Sik Mool

Top choice in Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu


Four hanok were creatively combined to create this chic designer cafe-bar that blends old and new Seoul. Clay-tile walls, Soviet-era propaganda posters, mismatched modern furniture and contemporary art surround a young crowd sipping cocktails, coffee and wine and nibbling on house-made pizza. Sik Mool and its creator, fashion photographer Louis Park, are often credited as spearheading Ikseon-dong's popularity.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu attractions

1. Tteok & Kitchen Utensil Museum

0.12 MILES

For those interested in the local sweet culture, this two-room museum at the Institute of Traditional Korean Food offers displays of rice cakes in…

2. Stone Pagoda of Wongak-sa

0.16 MILES

This 10-tier, 12m-high monument in Tapgol Park once graced Wongak-sa, a Buddhist temple that stood here but was destroyed in 1504 on the orders of the…

3. Cheondogyo Temple

0.21 MILES

Cheondogyo means 'Religion of the Heavenly Way', and this temple is the hall of worship for a home-grown faith containing Buddhist, Confucian and…

4. Tapgol Park

0.21 MILES

Seoul's first modern-style park, opened in 1897, stands on the precincts of Wongak-sa, a Buddhist temple destroyed in 1504. Left behind was its remarkable…

5. Unhyeongung

0.21 MILES

This palace has a modest, natural-wood design reflecting the austere tastes of Heungseon Daewongun (1820–98), King Gojong’s stern and conservative father…

6. Sun Art Center

0.22 MILES

One of Seoul's longest running commercial-art galleries, in business since 1977, Sun Art specialises in early-20th-century Korean art and awards an annual…

7. Hwabong Gallery

0.23 MILES

Cutting-edge Korean art is usually on show in this basement space alongside permanent displays of the smallest book in the world (no more than a dot), and…

8. Jongmyo

0.26 MILES

Surrounded by dense woodland, the impressive buildings of the Confucian shrine Jongmyo house the spirit tablets of the Joseon kings and queens and some of…