A new Korean café in Graceville is turning heads — and not just for its name. Ugly Coffee, which recently opened at 9/293 Honour Ave, is the brainchild of a Korean-Australian mother-and-daughter team looking to do things a little differently in the local café scene.
Co-founder Heeji Noh says the pair were keen to move away from the standard café formula and instead let their cultural heritage drive the menu. “We wanted to challenge expectations, both in our drink creations and in how we define what a café can be,” she said.
The drinks menu leans into that vision. Alongside specialty lattes and matcha affogatos, Ugly Coffee makes its own cold foam inspired by yakgwa — a traditional Korean honey confection with roots stretching back hundreds of years. Known in Korean as 약과, yakgwa is a deep-fried wheat-based sweet made with honey, sesame oil and ginger, historically associated with festive occasions and ancestral rites. At Ugly Coffee, that ancient flavour profile has been reimagined as a contemporary topping for cold brew drinks.
On the food side, the menu offers a distinctly Korean-inflected take on all-day café dining. The bulgogi baguette features flame-grilled marinated beef with caramelised onions and grilled cheese, while the Mayak corn egg drop riffs on a well-loved Korean combination of sweet corn, mayo and egg. Both have become early favourites with locals.
The cabinet deserves just as much attention. Ingeolmi — a traditional Korean rice cake — and hotteok pound cakes (based on a popular Korean street snack of sweet filled pancakes) make regular appearances, though Noh warns they tend to sell out quickly. The current crowd-pleaser is a pull-apart garlic and cream cheese brioche called the Yukkok, which is technically designed for sharing.
“Our specialty at Ugly is the intersection of craft and culture,” Noh said. “We are always brainstorming, testing and refining new flavours to bring to our menu.”
For a suburb that already has a solid café culture, Ugly Coffee is carving out its own lane — one where the coffee comes with a side of Korean culinary tradition.
Ugly Coffee is located at Shop 9, 293 Honour Ave, Graceville.
Published 1-July-2026
