10.10.08

VW

genus: café
space & place: 10 minutes from Hongdae station
span: Noon-12pm
costs: 4,000 for an americano, 3,000 for draft beer, 9,000 for a waffle set

VW almost gets it right on. A huge two story window, a creepy wood troll, and tables that you can write on. VW has a lot of reasons for stopping in.

This two floor café is amongst the most impressive spaces in Hongdae. The bottom floor’s tables are creatively made out of milk pallets and have some quirky artistic touches. At night the outside garden is lit up, and the weird wood troll looks extra creepy and the trees extra pretty.

The second floor has two big couches that sit in front of some fancy looking computers. Two large tables in the back have erasable tops, and come with a big box of crayons. Get your scribble on.

The quality of the menu is good, although it will test your ability to read some goofy hangul. Available are your regular café drinks, cheap draft beer, and waffles.

While VW is cool as shit, it has a serious flaw - The music sucks the big 고추. They have two playlists on perma-repeat. One is pretty much purely Beatles, which isn’t bad the first go through, blows chunks as you listen to ‘Blackbird’ for the third time in a night. The second playlist consists of Rob Thomas, Maroon 5, some random suck, and a little Korean pop (that is actually all right).

While the people who run VW are trying to be hip, and cool, and almost succeeding, they ultimately fail. How can you possibly be cool, and listen to a total of 30 songs? You can’t. After your second visit, be sure to bring the mp3 player.

p.s. There is a swank restaurant right next to VW. It would probably be a good one-two punch for a date.


I'D GO THERE: To drink coffee or beer with friends. Study, read, write, whatever.
GOOD PLACE TO: Chat with some friends, listen your ipod. Stare at the wood troll.
NOT SO GOOD FOR: Finding new music. When you are hungy.

9.10.08

B-hind

genus: café
space & place: 10 minutes from either Hapjeong, or Hongdae
span: Noon-12pm
costs: 4,000 for an americano, 4-7,000 for desert, 10,000 for a sandwich/coffee combo

B-hind succeeds. It has good music, a pleasant atmosphere, and a great menu.

First impressions are of some trendy New York apartment from the 60’s. The furniture all has a retro feel and for the most part creates a comfortable environment. However, B-hind keeps one Hongdae trend going – the need to have at least a few chairs that look completely ridiculous to sit in. I can’t understand the need to provide seating that may look interesting, but in actual fact performs its duty as a chair pitifully. Form should follow function, who wants to sit in an uncomfortable chair?

The lighting in B-hind is warm, yet allows for comfortable reading. The seating and chairs lend themselves more to studying or writing than to lounging around with a book. There are lots of small tables, and it would be a good spot to stop in for a coffee with a friend or two.

The music is generally good, and suits the atmosphere perfectly. You can usually hear some jazz, or singer/songwriter type stuff coming over the speakers. Certainly they pay more attention to their music than 90% of the cafés around.

While the overall atmosphere of B-hind is pleasant enough, the real reason to come here is the quality of the menu. The coffee is top shelf, deserts tasty, and the sandwiches well made at a reasonable price. Different than other local cafés, B-hind serves up some combos that could substitute as meals. A couple times a week for the last month I have been getting the mozzarella sandwich combo: a wheat-bagel sandwich with grilled eggplant, and mozzarella that also comes with a sliced banana, a small salad, and a few fried potato wedges. If you get it with an americano it costs 10,000 won, which is a great deal.


I'D GO THERE: To relax and enjoy a good sandwich/coffee combo
GOOD PLACE TO: chat with some friends, write, or study
NOT SO GOOD FOR: lounging in a big comfy chair, rocking out to punk.

29.9.08

Gauffres Waffles

genus: manger
space & place: 1 minute walk from 홍대 on 와우산길.
span: Noon-roughly 10:00 pm (later if you are in with Didi)

costs: A single gauffres goes for
1,200; premium creations can push ₩9,000

Before you stop reading because you are sick of all the sickeningly sweet, undercooked waffles you can purchase on any street corner, I assure you this is not one of those places. If you stop in to Gauffres you are in for something special. Most importantly you are going to get two owners who
are extremely dedicated to making the highest quality Belgian waffles this side of the lowlands. To provide a bit of background Didi is from the Belgium/French boarder and has been living in Seoul for 5 years. After being tortured with sub-par immitations of one of his country's great cultural exports he could stand no more. With his wife he decided the time had come to open his own rendition of waffle store.

Gauffres sits tucked in between the storefronts of 와우산길 and is an easy hop from the main gates of the university. The are right in front of Shoestring Travel so if you are waiting for someone to print you a ticket to
Turkmenistan this is a perfect way to spend it. The place is quite cozy with merely a bank of high chairs in front of a wooden bar overlooking the kitchen. There is also a window that opens onto the street for an easy grab and go. While the place has a sparse feel and definitely goes for a minimal look it belies some coziness as well.

The menu is printed on the wall and is divided between Bruxelles and Liege style waffles. If you want to get schooled in the differences ask Didi because he will be happy to give you the run-down on the differences. If you want the short version; Bruxelles style are a little lighter in consistency, several cm. thinner, Liege style are thicker, more dense and have nib sugar added toward the end of the process which results in a partial caramelization resulting in a chewier and sweeter creation. Almost all his waffles are served with whipping cream and delicious vanila ice-cream. From there you can get a waffled dressed in simple fruits, maple syrup (real fucking maple syrup!) fresh strawberries and chocalate. If you are in a hurry or want a little snack to go with the good espresso they brew, try a gauffres waffle which is a tiny fluffy waffle that they sell single or in packs of 5. Eaten warm or cold is fine. They just got their liquor license as well so grab a Hoegaarden if it is late enough in the date or you need something to chase away the hang-over.

Didi and his wife are really welcoming and are dedicated to making a superior product. It is recommended not to go for anything but the gauffres till about 1 pm as they really do take their time getting things right in the morning.


I'D GO THERE: maybe once a week. More than that and getting fat becomes a serious concern

GOOD PLACE TO: indulge your sweet tooth, talk to some really laid back people, learning how to use oversized utensils, hearing French spoken
NOT SO GOOD FOR: getting things that aren't waffles, comfortable seating

31.7.08

Vinyl

genus: the sauce
space & place: 3 minutes from 상수역 exit 1.
span: late afternoon till whenever places you drink at close

costs: standard cocktails
4,000; premium usually ₩5,000

It was raining steadily on Friday night, which no doubt sure ruined some people’s hopes of making July’s club night epic. Yet the weather wasn’t enough to prevent me from loitering in front of Vinyl drinking Ziploc bags of gin lime while the overhang dripped rain onto my shoulder.


From the cramped—if the word can even
appropriately describe the size of Vinyl—warmly lit inside the dj was fêting the 15 or so people who can fit inside to the deep, spacey groove of dub. The reverb and chopped guitar alternately stuttering and flowing into the street combined with availability of booze outside doubled Vinyl’s space. It has a delightful quality of creating an atmosphere of ownership of the sidewalk in front, and when people line up en masse to order from the drive through-esque window it seems less like a bar than an apartment party that has gotten too big.

Although it is less busy on, say a Tuesday night, Vinyl retains its intimate vibe—not a surprise considering its size—but never even borders on pretension. The concept of selling bags of drinks to people on the street is not twee, simply a good idea. The space is decked out in warm colors, think the color candles cast or a rich red, shabby old pillows and chairs and just enough space for 8 people to sit and unwind after a day of doing whatever it is dole culture does. If you count the benches on the street, the seating is increased by a third.
The dj "booth" and the barboth haphazard affairslend a certain under-construction charm. Some nights the music is a little pedestrian, but on the whole and especially on the weekends, the tuns accent the atmosphere of Vinyl nicely.

Lilliputian size is only part of the conceit though. People lining up 8 or 10 deep outside relates something about the quality served up (it should be noted that they are not even lining up to "get in" merely to enjoy the convenience of a bar on both sides of the wall). From behind the bar come drinks in all colors and concoction and the bag mobile out on the street alone might convince you to stop in front for a drink. My personal recommendation is the aforementioned gin lime, but I have heard arguments for the tequila sunrise (I just don’t like cocktails with silly names). The drink menu is quite extensive so you will have plenty to choose from (it’s in 한글 and English, but come on learn to read Korean). Beer doesn’t come in bags, but to be honest that would be dumb because you could just go to a mart for that. You can't get a decent mixed drink to carry around at a mart.

I'D GO THERE: either when the mood to relax in really really really intimate digs strikes or when the order of the night is street drinking.

GOOD PLACE TO: unwind; have one-on-one conversations; admire that one really sweet painting they have on the wall; drink on the street
NOT SO GOOD FOR: large groups, unless you plan to hang on the street; rowdiness; getting digits.