Celebrating Our 10 Year Dateiversary

This past weekend, we celebrated our 10 year Dateiversary! The anniversary of our first official date is not something we usually celebrate (or even really remember), but 10 years seemed like a pretty big deal. Plus, there was a new restaurant I had recently stumbled across and wanted to try, complete with sunset views, a rooftop deck, and a cafe doggy.

7pm gastro pub is a westward facing, multi-level cafe, coffee shop, and bar perched atop a hill in the Manchon-dong neighborhood of Suseong. It’s an area of town that, for whatever reason, we have barely explored and thus, were completely surprised upon arriving to find terraced buildings, tree-lined streets, and a somewhat Euro-Korean feel. In this little pocket of the city, multi-level residential homes tucked into their hilly surroundings, outnumbered the sort of (ugly) nondescript concrete city high-rise apartments that are so prevalent in modernized Korean cities. It felt different here. Different in a way that was both unexpected and extremely charming.

can I just live here, please?

Cafe doggies are the best. This one was named “Biti”

smoked gravlax platter

listed as “grapefruit juice” on the menu – I was expecting the citrus variety and instead received grape (fruit).  Oddly enough, when my mom first moved to the States from VN, she confused grape with grapefruit too, except in reverse. She wanted grape and instead got grapefruit (which she did not like!).

I’m wearing the same dress as I did on our first date! 

matcha latte & ice coffee

One of the specialty gelato flavors was “Gorgonzola.” It must have been a popular flavor because they ran out.

After parking our car on a gently sloping hill, we walked up to 7pm Gastro Pub and again up several flights of stairs until we reached the top floor. We ordered a couple of drinks from the menu, including Sly’s favorite Japanese beer, Hitachino, and placed our order for a shared plate of homemade smoked gravlax and pesto and veggie flatbread pizza. While waiting for our dinner to come out, we spent some time on the outdoor deck cuddling the cafe pup, swinging in the outdoor hammock, and taking about a billion photos of the sunset through billowing white curtains. Our 10 year dateiversary a far cry from the fancy French meal we shared on our first date, but we loved it all the same, maybe even moreso because this felt more “us.”

Post dinner drinks included ice coffee and a huge, delicious, mug of green tea latte that finally convinced us that we needed to purchase our own milk steamer. (A dateiversary gift?) We reminisced over our first date and all that has happened the in 10 years since, from San Francisco to DC to Korea and everything in between. It’s still crazy to think we have been together for 10 years and crazier to think about how much we have done in that time.

We skipped dessert and instead continued our exploration of the neighborhood with a visit to Haltavoca, (or “Helvetica” as I like to call it) a little gelateria not too far from the cafe. Gelato flavors included gorgonzola, basil, lavender, earl gray, kiwi, hibiscus, as well as some unknown flavors like “bukbuja” (I think it’s a Korean plum wine?), “pesca” (fish?), and “uva” (a berry?).  Sly ordered pistachio and earl gray, while I ordered rice (tasted like cream with bits of sweet rice) and “ciao haltavoca” which tasted like vanilla with chunks of chocolate and orange zest.

How was this our first time really exploring this neighborhood? How many other hidden gems were out there waiting for us to find? In our short jaunt around the Manchon-dong we spotted at least five more places we wanted to try, most of which were hidden off some small alley, and all of which were totally cute. We have lived in our little town for over two years and yet we realized there’s still so much we want to see, do, and eat. I suppose the same could be said about us. 10 years since our first date, and there still feels like 10 lifetimes worth of neighborhoods I want to traverse, charming restaurants to uncover, and new ice cream flavors I want to try. With Sly.

DETAILS

7PM Gastro Pub & Cafe | CUISINE: Italian-ish (pizza and pasta) | LOCATION: 수성구 만촌동 948-3, Daegu 42048 / 948-3 Manchon 2(i)-dong,   Suseong-gu, Daegu | COST: A bit on the pricey side, with an average dish costing ~$20 or so and drinks at ~$6 | DESCRIPTION: A cafe with amazing views and relaxed vibe occupying the top two levels of a small, multi-story building. The bottom level of the cafe is more for drinks and coffee, whereas the top level is for dining. Menu items consist of a small breakfast menu (bagels), and a mishmash of Euro mains, such as chicken schnitzel, fish and chips, pasta, and pizza. Drinks range from non-alcoholic ades, tea/coffee, imported bottle beers, and a small wine and champagne menu. While the space is rather small (long and narrow), it feels very spacious due to the huge windows, pitched skylight roof, and indoor/outdoor space. Sunset is probably the most popular time to visit, and reservations are recommended, especially if you want to sit with a large group or at one of the platform tables. Menu in both English and Korean.  | VERDICT: It’s a bit on the pricey side, but portions are large and tasty and the view is stunning. It’s a good place to lounge about all day or to grab a drink.

Haltavoca | CUISINE: Gelateria | LOCATION: 860, Manchon-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu | COST: ~$3.50 for a small cup/cone with two flavors | DESCRIPTION: Tiny gelato shop selling both classic and unusual flavors for reasonable price. Not much seating available inside or out and only street parking available. Gelato flavors are labeled in both English and Korean (and sometimes Italian). | VERDICT: Recommended for the unique flavors