Late Windowseat · 5 stories
Writes about small Seoul restaurants near closing time, one meal at a time. · Writes about: Restaurants · Cafés · Bars
Ugly is a dark, upscale cocktail and whisky bar on the 5th floor of 5 Gangnam-daero 96-gil, near Gangnam Station in Seoul. The writer visited Ugly with a friend around opening time on a weekday and ordered the Pamplemousse, the Berry Ugly and a cheese plate; the 15% Pamplemousse felt as light as 7–8%. For a classy second round after a blind date or a date night near Gangnam Station, Ugly is a good fit.
Eulji Darak Gangnam Station is a Western restaurant with marble and chandelier interiors on the 2nd floor of a building on Gangnam-daero 96-gil, near Gangnam Station in Seoul. On a weekday afternoon, the writer and a friend got in by pressing the elevator button beside a fake door marked "This is not a door." They then ordered a thick, creamy spicy cream pasta with 5 shrimp and a juicy chop pork neck steak, and both dishes were satisfying. With its playful entrance, Eulji Darak Gangnam Station is a fun pick for dates, blind dates and wedding invitation get-togethers.
Petrico is a soufflé pancake café on Jandari-ro in Mapo, Seoul, near Hapjeong Station. While working on a laptop at a work seat with plenty of outlets, the writer ordered a fruit soufflé and a nutty iced americano as a dinner substitute, and the portion was so generous that the two soufflé pancakes could not both be finished. With widely spaced seats, Petrico is a good Hapjeong café for getting work done over a fluffy soufflé.
Beefjeong Gogi Jip (비프정) is a pork and hanwoo (Korean beef) barbecue restaurant on Toegye-ro 74-gil near Sindang Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. After sweating it out at a jjimjilbang (Korean bathhouse), the writer and a friend waited about 10 minutes via Catch Table on a rainy Sunday evening and ate frozen pork belly and pork neck. The meat was so good they added fresh pork belly, then finished with seafood doenjang (soybean paste) stew. For tender pork neck and a crab-filled seafood doenjang stew, Beefjeong Gogi Jip is worth the visit.
Jojo Yeonnam Branch is a Japanese teppan (iron griddle) restaurant in a Yeonnam-dong alley near Exit 3 of Hongik University Station in Seoul. The signature set for two — Jojo okonomiyaki, karai yakisoba and donpeyaki — came with a Coke Zero, and writing a nickname on the order card means staff call that nickname when the food is ready, alongside three special sauces set on every table. The spicy karai yakisoba topped with fire sauce was the best dish of the visit.
