Hey y'all. I've got a serious case of wanderlust right now. I'm constantly adding places I have to visit to my list. I was reminded the other day when I was looking through some of the pictures I took in Seoul last summer that I never made a blog post about it. I feel like we jam packed so much in the week and a half we were there, but I definitely have places I would go again. A year might be a little (a lot) late, but here were some of my favorite places!
Food and Drinks #
Fritz Coffee Company, Coffee Shop, Bakery
I read somewhere that Seoul is the most saturated city in the world when it comes to coffee shops. We stopped by our fair share of coffee ships while were there, but this one stands out. Fritz Coffee Company is a cafe and bakery we discovered near the Gongdeok station, the stop near the Airbnb we stayed at in the Mapo area. For a coffee shop in a less tourist-packed area, it was always busy when we went. Their coffee was good, according to my coffee-enthused boyfriend, but my favorite thing were the pastries. Despite it being titled a "coffee company", they have a huge selection of pastries, with their bakery being in the basement of the building. And their seal mascot was so cute - we even picked up a cute coffee mug and a pin with their mascot on it before we left Seoul!
The Simple Table, Restaurant
This diner is located inside an outlet mall and boy, we were super happy to find this place. At just 8,000 won, you can order spicy chicken, pork, or beef patties and the food comes to you on a huge tray that fills up the whole table. You get all the typical Korean banchan (side dishes) and a huge pot of soup. It was seriously enough food for 2 people, with extra leftover. I'm not sure if it's a franchise or not, but either way, it was one of our faves.
Beautiful Tea Museum, Teahouse
This place was on our itinerary as a "maybe", but my friend Jonathan ended up taking us here and I'm so glad he did. If you're a tea lover, you'll enjoy this place. The cafe portion itself is simply and mainly lit by the daylight, giving a light and airy feel. A warning though, it can get a bit warm in here if its a particularly warm day, so watch out for that if you're visiting in the summer. Stephen had a black tea that he really enjoyed and I had a hydrangea tea that I still remember to this day - it was light and left a unique sensation to where anything you drank afterwards had a sweet aftertaste. Definitely recommend.
Braai Republic, Restaurant
A South African restaurant in South Korea might sound a little strange, but considering this place is in Itaewon, home to so many diverse nationalities, it makes total sense. You'll find the entrance after climbing some stairs tucked away in a corner. This was my first time having South African food - I ordered prawns, lamb, and potatoes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone who worked there was extremely friendly and the owner even came over and greeted everyone. Considering how busy it was, I imagine it's a pretty popular place even among locals.
Most of the places we ate weren't planned. There was a lot of walking involved and a lot of the places we went were just places we stumbled upon when walking along the street. Sometimes the best places are places you just randomly decide to walk into! That was the case with 75% of the food places we went. One thing I can say about Seoul is that I was seldom disappointed by any of the restaurants. Stop by the food court of any mall or department store. Seriously. You find some awesome fast-casual restaurants.
Any street food, ever
Seriously. I was not disappointed by any of the food I bought from a stall a market or on the side of the street, ever.
Shops #
Aland, Clothing, Cosmetics
Aland is likened to the Urban Outfitters of Korea. The store stocks trendy and unique clothing from both local and international designers. The Myeongdong location in particularly is a multi-level building with each floor offering different types of products from shoes, to vintage clothing, to furniture. A highlight for me was that they were the only store that carried Cosrx in-store long before Ulta started carrying them in the U.S.! For those of you who don't know, Cosrx is a Korean brand of skincare and cosmetics known for their simple, effective, and relatively inexpensive products - and one of my favorite brands.
Unistella, Nail salon
Unistella is a reknowned Korean nail artist featured in various magazines and the woman who started the 'glass shard' nail trend using cut up cellophane pieces to create a cool, holographic effect on nails. This is her salon in Gangnam. I didn't have the fortune of having my nails done by her, but I did get the glass shards effect on my nails and my manicure lasted for weeks. Though as a disclaimer, I've only had maybe 3 or 4 manicures in my entire life, but this one probably cost more than all of them combined. Regardless, it was a fun, luxurious experience and I'm glad I did it!
Line Friends Flagship Store, Merchandise
I'll keep this short and sweet: if you like Line Friends, a series of characters from the popular chat and camera app, or if you like cute animated characters, you need to come here. Tons of merchandise, giant displays, and cute themed pastries and drink make this place a must for cuteness connoisseurs, even if it is a bit of a tourist trap.
Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun, Bookstore
Confession: I go into bookstores everywhere I travel to and I rarely ever buy anything. I'm just a sucker for bookstores. This one is in particular is huge. They carry a large selection of books in both Korean and English, along with a ton of gifts and stationary. You'd definitely find a good souvenir or two here.
Attractions #
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum
I LOVE visiting modern art museums and the ones in Korea are seriously on point. This one was my personal fave. Lots of interesting and unique multi-media installations which were totally my jam. And I'm not ashamed to say the gift shop was on point, too.
The War Memorial of Korea, Museum
So much rich history in this museum. We learned so much about what the Korean people have gone through and about the relationship Korea has with other countries. Not only that, but the building and grounds were beautiful as well. Lots to see!
Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Museum, Art Hall, Shops, etc...
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is a popular tourist attraction, and for good reason. The structure itself is impressive and there's ton to do there! There's an underground mall, an art hall, a design lab showcasing different designers, and a huge design market offering many well-designed products and gifts, many of which are created by Korean designers.
Any PC방 in general, Gaming Cafe
If you're into gaming at all, you probably know about gaming cafes, or "PC bangs" (PC rooms) in Korea. They're generally cafes with a bunch of gaming computers set up so that people can well, game. You pay by the hour and the rate is usually around $1/hr - VERY inexpensive. In a lot of them, you can order drinks, coffee, and sometimes even entire meals. Finding one is a little tricky if you can't speak or read Korean. I learned from a tip on Reddit that searching PC방 in Naver, the navigation app used in Korea, will give you some options near your current location. We found a really nice one right across the street from our Airbnb. Once you find one, it can be helpful to ask the person working there how to buy time - you generally have to sign-up or have an account to be able to start using their computers. We were fortunate enough to stop by there with my friend Jonathan and he explained to us how to set it all up. I have my phases with gaming in general, but we visited around the time Overwatch first came out and it was pretty cool being able to play on Asian servers there. Even if you aren't to spend a lot of time playing games while you're traveling, I think it would still be an interesting experience if you're into games at all.
Seoul is probably one of our favorite places we've been together. It's affordable, the food is great, and we had a great time here. If you're into hip, trendy cities with coffee shops on literally every corner, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks for reading,
Christina