Hipster Hongdae! Seoul’s coolest neighborhood: graffiti walls, robot bar, Zombie cafe.
I survived a Korean robot attack! This photo captures the spirit of Seoul’s hippest neighborhood, Hongdae (pronounced “hong-day”). Many compare it to Tokyo’s Harajuku, since both are youth hubs with a quirky, colorful, indie vibe.
If you want to see the cool and cute side of Korea, then Hongdae is for you. I loved this area so much that I came back the next day.
Enjoy my tour of Hongdae’s best street art and cafes, including gourmet ice cream, a robot bar, camping-themed restaurant, Zombie coffee and graffiti galore!
I’m wearing a seahorse tank c/o Show Me Your MuMu, a free-spirit label with plenty of beach cover-ups and pastels. Wildfox also has a cute breezy top like mine, and here’s a similar silver metallic skirt.
Shop the Look (click the images below for details):
Remember when I visited YouTube stars Eat Your Kimchi in their Hongdae studio? Simon and Martina drew me this map of their favorite surrounding dessert shops and theme restaurants. On panda paper, no less. Naturally, I had to visit them all.
To get to this part of Seoul, take the subway to Hongik University Station (Hongdae is an abbreviation of the university’s name).
I was feeling weary and needed a caffeine fix. Fortunately, Hongdae is on a gourmet coffee kick, and I spotted at least two specialty coffee shops on each street.
(Eat Your Kimchi established their own cafe, You Are Here, in Hongdae! It wasn’t open when I was in Seoul, which is why I don’t have photos of it, but it’s at the top of my list for next time.)
Zombie Coffee Roasters are leading the pack. The name is also apt for the caffeine-deprived, and lets people pose like this in front of their awning.
Zombie takes pride in roasting its own beans, right in-store. Through a glass door, you can peek in on the process. The young and smartly dressed baristas have won awards for their latte art prowess, and demonstrates these skills in every milk pour.
In fact, the barista was such a perfectionist about his craft that he tossed out the first drink he made for me — saying the art wasn’t up to standards, when I thought it was a swirling masterpiece.
The cafe drinks are a bit expensive, averaging 4000 won, but that’s the price for Pirate perfection.
If you’re an early riser, Zombie has public “cuppings” or tastings at 7am each day, which lets you sample a variety of their roasts.
Dessert club, table of three: yes please. Martina (of Eat Your Kimchi) is a cupcake connoisseur, and says she can never resist stopping at Chikalicious. At night, the cafe makes a nice picture window. This part of Hongdae is especially charming, with winding streets lined with cute cafes and boutiques.
She’s right, this Seoul cupcake parlor is a winner. The Meyer lemon was bursting with real flavor. My photographers still had a sweet tooth, so we went nearby to…
Fell + Cole, purveyors of gastronomic ice cream. Everything is made with natural ingredients, in small batches.
We died over the makkoli ice cream, made from the milky Korean rice wine. Yoda says, “Ready are you to be amazed, hmm? Then to this shop, come.”
(All photos by Jacqueline Kwok / noircorner and Ken Yuen.)
I am doing robot-dance moves because I’m in front of the Robot Vinyl bar. Only in tech-crazy Korea, right?
The robot’s eyes flash, and beckon you in. The menu consists of standard cocktails (about 5000 won for my grapefruit rum mix). But unlike in regular bars, the drinks are served in a clear vinyl bag with a straw. How… future-pop!
Inside, the atmosphere is vintage-cozy, making Vinyl Robot a favorite spot for friends to catch up over a drink. Chances are, you might spot Eat Your Kimchi here.
You are allowed to take the drinks outside, and many patrons get cocktails to go. It’s funny to see young Koreans walking around with what appear to be a medical bags dangling from their lips.
There are a few Graffiti Streets in Hongdae. The art is diverse — note the cows and the music notes. It’s not what I expected of Korea.
There’s a off-kilter aesthetic in the street art here. It’s not as cutesy as Japan, but striking in its own weird way.
The next step in the evolution of mankind… is the Kpop girl! Joke, or not? Korea is certainly pulling ahead as the world’s most tech-progressive country.
In the late afternoon, vendors set up food and craft stalls at the Hongdae Free Market, which encircles the park.
Since this area is the site of Hongik University, there’s a youthful energy here. Unlike in Japan, Koreans rarely dress up in subculture fashion (such as Goth, Punk, or style tribes like the Diamond Gal-Circle). As Simon and Martina put it, a hardcore Korean metalhead might have hundreds of albums and go to obscure concerts, but on the surface, he looks like an “Average Kim.” I’ll show you the Kpop fashion in the next posts, since there is much more to say…
For now, let’s focus on food. I’m not fond of “roughing it” so I was excited to visit Outdoor Kitchen, a Korean BBQ joint that simulates camping in the woods.
Small touches, like a lantern and camp chairs, create the “campy” feeling of being in the great outdoors. There’s even a refreshing fine mist that sprays from the ceiling. Seems the puppy was glad to cool off.
The staff drops hot stones into the grill at your table, and it’s up to you to cook the high-quality beef, soup, and sealed package of hot dogs.
Unlike many theme restaurants (like the Hello Kitty Cafe), the meals are great here. A dinner set for four campers — including salad, kimchi, sides and meat — ranges from 30,000 to 70,000 won. Mosquitoes not included, thank goodness.
We ended the evening at Hongdae Playground, or Hongik Children’s Park. On the weekend, it’s more like a young adult playground. Everyone sat around, drinking and listening to bands perform. What a sight — you have to experience it for yourselves.
Thanks to Simon and Martina of Eat Your Kimchi for this guide to Hongdae! For more, check out my visit to the EYK Studio.
Have you been to Hongdae, or heard of it? What do you think of the shopping and cute art?
PS: if you like what I wore in this post, details are below:
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Sherlock Holmes theme cafe in Shanghai, China! G9 & G2 design restaurants, Lane Crawford.
I spy a mysterious sign in Shanghai’s French Quarter. “Crime in progress. Please disturb.”
What bloodshed lies behind these doors?
Shh, it’s a secret… there’s a Sherlock Holmes theme cafe in Shanghai, China! Read on to peek inside, and I’ll also take you inside two fantastically-designed restaurants, G-9 and G-2.
The name of the cafe is 221B Baker Street, but don’t tell the taxi driver to go here or you might end up in London. The Sherlock Holmes cafe’s actual address is: 50 Ruijin 2nd Rd. (Gaolan Rd.), Shanghai.
The game is a-foot… but don’t try to find the place by foot. The street signs are confusing, and Google Maps doesn’t show the correct location. Instead, hail a hansom (or taxi) and ask your driver to take you to 瑞金二路50号, 近复兴中路. Cab fares are extremely low in Shanghai, so the ride will probably only cost you a few dollars.
Once you’re inside, you can lift a finger and announce, “Elementary, my dear Watson!”
❤ OUTFIT DETAILS ❤
Dress: Shakuhachi Future Minimal from West LA Boutique – purchase the same dress here.
Skeleton necklace: from LLazy Bonez.
(Above, click the images to shop the looks featured in this outfit post. I love this brand so much!)
The entrance looks like a shrine to Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the master detective in BBC’s Sherlock TV series (which is one of my favorites).
Who knew the show was so popular in China? Of course, there are cute miniature “chibi” versions of Watson and Sherlock.
The cafe is designed to look like Sherlock Holmes and Watson’s shared flat, 221B Baker Street. One room looks a Victorian parlor, with brocaded curtains and a game of chess.
Customers can pose with the props: this is not a real violin, and obviously I don’t know how to play it. Behind me, you can spot test tubes and a microscope for Holmes’ forensic examinations.
A deerstalker hat and a pipe are the ultimate Sherlock Holmes fashion accessories. Below are more must-haves for gumshoes in training.
Much of the decor feels authentic to fans of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels. But a few rooms have a “huh” feeling, like this tropical wallpaper and portrait of Edgar Allan Poe.
The clever menu looks like a newspaper, and the top right indicates the cafe’s opening date: July 2013. The front page has “recommendations by Mrs Hudson,” the landlady of Watson and Holmes.
My baby niece sniffs at the decorated latte, with a coat of arms that shows Sherlock Holmes in profile. I ordered the “Moriarty” drink, an appropriately evil mix of iced coffee with vanilla ice cream on top.
The cafe serves sandwiches, cakes and other snacks as well. However, the selection of BBC Sherlock memorabilia is the biggest draw.
You can pick up Sherlock-themed bookmarks, art, and jewelry.
When you ask for the check, the waiter flips a top hat onto the table. Aha, the receipt is pinned to the brim! Case closed.
If you have never read the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you must get your hands on them. The stories hold up over time and the writing doesn’t at all feel dated. You can get the whole Sherlock collection here.
Above is a close-up of my skeleton and black pearl necklace, by LLazy Bonez. These Hong Kong jewelers custom-make spooky skull pieces with quality silver and stones.
Now, let’s explore two more uniquely-designed restaurants in China. My team and I were invited to dinner at G9, a new restaurant at the department store Lane Crawford.
There was a light display in front of the designer mall. (All photos by Melissa Rundle, Eric Bergemann and La Carmina.)
Lane Crawford is the high-fashion destination in Hong Kong and China. The floors carry international luxury brands (like this Alice + Olivia Panda sweater) as well as local labels.
We were here to experience a dramatic new restaurant, G九 (上海) – also known as G-Force or G9 Shanghai. Address: 3/F Lane Crawford block, Shanghai Times Square, 99 Huaihai Zhong Road.
Designed by Ian Douglas-Jones of Atelier I-N-D-J, the interior is pop art meets vampire — a mesmerizing play on light and shadow. Above us, nearly 1000 pendants glow in a moving wave across the room. As you talk and eat, the experience changes as the lights constantly reveal and hide.
A long brass table cuts across the room, serving as both a catwalk and a dining space. Even for jaded diners like ourselves, the atmosphere was dazzling.
G9’s dramatic design is complemented by the artfully-presented meals on the menu. We shared a number of starters, including tuna tataki served in half an avocado, presented like a floral arrangement.
We ordered the lobster linguine twice — it was that good. The pumpkin ravioli and dry-aged beef (carved right at the table) were also outstanding.
All of the G restaurants emphasize local and pesticide-free ingredients. I’m surprised but pleased to see this approach to food taking root in China.
Dessert was literally a masterpiece. The young chef covered a canvas with Jackson Pollack-like swooshes, using ingredients like chocolate sauce as his paints. He told us the picture was inspired by the planets and stars.
For the grand finale, he used molecular gastronomy to release a fog of steam… and with a yelp, he smashed the “planet” on the canvas! We lapped up every last bite of the white chocolate shards and flavors.
The next night, we had Chinese food at G-2, also designed by Ian of INDJ. Once again, the interior design pulled at the imagination. We ate while were surrounded by a 14 meter aquarium of jellyfish, drifting through purple lights.
Address: G2, Shanghai Plaza, No.138 Huaihai Road 4th floor.
The patio gave a glowing view of the city. I can’t believe how much Shanghai has developed the past 5-10 years.
At G2, the food is contemporary Cantonese seafood. I tried tilefish, octopus, and glass noodles with an unidentifiable seafood (despite the mystery, it was my favorite).
I leave you with a colorful view of The Bund. What fun to explore Shanghai, which is becoming more cosmopolitan by the day.
And here’s the Oriental Pearl Tower, glowing like a space pod.
Were you surprised to see a Sherlock Holmes theme cafe and avantgarde restaurants in China?
(PS – if you want to learn more about the clothes I wore in Shanghai, browse and click the images above.)
LA CARMINA
