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

Customers feed sheep at Thanks to Nature Café (ITN)

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.”