in since this is the Thrifty Disney Gal blog, after all 😉)

*Something to note is that we went on a weekday and arrived the minute it opened, so we didn’t have to fight any crowds or wait in lines (and this is the only time I’ve ever been, so I can’t promise that the crowd levels are still ideal on the weekends).

Are you a Harry Potter fan? What are your favorite types of activities to seek out when traveling overseas?