Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Seoul's 'sheep restaurant' sees visitors flock to its doors

Thanks to Nature café has been opened for the past four years but has seen a recent spike in visitations

Jack Simpson
Friday 06 February 2015 17:42 GMT
Comments
Customers feed sheep at Thanks to Nature Café
Customers feed sheep at Thanks to Nature Café (ITN)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Now here’s a baaah-king mad idea.

After the Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium emporium was founded in London and the Penguin café opened its doors in Ikebukuro, Japan, there is another animal-themed eatery to add to the list - Seoul’s very own sheep café.

At the café, diners can enjoy all of the regulars such as coffee, tea and cake, but the unique selling point of this cafe is that this can all be done in the company of a couple of sheep.

According to the shop’s owner, Lee Kwang-ho, the recent spike in visitations has coincided with the lunar calendar making this year the Zodiac Year of the Sheep.

The owner said that with so many Koreans wanting to spend some time with sheep during the year, the “Sheep Café” provides an easier alternative to visiting a sheep ranch.

However, the biggest surprise for Lee Kwang-ho is that it isn't just locals coming through his doors.

He said: “I don't know how this place was known to the world, but I had visitors from all over the world coming to see my sheep, from Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, even some countries I don't know well.“

Lee Hyeon-ji, 21-year-old, visited the café with her boyfriend and said that the convenience of the café was what attracted to them: ”We were planning to go to a sheep ranch , but it's too far and we didn't have enough time to go there. Then we heard about this place where we can see sheep in Seoul and came to this sheep cafe.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in