Seouling: Chilling at Cube Entertainment's Cube Cafe

Seouling is a new series from Soompi featuring photo tours, thoughts, and reviews of places in Seoul. By giving a firsthand view into the streets of Korea, Seouling hopes to transport Soompiers to the hub of Korean entertainment. See also: Seouling: Cozying Up at Kyuhyun’s Cafe Mom House

I was a little surprised by how close Cube Entertainment was to our Soompi office in Seoul. After a short ten minute bus ride, and an even shorter three minute walk, I found myself rounding the corner and landing right in front of Cube.

Cube Cafe is unique in the fact that it is one of the few (only?) cafes that are connected directly with the company itself. When I arrived in the early afternoon, I found the cafe relatively empty except for four or five Cube employees sitting leisurely and chatting inside. As time stretched on though, fans slowly began trickling inside.

The first thing I noticed was how small the cafe was, and how it has changed. I had visited previously with a friend a few years before, and I found the decor vastly different than two years prior. Gone were the handprints of artists that aligned the floor and piled up displays of fan goods, and in it’s place was a trendy and sleek cafe decorated in cool Cube blue.

The cafe offers no food for sale. Drinks are priced from 4,500-6,800 won (approximately $4-$6), with smoothies and specialty lattes falling on the higher end of the spectrum. I ordered their signature drink, the Cube-Ade, and was served a tall glass of sparkling blue lemonade.

Besides drinks, fans can also purchase official goods at the cafe. One wall displayed all the goods with prices on them. Orders for goods are taken at the counter along with drinks.

The opposite walls were clear glass featuring large photos of Cube artists. As expected, the playlist featured songs from all the artists, while the “CUBE TV” channel playing on the large TV screen looped various music videos and stage performances. Surprisingly, other artists’s videos were played on top of Cube artists.

Fans like hanging out at the Cube Cafe because the entrance to the agency is connected to the cafe itself. The foyer into Cube Entertainment was decorated with large fan-donated rice wreaths, along with an assortment of artist-signed CDs and objects. The two doors into the agency were marked by the fingerprint sensors outside of it, one being clearly marked with the “Cube” logo, and the other cleverly hidden behind a large photo of BTOB.

Although I hoped to spot an artist or two during my hour at Cube, I only managed to catch sight of a trainee or two, along with many, many, managers. Ah well, there’s always next time.

How to Get There: Cube Cafe is located at the bottom of the Cube Entertainment building, which lies on Gangnam’s famous K-Star Road. The easiest way to get there is to come out of Exit 2 on Apgujeong Rodeo Station on the Bundang Line. After coming out of the station there will be various markers to the K-Star Road. Walk straight out from Exit 2 and take the sixth left and continue down the street to Cube Entertainment. Along the way you will pass SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment; Cube Entertainment is less than a block away from JYP Entertainment. The walk will take around 15 minutes.

What did you think of the latest edition of Seouling? Have you been to Cube Cafe before?

harmonicar is located in the Seoul office and is a former teacher who once taught at CNBLUE’s Yonghwa’s high school in Busan. She is an avid INFINITE fan, and was once served beer by Sungyeol in Seoul.