Bangi-dong cocktail bar with floor seats and go-stop: B-LAB Bangi

Last week, Saturday was one I'd been waiting for more than usual. It was finally time to meet up with the moms from Uraegi Daycare and enjoy some rare freedom. Where's hot these days? After some searching, we decided to check out Bangi Food Alley, apparently trending with Gen Z right now.

I worried a bunch of moms would look out of place in a hot spot crawling with young blood — but the moment I stepped into Bangi Food Alley, the hottest blood boiling there was mine 🔥 (...okay, calm down!!)

After round one, where we thoroughly demolished beef intestines and two bottles of soju, our next stop was today's feature: B-LAB Bangi, located right in Bangi Food Alley.

Why the moms chose B-LAB Jamsil Bangi for round two

B-LAB Jamsil Bangi is an unlimited cocktail bar on the 2nd floor, right in the middle of Bangi Food Alley. Moms who've earned this precious, rare bit of free time never pick their hangout spot carelessly!!! We do our due diligence to gauge whether a place is worth investing our Saturday night in, and right away, a phrase catches my eye.

#unlimitedcocktails #18000won #notimelimit #byosnacksallowed. With how expensive everything is these days, is it even possible to have all four at once...? And right in the middle of the currently red-hot Bangi Food Alley? Honestly, I was a little suspicious (I'm the doubting type).

So if it's unlimited, the cocktail quality must be so-so, right? Just as that suspicion started creeping up, something else caught my eye — the profile of B-LAB's owner and head bartender!

The owner in the photo, Martin, has ranked #1 in Korea's bartender rankings for five years running, won 10 world competitions, and currently serves as a judge for bartending competitions. His TV and media appearances and career résumé are honestly longer than my own academic credentials... So doesn't that basically guarantee the cocktails will be good too? = No reason not to go!!!

Where B-LAB Jamsil Bangi is, its hours, and how to get there

The address is 2F, 22-9 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 583m from Jamsil Station (Line 2) Exit 10. Also accessible from Mongchontoseong Station (Line 8) Exit 3. Hours are Fri–Sat 17:30–25:00, other days 17:30–24:30.

B-LAB Bangi sits right in the middle of Bangi Food Alley, so it was easy to link it up as round two after eating beef intestines nearby for round one. In fact, it was just a few steps from the restaurant.

The name B-LAB itself is written small in the bottom right corner and easy to miss, but you can spot it instantly thanks to the huge, glowing sign reading 'Unlimited Cocktails / Unlimited Time' in what looks like size-2000 capital letters.

What the interior and mood of B-LAB Jamsil Bangi feel like

Heading up to the 2nd floor and stepping inside, the scene is completely different from what you'd guess from outside. Oh my... why are cocktail bars so pretty these days...?!

Pink ambient lighting, an exposed ceiling, a large chandelier, and accent lights all worth admiring. The lighting isn't too bright but not too dark either — that moody glow makes everyone's face look mysterious and pretty somehow... This would be great for couples or a blind date. It's the kind of place where photos turn out great even with a careless snap — genuinely hip, trendy interior.

One unusual thing about this cocktail bar — they lend out board games for free, and one whole wall is packed with big board games. Is this a cocktail bar or a board game café...? It looks like it hasn't been open long, because the games all look brand new and spotless... Really well maintained.

There's even a phone charger and Hangang ramyeon on display in one corner. Whoever runs this place clearly knows exactly what people need when they're out having fun! Owner, did you maybe party a lot back in the day...? If you see this, please confirm... That kind of experience-based sense is the best haha!

There's a big rainbow full-length mirror here that's B-LAB's dedicated photo spot! Next to it are wigs, headbands, and sunglasses so you can really commit to a concept ^0^ Toward the back, there's a low seating area with a platform where you can sit and lean back comfortably, and Netflix plays on a large screen.

To sit at the low tables you have to take off your shoes, but they've got plenty of slippers on hand so you don't have to bother re-lacing up every time you go get a cocktail or hit the restroom. These little touches of thoughtfulness matter.

There's also an open, room-like space in the back that's great for group gatherings. It looks like it'd be a blast to come here as a big group — maybe I'll bring the whole family next time?

Restrooms inside B-LAB Jamsil Bangi, men's and women's

Another really great thing: B-LAB Jamsil Bangi has its own restrooms inside the venue!! This is a genuinely huge perk, because many of the buildings in Bangi Food Alley are old, so bathrooms are often shared with other floors or unisex and, frankly, kind of gross. Here, there are separate men's and women's restrooms inside the venue, so it felt clean and put me at ease.

Think about it... when you're drinking unlimited cocktails, you're obviously going to need the bathroom once or twice, right? If you're picky about restrooms, this place already passes.

You can also fully freshen yourself up right there after drinking has messed up your look haha. Hand cream, deodorant, cotton swabs, even two kinds of hairbrushes... Is the owner secretly a master homemaker? People with this kind of sense should really be the ones running businesses... And I still haven't even gotten to the main event because I was too busy gawking at the space hahaha.

B-LAB Jamsil Bangi menu and prices

Okay, calming down now — they cleared the table and we're finally seated. They bring a big menu board along with a QR code panel, and you order directly through your phone by scanning the QR code.

Single cocktails are already cheap at ₩9,900, but paying ₩19,800 for unlimited is a no-brainer deal, right? (₩18,000 + VAT = ₩19,800). For less than ₩20,000, and if you suddenly crave a beer while drinking unlimited cocktails, you can grab one for just ₩1,000 a bottle.

On top of that, there's no set time limit — unlimited — and outside food is all allowed too!! It defies basic market logic to the point where you start wondering... Owner, do you actually make any money running it this way?

First drink at B-LAB: Kahlua milk

They had the nostalgic Kahlua milk, so I ordered that first.

After ordering, the order status and completion notice pop up via KakaoTalk, and you go pick it up yourself right away. The pretty bartender (pretty = automatic older-sister status in my book) explained carefully that you really need to stir the Kahlua milk all the way to the bottom before drinking. I always do exactly what she says.

We paired the Kahlua milk with butter popcorn and nachos we'd also ordered. How did it taste? Obviously — need I even say — so, so good 🤭🤭 Made by a bartender who's appeared on a show about masters of everyday life, how could it not be good...

The signature Mango-Drunk Cow is the best cocktail here

I finished the first drink in no time, and for the second, went with the recommended 'cow' series. Among B-LAB's signature cow cocktails (highly recommend) is the Mango-Drunk Cow 🐮, a mix of mango and coconut milk.

This one genuinely shocked me the first sip — so delicious!!!! It's like a fully sweet, delicious mango smoothie, and with only 2.2% alcohol, it just went down way too easily. It was so good I ordered it twice more... Apparently it's a signature you can only get here, and I already want to go back just for this — for real.

I raved about it so much that everyone ordered a Mango Cow Milk and we took a commemorative shot together haha.

This was drink number three haha... seriously, why is the menu so huge... It was so hard to choose that we ended up ordering a little of everything. Anywhere else, a single cocktail would run at least ₩10,000, but ordering unlimited felt like living like a millionaire, drinking whatever we wanted.

How long does an unlimited cocktail take to arrive?

Except during rush moments when orders piled up, the wait time for cocktails was quite reasonable. Just because it's unlimited doesn't mean each drink takes tens of minutes — we'd be chatting and then the KakaoTalk notification would pop up, so turnover was fairly quick.

Free board games at B-LAB: go-stop and Halli Galli

After about three drinks in a row, we shifted into 'let's play a board game!' mode haha. Looking around the board game corner set up on one side, there were tons of different games, but I swear... out of all those countless board games —

I spotted a brand-new, still-shrink-wrapped set of go-stop (a Korean card game) hiding in a corner! Ah, so nostalgic — no game night is complete without go-stop.

So we picked go-stop and Halli Galli. As for go-stop, even after years of not touching the cards, I'm the self-proclaimed, universally acknowledged card shark — three-go from the get-go.

Turns out Halli Galli is rated for age 6 and up... With our intelligence significantly diminished by alcohol, we barely scraped past the age-6 level! We had so much fun we forgot our age and our social status (not that we have any), cracking up and having a blast.

Meanwhile, the drinks kept coming. Unlimited really is a good thing... we'd already gotten more than our money's worth.

In the background, Aquaman was playing on the TV, which we kept sneaking glances at haha. Drinking, playing, gaming — busy, busy.

From this point on, I honestly lost count of how many drinks in we were... We definitely drank a lot.

Last round at B-LAB and a final flaming shot

For the final round, we each finished with whatever we thought was the best drink of the night — for me it was hands down the Mango Cow Milk, while my friend said the Kahlua was amazing. Honestly though, pretty much everything we ordered was delicious. It didn't win that title for nothing... the world doesn't just hand out champion status to anyone.

We had a full, satisfying time until last order at 12:30 AM, and took one more photo in the now-empty venue.

Left behind our Snoopy-sister signature selfie too (proof of visit).

Just as we were about to pack up and go, oh wait — one last fire drink left, and we got pulled back in. Set it ablaze one last time, and now off to round three, noraebang...

Definitely a place I'll come back to!! I almost don't want it to get too famous... But thanks to the incredibly kind owners, we had such a great time. A place I absolutely want to visit again!!! Highly recommend.