Vanity Corner Regular · 28 stories
Writes about restaurants, bars, cafes, and beauty spots she visits around Seoul. · Writes about: Restaurants · Bars · Cafés · Hair & beauty salons · Shopping
Bunko Suyu is an izakaya about a 4-minute walk from Exit 7 of Suyu Station in Gangbuk, Seoul. The two-person set arrived course by course — seasoned bean sprouts, Korean melon salad, menchi-katsu, aged sashimi, sushi, crab innard pasta and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) — served in a low-lit room with counter seats. Bunko Suyu suits blind dates and date nights just as well as a quiet drink alone.
Selecto Coffee Sinnonhyeon Branch 24 Auto Brew Cafe is a 24-hour bakery café a 3-minute walk from Exit 1 of Sinnonhyeon Station in Seocho, Seoul. The high-ceilinged hall at Selecto holds solo laptop desks, a group room and a print machine, and the order here was a mocha americano, a geisha americano, a salmon sandwich and a ricotta cheese sandwich. For anyone hunting a big, comfortable café that stays open deep into the night, Selecto Sinnonhyeon is worth remembering.
Nuri Maeul Gamjatang Itaewon Branch is a 24-hour pork bone stew restaurant on the second floor right in front of Exit 4 of Itaewon Station in Yongsan, Seoul. Stopping by after work with a friend, the writer ordered a small spicy gamjatang (pork bone and potato stew) with an udon noodle add-on and got a broth full of dried radish greens and whole potatoes, plus a complimentary plate of dumplings. Nuri Maeul Gamjatang is an easy pick for a filling late-night meal in Itaewon.
Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch is a jokbal (braised pork trotter) restaurant in Jung-gu, Seoul, a 3-minute walk from Exit 5 of Euljiro 1-ga Station. On an early weekend evening, two of us ordered the garlic jokbal, and the complimentary kimchi kalguksu (kimchi noodle soup) and salad turned it into a full meal. With hours running daily from 11:00 to 3:00 the next morning, Miss Jokbal works both before or after Lotte Department Store shopping and as a late-night dinner.
