Daily Busan
Your neighborhood café is one of the best in the world
source: visitbusan
Busan has long been celebrated for its coastline and culture, but the city has a lesser-known identity that's been quietly percolating for years. It's a serious coffee town. And now, the world knows it.
Momos Coffee, Busan's own homegrown specialty roastery, has just been named one of the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops, landing an impressive 22nd place on the global list. It's a milestone that puts Busan firmly on the world coffee map.
Momos is one of only two Korean cafés to make the cut from thousands of independent shops worldwide. The other is Ruli Coffee in Seoul, ranked 51st.
The list was unveiled on February 16 at Coffee Fest Madrid 2026, Europe's premier coffee industry event. Rankings were determined through rigorous evaluations by more than 800 professional judges spanning the globe, combined with public voting that exceeded 350,000 votes in this edition. In total, more than 15,000 coffee shops worldwide were considered.
Judges assessed each shop across eight criteria: Coffee quality, barista experience and technique, customer service, innovation, space design and atmosphere, sustainability practices, food and pastry quality, and service consistency. The aim is to recognize spaces that don't just serve exceptional coffee but build a complete experience around it, serving as both a guide for enthusiasts and a benchmark for industry professionals worldwide.
Momos Coffee was founded in 2007 when founder and co-CEO Hyeon-ki Lee began serving take-out coffee from a corner of his parents’ restaurant in Oncehonjang. The space was barely 13 square meters. The ambition, it turned out, was considerably larger.
Nearly two decades on, the brand has grown into one of the world’s most respected specialty coffee companies, winning multiple industry awards. A turning point came in 2019, when co-CEO Jooyeon Jeon became World Barista Champion, a first for Korea and a defining moment for Momos. In 2021, champion barista Kyoungha Chu joined the team after winning the World Cup Tasters Championship in Milan, making Momos one of the rare coffee companies in the world with two global champions under one roof. Then, in 2022, Momos won the Notable Roaster title, awarded by U.S. conglomerate Pacific Foods.
Today, Momos operates across four distinct locations — the flagship in Oncheonjang, the Yeongdo Roastery & Coffee Bar, the Marine City branch, and its newest home at Domoheon, a cultural complex in Nam-gu District. Each space reflects a different side of Busan, and each has been shaped with the same philosophy: specialty coffee for everyone, without compromise.
※ Momos Coffee Locations
◎ Oncehonjang Main Branch: Click
◎ Marine City Branch: Click
◎ Yeongdo Roastery & Coffee Bar: Click
◎ Domoheon Branch: Click
◎ Online retail shop: Click
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
impressive: 인상깊은 unveiled: 공개돼다 rigorous: 엄격한 evaluation: 평가 consistency: 일관성 exceptional: 특별한 ambition: 야망
Editor: Song Soomi
Copy Editors: Ryu Hyoseung, Anton J. Mapoy