Fodor's Expert Review Yri Cafe

Though Yri Cafe offers little of the minimalist design and photogenic, colorful drinks that hip, new cafes in the area have begun to specialize in, the venue is one of the few places to encapsulate the independent, down-to-earth spirit of the neighborhood. Offering a simple selection of coffees and teas, the cafe is strewn with hundreds of books and local zines and decorated with portraits of Korean activists and intellectuals. Film directors, novelists, and painters still come here to meet in groups and on weekdays, you can see writers hunched over their laptops until the wee hours of the night. The cafe hosts a wide array of events such as book talks, art exhibitions, and film screenings.