Hongdae Hangs

Last summer, I spent a couple of weeks over in Seoul after much little contemplation, as well as a teeny bit of effort selling the idea to Pang: my other half/coffee buddy/fake lesbian partner/creative consultant/part-time model who luckily is as into the cafe culture as me. 

Don't get me wrong - we are definitely not pretentious folks - we just appreciate good food, good coffee, and perhaps a handsome barista (or two). 

Either way, after a good period of 7 months, here's 7 places that I think is worth checking out in Hongdae - which should be known for things other than just busking, street food and Stylenanda. 

1. 빙하의별 (Bing-Ha-Eh-Byeol)

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Along one of the less touristy areas of Hongdae is where you'll find this restaurant serving French cuisine, and a mean apple-pie ice cream (must-try!)

Rather than the fancy fine-dining I tend to associate with "French cuisine", this is more of a casual diner concept with rather cute tableware, cutlery and definitely - the tongue in cheek napkins.

This pink-interior place dishes up some affordable French food - think along the lines of duck confit, and bread bowls - they change up their menu once in a while so do check their instagram page for updates if you're heading there! 

Even though Pang and I learnt Korean for almost a year, nothing much still can flow out of our mouths fluently... sadly. Either way, the couple who runs the place speaks about every language (and perhaps French, seeing they went to Le Cordon Bleu...) you can think of - English, Mandarin? Yes, that's about all we need. 

Also, beware of the queue! This place doesn't take reservations (I think), plus the space is really really really small. So just try your luck! We didn't wait for too long though - just long enough to see a sickeningly sweet couple feeding each other at the seat by the window... Ha. Ha.. Ha...

I'd recommend going here in the day and snagging the seats by the window if you want to get a nicer photo of your food/anything in general. Rule of thumb: sunlight is the best light :-) Take it from me who went in the evening and ended up having to manipulate the barbell-looking table lamp to get some semblance of a decent photo... 

2. 스코프 

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Scope places 2nd on my list - not so much for its food, but more for the interior design and concept of the place. Housed in a modern industrialised duplex, Scope reminded me a lot of those Japanese modern minimalist houses I love to ogle at on Pinterest. 

Well, I mean there's little room for them to go wrong in any way - they serve coffee made from Manufact/Anthracite beans, plus SCOFF bakery goodies (yum yum yum!!!) and has a lifestyle concept store on the upper floor with all the swaggy brands like Have a Good Time!!! (Me likey!) 

Basically, you're one step to being a cool kid after you step inside the store. Ok, kidding, I'm a dork (forever). Well, even the #ScopeSeoulCrew reminded me of Mithra from Epik High... But then again, I mistake too many people as celebrities.

3. 벌스 (Beol-Seu)

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Found this place off @yyykim's instagram post, and damn I've never seen a cafe with more flowers than these. Being a floral atelier cum cafe, the whole place smelled really really nice due to their dried flower wall arrangements, with the only downside with it being kinda dark (albeit cozy). Was wondering how Yewon's photos made the place look so bright, but then again, all her photos look 10/10. So I guess, it's just technique. 

Surprisingly, those managing the place were guys - like male specimens with green fingers who actually have a heart for plants?! Hey, it's not very common from where I'm from... (I think it's cute)  Let's face it, this place screams feminine, but well, Koreans do know how to catch girls' hearts ;-)

P.s. I should totally do up a post: Top # cafes with the most handsome baristas ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Do drop by if you're feeling for tea or juice - the selection's great. (You could give the brownie a miss though. )

4. 루프트 

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Tumblr-girl alert!!! White walls + minimal furnishings + palm leaves = aesthetic!!! This OG outlet of Luft was established with novel elements of a refurbished swimming pool/bathhouse - see grid tiles and metal handle bars. Not to mention, the ever famous: Hawaii Nach Seoul sign which has appeared on my tumblr dashboard 12345678 times. Or is it just me. 

Funny thing was we caught the Luft barista couple in all their awkward posing/insta-action at another cafe the day before we visited - cue the awkward eye contact and "omg, they look familiar...oh...ohhhh it's them from yesterday...ha ha ha...um yeah". 

Well, that aside, what's not to love? Their straws even have Luft printed on them. Talk about branding. Recently, they opened a new outlet at Myeongdong I think. Check it out, still a white modern concept - but still keeping the aesthetic as usual. 

5. 빌리프 커피 로스터스

Belief Coffee Roasters has a real big space to study (heads up! exchange kids or whoever) with big windows and a real cozy basement! P.s. Their toilet is nice too - Aesop soap! Ok. 

Plus, their chocolate fudge cake is the bomb too! Dense, chocolatey, with just the right ratio of cake and chocolate cream - just the way I like it. Ugh, thinking about it makes me hungry... And if you're wondering if I've got any photos, I'm sorry but no. Unless you want an ultrascan of my tummy.

6. 앤트러사이트

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Anthracite can be considered one of the household labels of coffee beans in South Korea, for those of you who don't know it! To me it's like the korean-version of Papa Palheta here in Singapore... 

When finding this outlet in Hapjeong, a middle-aged man, who did speak really good English, kindly led us the way to this obscure looking warehouse i.e. the location, after seeing us having (great) difficulties reading the Naver Map. And I still tell others I got an A for geography... How ironic... Aside from having doubts that we were following a dubious person to a dubious location, we reached the place - which was right next to his apartment compound. 

Note to self: Trust more in the goodness of people. That aside, keep your street-smartness there too. 

Like all Anthracite outlets, it's characterised by this raw, industrial, concrete aesthetic, with lots of hardware and machinery as centrepieces of its furnishing. The building houses 2 floors, of which the upper floor looked to me like a really huge communal living room - with really bad lighting. Essentially, it was really dark, explaining the lack of photographs. (Excuses, I know). 

As for the coffee, I have no complaints :-) I ordered the hand drip cold brew from their Butter Fat Trio beans. Plus, its served in really cute conical flasks! Ok, I'm a sucker for anything that makes a good picture, thank you very much. #instagramwoes

7. 커피 리브레

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According to many, Coffee Libre serves up the best coffee in Seoul, which explains their expansion to many popular tourist areas like Myeongdong and Gangnam - convenient :-) 

I still headed down to their original hole-in-the-wall outlet in Hongdae (walking past the store 3 times cause I'm a walking woodblock). The cozy, dimly-lit store gave off this vintage korean vibe with its oriental lacquer furniture and medicine cabinets - maybe people drank coffee like this in the Joseon era or something. Pardon me for my inaccurate relation to Korean history...

Pang and I ordered an americano and a latte which was one of our more affordable coffees, but sadly I didn't really like this "champion" coffee. A little too bitter for my tongue, with sour notes, maybe it's just me. Nonetheless, I'm not the most experienced coffee drinker, and I do like my drinks chocolatey and slightly sweet, so yeah take my 2-cent worth comments with a pinch of salt. 

Tip! Buy a bag of beans, and get a free piccolo espresso! Maybe you can taste if the coffee is to your liking this way :-)

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