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The day your loved one is born is a joyful day not only for themselves but for all those who love them. It’s obvious to be happy and willing to congratulate your favorite idol’s birthday. Having emerged from Korean idol fandom, a “birthday café” event is where idol fans rent out an entire café, usually when the idol’s birthday comes around, to celebrate their fave’s birthday. This culture of holding a birthday café event may have started with the hope of sharing affection toward one’s bias, but it has now become a prominent event in the fandom culture. The birthday café event is no longer limited to K-Pop idols and has expanded into everything fans love, including actors, sports stars, and even characters from popular webtoons or web novels.

Fans can spend the entire day at birthday café events, watching videos of their favorite idols or taking “yejeol(courtesy)shots,” an act of taking photos of your favorite member’s photo card and exclusive merch. Some fans tour different birthday cafés events, take “four-cut photos,” which has recently become a craze in Seoul, get goodies featuring their favorite idol, and enjoy other events, including a lucky draw. Here are some birthday cafés in Seoul that will make your K-Culture experience even more special. 

With its warm pastel-toned interior, FAN SPACE is a recognized photo zone among idol fans. It has a special four-cut photo booth, enabling fans to take four-cut photos with frames they create during the event. The good news is that you can get better shots than general four-cut photos.

Videos of your fave constantly play throughout FAN SPACE, making fans feel like the birthday boy is joining the party. Fans can also enjoy exclusive merch and experience different yejeol shots, including taking photos with your favorite member’s signature pose or adding your idol’s favorite stuffed doll into the frame.

At FAN SPACE, you can even taste a special macaron printed with a picture of your fave.

This location is well-known as the venue for the birthday café event for popular K-Pop stars, including BTS Jimin, SEVENTEEN Woozi and Seungkwan, NCT Jisung. Visit FAN SPACE for a once-in-a-lifetime pic of yourself and enjoy this unique culture of birthday cafés.

• ○Location: 22 Sinchon-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (B1)

One of the features of birthday café events is that the fans determine the overall concept. The basic interior plus the sensibility and sincerity of fans make each birthday café event unique, presenting a satisfying experience for birthday café-hoppers.

In the daytime, the warm sunlight fills the café, making it an excellent spot for nice-looking photos. The space itself is beautiful, but Café Now Here also presents the joy of spotting the various props and pictures of your favorite idol placed throughout the café. You can also enjoy different cultures of birthday café events, including the “decorative zone,” “menu proof-shots,” “stuffed doll yejeol shots,” “lucky draw zone,” and more. At Café Now Here, you can even enjoy a cup of chocolate latte decorated with latte art of your fave and cookies that look like your star.

Once chosen as the venue for birthday café events for BTS Jin and V, Stray Kids Hyunjin, NCT Dream Jeno, SF9 Hwiyoung and the Korean singer Lim Young-woong, Café Now Here is the perfect place to take a picture with your favorite idol with the fast-approaching spring sunlight shining upon you.

• ○Location: 30-5 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (3F)

Photos are the best archival records for limitlessly enjoying what we love. How overwhelming would it be to step into a space where your favorite idol’s eyes stare back at you from every corner? Well, this birthday café read the minds of these fans.

As you may guess by its name, “Gallery Café BIAS,” you can plaster loads of your favorite idol’s pictures all over the space. In the “sharing zone, " visiting fans can share small yet meaningful things with fellow devotees to celebrate their idol’s birthday. It also has a “message zone,” where fans can write short messages to their fave on a post-it. Once the event is over, these messages are put together and delivered to the birthday boy as a message book.

Experience and enjoy Hallyu with a yejeol shot with photos of your fave lined up along the white wall, just like works of art.

• ○Location: 53 Wausan-ro 35-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (2F)

With birthday café events quickly trending, cafés are no longer limited to beverages; more birthday café event organizers are preparing their fave's favorite snacks or desserts. Bungeo-ppang (fish-shaped pastry), the prominent national snack for Koreans, is also popular among idols and stars.

Chulboozi Espresso may be small in size, but this sensible café transforms into a substantial venue for birthday café events. The slots for putting up photos are limited, but it is an excellent place to enjoy your star’s favorite snack: bungeo-ppang.

Chulboozi Espresso was chosen for birthday café events for NCT Jisung, SF9 Hwiyoung, BTS Jin, and actress Kim Jiwon, who is known to be a regular(check out the Chulboozi Espresso Instagram). The basic bungeo-ppang with red bean fillings and other flavors, including custard, mozzarella cheese, and corn butter, are available. The most popular crispy-filling bungeo-ppang is mozzarella cheese. Apparently, there’s a buzz that many fans who first came for a birthday café event become regular customers.

Eating together is the experience of cumulating affection. We may not be able to eat next to our favorite idol, but we can eat the same food. Join this memorable experience of eating your fave’s snack at Chulboozi Espresso.

• ○Location: 25 Wausan-ro 32-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (1F)