Momos Coffee Marine City: World-Champion Coffee by the Sea in Busan
Busan has no shortage of large cafés with impressive views. Momos Coffee Marine City is worth visiting for a different reason: the coffee comes first.
MOMOS is one of Busan's best-known specialty coffee names, and its international reputation is closely connected with Jooyeon Jeon, the 2019 World Barista Champion and the first Korean to win the title. Today, Jeon is a Co-CEO of MOMOS, while the company's coffee program also includes 2021 World Cup Tasters Champion Kyoungha “Charlie” Chu in quality control.
For travelers staying around Haeundae, the Marine City branch is particularly convenient. It opens at 7:00 a.m. every day, has a landscaped garden, and sits close enough to the waterfront that you can take your coffee outside and continue toward the sea. MOMOS describes the branch around the idea of “everyone's living room,” with a small garden and grove intended to make the space feel connected to the neighborhood.
That combination makes it more than another stop on a list of Busan cafés. It works especially well as an early-morning coffee stop before sightseeing, a break during a waterfront run, or the reward at the end of one.
Why Is Momos Coffee Famous?
MOMOS began in Busan in 2007 and developed into one of Korea's prominent specialty coffee roasters. The biggest international turning point came in 2019, when Jooyeon Jeon won the World Barista Championship. Busan's city government describes her as the first Korean to win the competition.
But the championship title is more useful to travelers as context than as a trophy to admire.
MOMOS has built its business around specialty coffee: sourcing green coffee, roasting, brewing and quality control rather than treating coffee as an accessory to a photogenic café. The company says it has developed direct-trade relationships with more than 150 producers, and its team also includes World Cup Tasters Champion Charlie Chu, who oversees quality control from green selection and cupping through roast validation and café standards.
In other words, come here because you care about what is in the cup.
For international travelers trying to understand Korea's modern specialty-coffee culture, that is what makes MOMOS more interesting than simply finding the largest café overlooking the ocean.
Baristas preparing pour-over coffee
A Café Koreans Seek Out Too
MOMOS isn't simply a café positioned for foreign tourists visiting Haeundae. It is a locally rooted Busan roaster with four locations in the city, and the brand's competition history has given it recognition well beyond its original neighborhood.
That popularity has a practical consequence:
Marine City can get busy.
If your image of the perfect morning involves a silent café and your choice of every table, arriving during a popular period may disappoint you.
MOMOS Marine City is popular, so don't count on having a quiet table during busier hours.
The solution is not necessarily to skip it.
It may actually be better to change how you use the café.
If It's Crowded, Take Your Coffee to the Waterfront
Marine City's biggest advantage is outside the café.
Pick up your coffee, walk toward the waterfront, and the experience changes completely. Instead of waiting for the “best” indoor seat, you can combine specialty coffee with a walk along the coast and views toward Gwangan Bridge.
Wide sea and Gwangan Bridge view
This is also why I would be careful about describing MOMOS Marine City simply as an “ocean-view café.”
The better description is:
a serious specialty coffee shop within easy reach of the waterfront.
That distinction matters. Travelers searching for floor-to-ceiling ocean views from their table may have different expectations. But if you like the idea of buying excellent coffee and then walking beside the sea, the location works extremely well.
The Best Time to Go: Make It Your 7 A.M. Coffee Stop
What to Order at Momos Coffee Marine City
If specialty coffee is the reason you came, filter coffee is the most interesting place to start.
Rather than automatically ordering your usual Americano, look at the coffees available that day and choose according to the flavor profile you enjoy. If you are unfamiliar with specialty coffee, asking for something fruitier, sweeter, cleaner, or more chocolate-forward is often more useful than trying to decipher every origin and processing term.
Two MOMOS coffees with flavor cards
Flavor cards help explain the character and tasting notes of the coffees being served.
The food counter also makes MOMOS practical for a light morning stop.
Savory focaccia and baked goods make the café easy to use for a light breakfast.
Desserts are available if your coffee stop falls later in the day.
Coffee Souvenirs You'll Actually Use
MOMOS is also worth allowing an extra few minutes for shopping.
Instead of buying a generic Busan souvenir, coffee drinkers can take home something directly connected with the city's specialty-coffee scene.
A useful way to think about the options is:
For travelers, drip bags are probably the most practical souvenir because they take almost no luggage space and don't require a grinder or brewer.
And there is another advantage: you can recreate a simplified version of the MOMOS experience after returning home. i bought the 15-Pc variety drip bags.
MOMOS drip bags are designed to sit directly over a mug, making them particularly convenient for travel or gifts.
The brewing instructions on the packages are straightforward: open the filter, secure it over the cup, add hot water, and brew approximately 150–180 ml, pouring in stages. The packaging recommends water around 95°C.
That makes these far more useful as a souvenir than something that will simply sit on a shelf.
How to Get to Momos Coffee Marine City
Address: 91, Marine City 1-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan
Korean: 부산 해운대구 마린시티1로 91
Hours: 7:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., daily
Those details are currently listed by MOMOS itself.
Walking or Running from Haeundae Beach
This is the option I'd build into a morning itinerary.
Quick Facts
Is Momos Coffee Marine City Worth Visiting?
Yes—especially if coffee quality matters more to you than simply finding the biggest café with the biggest window.
MOMOS has legitimate specialty-coffee credentials. Jooyeon Jeon's 2019 World Barista Championship was a landmark achievement for Korean coffee, and the company has continued to build its identity around sourcing, roasting, brewing and quality control rather than relying on the title alone.
The Marine City branch adds something particularly useful for travelers: location and timing.
Come early. Get a filter coffee. Add something from the bakery if you need breakfast. If the room is already busy, don't waste your morning waiting for the perfect seat.
Take the coffee outside.
Walk toward the water, look across toward Gwangan Bridge, and let Marine City become part of the experience.
For an even better morning, make MOMOS the midpoint—or finish line—of a run from Haeundae Beach.
That is where Momos Coffee Marine City makes the most sense: not simply as another café to check off in Busan, but as a way to combine world-class Korean specialty coffee, Haeundae's waterfront, and the rhythm of an early morning in the city.
감사합니다.
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