Hangul 다방 Revised Romanization dabang | Hanja 茶房 McCune–Reischauer tabang | |
A dabang refers to a Korean establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee, tea or other beverages. It is called coffee house, coffee shop, dasil, dajeom, or chatjip.
These days the word dabang is used by youngsters for coffee places like Starbucks. Starbucks for example is referred to as byeoldabang (별다방), where 'byeol' means star.
History
As Korea was open to the West in the late period of the Joseon Dynasty and Korean Empire, dabang began to emerge. The cafes affiliated to Daebul Hotel, and Steward Hotel established by foreigners in Incheon became pioneering dabang. Though, dabang with modern functions and styles appeared after March 1st Movement in 1919. The first hotel-style dabang of Seoul was housed inside Sontag Hotel built in the neighborhood of Jeong-dong, Seoul in 1902 by Ms. Sontag, German-Russian. The hotel was built to serve foreign diplomats in Korea.