What Filming Locations Did Sweet And Sour Feature Prominently?

I tend to approach films like little travel guides, and with 'Sweet & Sour' the most prominent locations were unmistakably urban. The movie anchors itself in Seoul, using neighborhoods such as Hongdae, Hapjeong, and Yeonnam-dong for their youthful streetlife, cafés, and indie-music corners. The Han River parks play a recurring role for emotional and sunset scenes, while corporate interiors point to Yeouido/Gangnam-style office districts.

Beyond Seoul, other productions named 'Sweet and Sour' (or similar titles) historically choose settings that mirror the story — so expect city centers, music venues, and intimate cafés. For me, the film’s locations felt like characters themselves, grounding the heartbreak and small joys in very walkable, visitable places that lingered long after the credits rolled.

I got totally hooked on 'Sweet & Sour' the first time I watched it and then spent an embarrassingly long time hunting down where everything was shot — the film really feels like a love letter to city life. The 2021 Korean Netflix movie leans hard into Seoul as a character: you'll catch lots of scenes in youthful neighborhoods like Hongdae and Hapjeong with their indie cafés, vinyl shops, and neon alleys. The Gyeongui Line Forest Park area around Yeonnam-dong shows up in quieter, walk-and-talk moments, giving the romance those leafy, offbeat Seoul streets that make you want to wander for hours. A lot of the couple-and-friend-group hangouts look right out of those riverside parks by the Han River — benches, bike paths, and sunset skyline shots are used to great emotional effect.

Workplace drama in 'Sweet & Sour' is filmed in and around the glass-and-concrete office towers that dot Yeouido and parts of Gangnam, so the corporate-versus-heartbeat contrast feels very modern Seoul. Cafés and tiny restaurants that serve as turning points are clearly based on the Hapjeong/Mapo indie-cafe vibe, with exposed brick, mismatched chairs, and staff who look like aspiring musicians or designers. There are also a handful of nighttime sequences that lean into the city’s club and live-music scene — those scenes feel like they were shot in small live venues and rooftop bars around Mapo and Itaewon, where the lighting and crowd energy sell the emotional stakes.

If you like location-hunting, the neat thing is how the movie mixes real neighborhoods with some studio sets for intimate interior beats, so you get both authentic street texture and hyper-focused dramatic spaces. When I visited some of these spots, the cafés and riverside benches were full of people reenacting scenes on their phones — it’s the kind of movie that makes the city feel like a map you want to trace with your feet. I loved how the settings amplified the emotional clarity of the story, and it made me plan a Seoul walkathon the next weekend just to chase those exact vibes.