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.

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.

a Café

Genus: Café
Space & Place: 5 minutes south of exit 4
Hours: 1:00 - midnight-ish
Cost: 4-5,000 for a coffee, 3-4,000 for baked things.

Chai tea lattes, and a quiet uncrowded space are what make this a worthwhile cafe on the Hongdae scene. Unlike a lot of small one room coffee shops, this place has some nooks and corners to hide away in. This is a nice little spot to come and finish off those last few student evaluations, or figure out some new Korean verb conjugations.

The menu here is pretty standard, and consists of a variety of coffee drinks, and alcoholic beverages. There is also a small selection of baked goods.

For me, the thing that keeps me coming back are the chai tea lattes. Outside of Starbucks and Coffee Bean, chai is kind of hard to find (which means that chai is actually really easy to find, but at the cost of your self respect).

Another considerable benefit is the lack of cigarettes. Asah!

A serious downside to this place is the ultra short rotation of music. There seems to be some sort of Japanese big band music on perma-repeat. To be fair, I quite liked it on my first, second, and third visits. However, you can only push a 20 song play list so far.

I'D GO THERE: to study, and drink chai tea lattes.
GOOD PLACE TO: study, not waste time at home stumbling, drink chai tea lattes.
NOT SO GOOD FOR: big groups, seating for more than 2-3 is tough.

이리 Café

Genus: Café
Space & Place: 5 minutes south of exit 4
Hours: varies. Usually open by noon.

이리 is probably the closest thing to my neighborhood café. “Closest” not because there are a dearth of cafes in Hongdae. Just the opposite, therefore I don’t get to spend as much time at 이리 as I should, therefore perhaps I am justified in shying from the familiarity of “my café” or "spot". Nonetheless 이리 is my favorite place to sit and have a coffee anywhere in Seoul. Housed basement ways of a run-of-the-mill super, 이리 affects an art gallery cum library feel when you enter. Walls adorned with local artwork, much of which is shown here for the first time and probably for sale although someone living doley doesn't have much desire to purchase art. These exhibits run the gamut of the futuristic musings of our video-gamed culture, ghastly busts of plaster, or as in my first visit a 4 x 3 nude oil on canvas of the owner. There is also a sizable amount of reading material from design industry rags, Richard Avedon collections and the Council on Foreign Relations bi-monthly.

All the mishmash going on the café resembles a lived in, well, basement. The right level of clutter (they have a hard time throwing away magazines) a wonderfully quirky music selection and really good coffee. Ask people who have lived here a while about what the coffee used to be like and then bask in the fact that it is 2008. 이리. Mocha lattes seem to be everywhere, but I recommend an espresso or americano, both of which are sharp, bitter and pack a caffeinated effect worthy of the space. Bring mints (Americanos have free refills). The tea can be good as well and worth it when you want something different. Milk tea tops that list

I’m not a smoker so this place can be overwhelming. I suppose the smoke provides some authenticity but we all know that word is silly. Anyway, if you don’t smoke just come on Thursdays when it is non-smoking all day long. Also, it blows having to walk upstairs with a pair of keys to use the bathroom. Be careful as someone could be taking a shower.

I'D GO THERE: as much as I can. 이리 is in a dog-fight with Design Museum's cafe as the archetype of the cafe scene in Hongdae.
GOOD PLACE TO: be seen with a mac book-pro; have long-winded conversations and look really pretentious doing it; pretend you know something about art.
NOT SO GOOD FOR: first dates. Not quite intimate enough and a bit too loud and vibrant. You'll want to people-watch or stare at the walls instead...