SEOUL | Itaewon

Sly was being a creepo

Sorry for the bad camera phone pix — I’ll be back with my ‘real’ camera once we get settled in.

Before leaving Seoul we managed to explore the Itaewon district which was within walking distance from where we were staying. This area in particular is known for all the foreign restaurants ranging from German, Thai, Middle Eastern, Japanese, American, Italian and fusion restaurants that had a little bit of everything.  We explored all the little side streets lined with outdoor food stands, past some bars and restaurants Sly remembered from when he lived in Seoul 10 years ago, and then finally wandered up a hill to what seemed like a very lively street lined with tons of shops and restaurants.

I loved peering into all the windows into all the cute little shops, all decorated to the very last detail. We grabbed drinks at Craft Han’s, a German-style beer house with locally-made craft brews on tap and an assorted mix of German-style bottled beers from around the world in self-service fridges. The waitstaff and bartenders were all dressed in German outfits and yelled greetings at customers as they walked into the bar.

After a couple drinks we continued walking up and down the street trying to decide on a place to eat. Of course we were immediately drawn to a restaurant called “Glamping,” which, as the name suggested, was decorated with glam + camping details. Huge beanbag pillows, low wooden tables, artificial grass, mini Weber grills, and chandeliers created a luxe outdoorsy vibe. We ate grilled seafood warmed over hot coals on our little table grill,  poured water from Mason jars and celebrated our first ‘real’ night in Korea with a bottle of champagne.

For dessert, we walked down another narrow alley to a popular bakery called Tartine. I had hoped that it was somehow the same Tartine from SF, but this one mostly sold American style pies — both regular and mini sized and cookies. We bought a mini “crack pie” and a double chocolate chip cookie and walked back to our hotel. On our way back we discovered a Doughnut Plant. We were confused. Like from NYC we both wondered? We squinted our eyes and peered inside. Yup, it was THE Doughnut Plant — the one we couldn’t get enough of the last time we visited NYC. The flavors were completely different from what could be found in the states, but it was enough of a reminder of home that we couldn’t resist buying a small box to take back to the hotel with us.