Petra Café by Daylight — A Totally Different Space

It was 5 May 2026 — Children's Day here in South Korea. We were heading up to Cheongju (a city in central South Korea, about two hours south of Seoul) to visit my grandmother, and my parents and I set off together. My wife sat this one out and stayed at home. We arrived roughly an hour earlier than expected, and just as I was about to get out of the car, my dad suddenly said, "That big café we went to at night last time — fancy seeing what it's like during the day?" He meant Petra, one of Cheongju's mega cafés, which we'd visited after dark on a previous trip. I'd genuinely been curious about the daytime vibe myself, and honestly, it'd been ages since I'd gone for a coffee with my parents, so I was well up for it.

From the moment we walked in, it was clear — the daytime version of this place is an entirely different experience. Strip away the mood lighting and let natural sunlight flood the space, and it barely feels like the same building. I've been to a fair few large cafés across South Korea, but I've never seen such a dramatic contrast between a night visit and a daytime one at the very same spot.

Night vs Day — Different Feel Right from the Entrance

When we came at night, the illuminated signage caught your eye straight away, but by day, the green logo sitting neatly between those white louvred panels gives off a completely different vibe — clean and understated. The natural light made for much better photos, too.

The Bakery Counter — An Absurd Number of Options

Step inside and immediately to the right there's a long bakery counter stretching out in front of you. They had everything from pretzel, rice, and onion bagels to six-clove garlic bagels and sweetcorn bagels — a properly impressive range. The six-clove garlic bagel in particular had this gorgeous garlic butter aroma drifting up from the counter; my mum walked past and went, "Shall we grab one of these to take away?" The sweetcorn one had whole kernels piled on top, which made it properly eye-catching.

Worth noting: the bagels and cream cheese are ordered separately here. You pick your bagel, then pick your cream cheese — the cream cheese runs between about £1.30 and £1.60, so once you add it to a bagel you're looking at roughly £2.60 to £4.20 all in.

They also had something called a "Little Pang Mini Mix" — a gift set with bear-shaped bread rolls and heart-shaped macarons. My mum spotted it and immediately said, "That's a perfect little present." There were bagel rusks and sprinkle rusks too, all neatly packaged, which looked great as snacks to take home. The everything bagels and onion bagels were heaped up in baskets, and they were heftier than I'd expected. Garlic bagels sat right alongside them — honestly, I lost count of how many bagel varieties they stock.

The cranberry chocolate chip bagel was almost the size of your face. Next to it were sausage rolls and long baguette-style loaves — I'd assumed they only did bagels, but there's actually a decent range of bread as well. They had croffles too — plain, matcha ice cream, and raspberry fresh cream — all lined up in a row. My dad looked at the spread and said, "Is this a café or a bakery?" We spent a good while just browsing the counter, but let me move on to the cake section.

The Cake Section

Just past the bagels, off to the side, there's a dedicated cake display.

The pure milk cake had neat little peaks of white cream all over the top — looked lovely. The pistachio ice cream choux caught my eye, too. The Basque cheesecake had a dense, fudgy cross-section that had my mum peering at it for ages. Between chocolate cake and carrot cream cheese cake, there was a solid selection of slices, each placed on a little branded Petra stand, so the display felt tidy and well put together. Prices sat around £3.90 to £4.20 per slice. That said, a few of the cakes looked as though the cream had dried out a touch, and some cross-sections had visible cracks. Unlike the bagels, cakes probably don't turn over as quickly, so they may have been sitting in the display for a while.

Ground and First Floor Interior — This Mega Café in Daylight

We placed our order and started looking for seats, taking in the space as we went.

With natural light pouring in between the exposed concrete columns, the plants looked genuinely lush and alive. At night, the indirect lighting gave the place a cosy, intimate feel, but during the day, sunlight streaming through the glass walls completely transforms the atmosphere. The green wreath decorations hanging from the first-floor railing and the potted plants dotted around looked so much fresher in daylight. A large tropical-plant graphic banner hanging in the centre had far more vivid colour to it as well. On the ground floor, there were pastel-toned beanbags and round sofas — my mum said, "That looks comfy over there," but someone had already nabbed the seats.

The Sofa Zone — A Plush Central Lounge

The central sofa area on the ground floor was genuinely plush. Green and beige sofas are arranged in a curve, with a potted plant and a small tree in the middle — it feels like a separate little lounge tucked inside the café. Red and yellow cushions added pops of colour. My dad wanted to sit there, but the tables were a bit too low for three people and the spacing was slightly awkward, so we ended up moving elsewhere. That said, if you're just having a quiet coffee on your own, it'd probably be the comfiest spot in the house.

Perimeter Seating — The Window Spots

There were also wooden-framed chairs lined up right by the windows. Through the glass you could see the lawn and a small triangular-roofed building — a view we'd had absolutely no idea about when we came at night. Out on the terrace, white chair sets were dotted about, and on a pleasant day you could quite happily sit outside with your drink. The chairs do lean back at a fair angle, which is comfortable enough, but the tables felt a touch too far away to eat or drink comfortably. It's the sort of seat where you just sit and gaze out at nothing in particular.

Other Seating

The standard seats are brown leather round chairs paired with white tables. The backrests are quite low — not great for leaning back — and I reckon your back might start to stiffen up after a while. Still, for a quick coffee they're perfectly fine, and from this angle you get a nice view of the central garden sculpture and louvre partitions behind, which makes it a decent spot for photos too. The tables are generously spaced, so you genuinely don't feel crowded by other people. My mum sat down here and said, "It's packed, but it doesn't feel cramped at all."

Overall Scale of the Place

This should give you a sense of just how big the place is. The ground floor alone is divided into the sofa zone, standard seating, and window seats, and the ceiling is open all the way up to the first floor, so it never feels stuffy. Plants and partitions between the exposed concrete columns break the space up naturally — it's vast, but it doesn't feel chaotic. My mum said, "If this were my first time, I wouldn't have guessed it was a café," which pretty much sums up the scale.

The Outdoor Space — Hidden in Plain Sight at Night

When we visited after dark last time, it was too dim to see what was out the back. In daylight, it turns out there's a whole stretch of outdoor seating behind the building.

Along the side of the building, white tables and mesh chairs are set out in a row, with a broad lawn spreading out right in front of them. There's a small triangular-roofed building on the grass that looked like it might be a photo spot. My dad wanted to sit outside, but it was the middle of the day and there was zero shade. Even though it was only May, the sun was genuinely fierce, so we ended up heading back inside. A few parasols or an awning would have made a real difference here — that was a bit of a letdown. On a mild spring or autumn evening, though, I imagine it'd be lovely.

The Triangular-Roof Building — Like a Tiny Chapel

That triangular-roofed building I spotted from the lawn — up close, it had a pink door with a small pine branch decoration and an "Open" sign hanging from it. Push the door open and you step into a tiny space that feels remarkably like a little chapel. Wooden floors, a cross-shaped light, candles, and a pair of old wooden chairs. My mum went in and spent a good while having a look around. I'm not entirely sure whether you're meant to drink your coffee in there, but as a photo spot it's a charming little touch.

What We Ordered — A Coffee with Mum and Dad

We went for an iced almond cream latte and a real vanilla latte. You order via a self-service kiosk, and when you select a coffee, a screen pops up asking you to choose your beans: Orb (nutty), Breeze (fruity acidity), or Decaf. I'm a sucker for nutty flavours, so I went with Orb.

The almond cream latte came topped with cocoa powder and sliced almonds. The first sip was all warm, nutty richness — £3.65. My dad had the real vanilla latte and said it had a lovely vanilla fragrance without being overly sweet — that was £3.55. Together, the two drinks came to £7.20. For a mega café latte, somewhere around £3.50–3.65 is fairly standard these days in Korea, but the cups weren't especially large, so on a pure value-for-money basis it felt ever so slightly middling. The drinks themselves were both genuinely tasty, though, and my dad said, "Not bad for the price."

We were only popping in for a quick rest before heading to Grandma's, but it struck me — when was the last time I'd actually sat in a café and had a drink with my parents? It was Children's Day, yet treating my mum and dad to a coffee might have been the most meaningful part of the whole trip.

Petra Café Menu and Prices

Final Thoughts — Visit Once at Night, Once by Day

On the way out, my mum finally gave in and bought one of those six-clove garlic bagels she'd been eyeing up. In the car on the way to Grandma's, my dad said, "Bring your wife next time," and I thought — yeah, next time I really should.

Petra is the kind of place you need to visit twice to appreciate properly: once at night and once in the daytime. After dark it's all cosy indirect lighting; by day, you get a sun-drenched space and an outdoor lawn you didn't even know existed. Essentially the same mega café in Cheongju, but two entirely different experiences. It worked well with my parents — there are enough different seating areas that everyone can find something comfortable — and the bagel selection is wide enough that you could easily pick up a few as gifts. It wasn't without its niggles, but between the large free car park and kiosk ordering, it's a genuinely solid option for a family visit.