Late-night bar in Nonhyeon, Seoul open till 3am: Yahwa Honsul Bar

My mouth ~ my taste

First impressions of Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon, a basement bar in the restaurant alley

Wow, the vibe is so good~ I came to Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon with a coworker from my part-time job. Was it past 9pm already? The place was buzzing. There's a pretty photo zone too, and the rippled mirror really boosts the mood. The seats weren't packed tight — there was plenty of space between tables, so we didn't have to squeeze in anywhere. Loved that.

My coworker was satisfied too. We were like, where do we go after work — we just wanted to blow off some steam a bit. It's got a classy yet cozy vibe, a space to talk quietly. Proud of myself for bringing her somewhere nice haha 😆

The 'Ex-Boyfriend Diary' card book on every table

🍸 What to do while waiting for the cocktail? My coworker went to the bathroom, and I was fidgeting alone, wanting to write something. There were cute tulip pens lying around, and I thought I'd write on paper... then I noticed a diary sitting there. <Ex-Boyfriend Diary?> The title literally said 'ex-boyfriend'! I figured it'd be full of curses, but oh my god!! 😠 So infuriating 😡 It's basically a full-on melodrama~!

What does the signature cocktail 'Byeori Jineun Bam' taste like?

We ordered Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon's signature cocktail, 'Falling Star Night.' We each scanned the QR code on our phones to order separately, and somehow we both got the exact same drink. Twinsies~ haha, guess we're just in sync.

Suddenly a handsome face popped up~! Turns out it was the owner of Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon himself, serving the cocktails personally, saying 'Have fun~' My anger from the diary instantly melted away haha. Like something scrawled on the wall, the owner really was handsome, wow~ I wish I could borrow that face for one day. What kind of life must he have? He probably hasn't had much unrequited love, right? Probably.

Anyway, seriously... this world is more of a real-life dating drama than any TV show 🐶.

Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon has a lot of signature menu items. I ordered this one because the name caught my eye, and the color was genuinely gorgeous. It was the color of a deep, dark sea, with what looked like gold flecks sparkling on top. So pretty~

Lighting and noise: can you actually hear each other?

Moderately dim, calm atmosphere~ a place where you can really enjoy the mood. Conversation carried well too. What was the music, again? I honestly forgot what was playing because all I could hear was our own conversation.

Our topic was what to do for a living in this AI era... the table next to us, which we ended up getting friendly with, had the exact same worry. One of them had just graduated from a computer science department and felt lost. Such a handsome young guy, how did it come to this, ugh. The best-off among our newly formed friend group was a grad student in semiconductor engineering. I was jealous. Felt like a guaranteed path — should I go to grad school now too? What would I even need to prepare to apply? Are there scholarships these days? 😒 Ah~ sigh 😔 😩

Hours, address and how to find the bar

• Hours: Daily, 8pm–3am
• Address: 30 Gangnam-daero122-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, B1

Yahwa Honsul Bar Nonhyeon is inside Nonhyeon's restaurant alley, near Nonhyeon Elementary School and Yeongdong Traditional Market, so it was easy to find. Great route if you're moving on for round two after dinner 👍

Playing a question card game with solo drinkers at midnight

We finished our part-time shift at 9, and since this place stays open late until 3am, my coworker and I came here. So many people come alone. We couldn't find the order QR code, and the table next to us kindly pointed it out. There was a guy and a girl sitting there, and I thought, are they a couple? We shouldn't bother them, I thought — but turns out they were both solo too haha. By midnight we'd all gotten friendly haha. Our table and theirs, six of us total, played a question card game together~ so fun, felt like a college retreat.

These days the trend is enjoying a single drink with the same leisurely mood as a cup of coffee, somewhere with atmosphere. More and more people come alone and slowly enjoy the vibe and the conversation. Solo drinkers? What do you even call them? (not the YOLO type) Back in my day it was all about chugging Taejina (Terra + Jinro) bombs>~< ugh... seems like the culture of drinking fast is shifting toward one where a single drink is enough to spark a long, warm conversation.