Color Drawer · 124 stories

A Little Color Jar

I write about beauty products I try in everyday routines. · Writes about: Beauty products · Restaurants · Cafés · Things to do · Shopping · Bars · Fashion · Hair & beauty salons

PlaceNowon, SeoulRestaurants

Hagye-dong eel restaurant: plain, salt, then sauce tasting, Cheonsanga

Cheonsanga Jangeoga Hagye Branch (천상애장어가 하계점) is a grilled eel restaurant in Hagye-dong, Nowon, Seoul, where staff grill domestic freshwater eel at your table. Two diners ordered the set for 3, which came with three large eels. They tasted the eel plain, then with salt, then with a sweet sauce, and also had dol-chobap (sushi rice for topping with eel), eoriguljeot (spicy salted oysters) and eel soup. The verdict: Cheonsanga Jangeoga's crispy-outside, tender-inside eel is worth a deliberate trip back to Nowon, even from far away.

Written Jun 11, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulRestaurants

Garak Market fish shop, striped jack & futomaki party: Yeongjae Susan

Yeongjae Susan is a sashimi shop on the 1st floor of Garak Mall Panmae-dong in Songpa, Seoul, selling a platter of seasonal striped jack (shimaaji) with 3kg+ giant flounder and 3kg+ giant red sea bream. The writer packed the small striped jack platter in a cooler bag for a home party at a friend's place, rolled futomaki and gamtae (thin seaweed sheet) maki, and paired the sashimi with a bottle of Chateau Fondarzac 2020. Verdict: the rich, nutty striped jack was the party's biggest hit, and Yeongjae Susan's neat cooler-bag packing was a real plus.

Written Jun 15, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulHair & beauty salons

Saenae hair salon volume C-curl setting perm on a tassel cut: Anew

Anew Hair Songpa Jamsil Branch is a hair salon on the 3rd floor of a building in the alley between Olive Young and McDonald's, off Exit 4 of Saenae Station in Songpa, Seoul. The writer had a grown-out tassel cut trimmed and got a C-curl setting perm from director Jia, turning a straight, slightly wavy bob that kept going flat into an elegant mid-length cut with defined curled ends. For an easy-to-style bob setting perm, Anew Hair Songpa Jamsil Branch is a satisfying choice.

Written Jun 18, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangdong, SeoulShopping

Cycling clothing warehouse sale in Cheonho, Seoul: Velopark House

Velopark House is a cycling clothing shop on the Cheonho bicycle street in Gangdong, Seoul, selling cycling apparel and accessories from Rameda, Bayasdon and EVR. The writer came for the warehouse-opening sale, tried Bayasdon goggles and a Rameda windbreaker in the fitting room, and bought a performance T-shirt and riding gloves, with clothing listed online at 138,000 won marked down to 55,000 won. With the Velopark House sale running until June 28, it is a good place to try on close-fitting cycling wear before you buy.

Written Jun 18, 2026Sponsored
PlaceNamyangju, GyeonggiCafés

Namyangju café: autumn reading at Park Wan-seo's seat—Waltz & Dr. Mahn

Waltz and Dr. Mahn is a large hand-drip coffee café with its own coffee museum, right on the Bukhan River in Joan-myeon, Namyangju, Gyeonggi. On a clear autumn day, the writer sat at the riverside seats with the folding doors open and in the nameplated seat novelist Park Wan-seo often used, drank Honor & Chevalier, Café Royal and Yemen Mocha Mattari, then stopped at the cosmos at Dumulmeori's Water Garden on the way home. Coffee at Waltz and Dr. Mahn is pricey, but the specialty hand-drip, the Bukhan River view and the suited service make it a satisfying autumn drive.

Written Oct 16, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeocho, SeoulRestaurants

Premium kaisendon at Gangnam Station with 1-hour free parking: Ilpum

Ilpum Gangnam Branch is a Japanese restaurant serving kaisendon (seafood rice bowls), eel rice bowls and sushi omakase in Seocho, Seoul, right in front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho building at Gangnam Station Exit 8. The waitlist looked long, but tables turned over quickly, and two premium kaisendon at the bar came with steamed egg, cold udon and mango pudding. With 1 hour of free parking and a large lot, Ilpum Gangnam Branch is a very satisfying seafood bowl meal near Gangnam Station if you come by car.

Written Jun 18, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

Yeoksam eel restaurant for a post-stomach-flu lunch: umaki, Unagiwa

Unagiwa is a hitsumabushi (grilled eel rice bowl) restaurant on the 2nd floor in the alley behind the GS Building near Yeoksam Station Exit 7 in Gangnam, Seoul. A few days after a stomach flu, the writer had a late lunch at Unagiwa around 1:30 pm: the Hitsumabushi Special with one and a half eels and a beer, plus an umaki (eel rolled omelet) side and a matcha pudding offered through a review event. Unagiwa's umaki and the hitsumabushi finished with poured tea made a gentle, filling meal for a tired stomach.

Written Jun 16, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeongdong, SeoulRestaurants

Solo gomtang with rice on the side in Wangsimni: Geumnyeong Gomtang

Geumnyeong Gomtang (금녕곰탕) is a Korean restaurant near Wangsimni Station in Seongdong, Seoul, serving gomtang (beef bone soup) made with Hanwoo beef. The gomtang normally comes with the rice already in the soup, but the writer asked for the rice on the side, added extra meat (gogisari) and ordered 6 king dumplings, half kimchi and half meat. With a rich broth full of Hanwoo brisket and shank plus spicy kimchi dumplings, Geumnyeong Gomtang made a filling solo meal.

Written Oct 16, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

Apgujeong Chinese restaurant date, then MoMA bookstore: Bobo Sikdang

Bobo Sikdang (보보식당) is an authentic Chinese restaurant with private rooms on Eonju-ro 174-gil in Apgujeong Rodeo, Gangnam, Seoul; it has a Blue Ribbon three years running and appeared on Culinary Class Wars season 2. At Bobo Sikdang the writer had kkanpung monkfish (crispy monkfish in a sweet, spicy garlic sauce), mala sauce fried eggplant and meat jjamppong (spicy noodle soup), then browsed the atiissu hat pop-up and the MoMA bookstore near Dosan Park. If you love crisp frying and bold spices, Bobo Sikdang is a fitting start to an Apgujeong date.

Written Jun 19, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

Italian near Hakdong Station: poached egg arrosticini, Osteria Lucia

Osteria Lucia is an Italian wine-dining restaurant near Hakdong Station in Gangnam, Seoul, with unlimited free corkage. Over a weekday lunch with a friend, the writer ordered poached egg mushroom arrosticini, octopus squid ink risotto and Sicilian bottarga pasta, and the truffle-scented mushroom arrosticini was the most memorable dish. With spacious private rooms, an open kitchen and building parking in the evening, Osteria Lucia is a strong pick for wine gatherings.

Written Jun 20, 2026Sponsored
PlaceHanam, GyeonggiRestaurants

Misa, Hanam pizza and pasta restaurant: regulars' top 3, Bokkeriu

Bokkeriu is a pizza and pasta Italian restaurant right by the Han River on Misadong-ro in Hanam, Gyeonggi. On their 8th visit, a family of regulars booked a week ahead, got a window seat and ordered à la carte: pollock roe aglio e olio pasta, eggplant ricotta pizza, lasagna and striploin mushroom risotto. They then walked the restaurant's front lawn and the Han River cherry-tree tunnel path. Bokkeriu is a family and date restaurant near Seoul that pairs a sunlit daytime meal with a stroll along the Han River.

Written Jun 23, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulRestaurants

Sashimi restaurant mulhoe with somen in Jamsilsaenae: Namhae Fish

Namhae Fish Jamsilsaenae Branch (남해물고기 잠실새내점) is a sashimi and seafood restaurant on the 2nd floor of a building near Exit 4 of Saenae Station in Songpa, Seoul. On a hot day, the writer and a friend ordered the lunch sashimi set for 2 and one mulhoe (cold raw fish soup). The set came out like a course: tomato mozzarella salad, a sashimi platter with mackerel, shrimp sushi, futomaki, tempura and shabu-shabu. The mulhoe had so much fish that they added somen noodles to finish it. For fresh sashimi and cold mulhoe in summer, the Namhae Fish lunch sashimi set with mulhoe is a filling, satisfying choice.

Written Jun 24, 2026Sponsored