The Seoulite

Summer is over and that means that most restaurants and cafes that served ‘pat bing soo’ (팥빙수) or Red Bean Ice dessert have taken it off their menus! But what’s a Seoulite to do in the dead middle of fall or winter when you want this icy treat?

Go to Hyundai Department store in Apgujeong. There is a famous cafe that has been serving pat bing soo as their main dish for years. Who knows what the name of that place is… real Seoulites tell each other to find obscure places without the use of store names, street names or phone numbers. You should too!

Just go to the top floor of the department store where there is a group of restaurants. Look for the cafe that is designed to look like it’s outdoors. The Seoulite had no idea if he was in the right spot so he started looking at people’s plates and voila! Everyone was eating pat bing soo!

This is THE place to see upper crust Korean baby mamas and baby mamas in training spending the afternoon.

And how is the pat bing soo? EXCELLENT. The ice shavings are permeated with whatever flavor you choose to get. The Seoulite got the Pomegranate flavor. The rice cakes are the best part. They are delicately handmade fresh and they just melt in your mouth.

Here’s a picture of the Hyundai department store. Line 3, Apgujeong Station.

Where can you find the warm afternoon sunshine of a Provence afternoon or the cozy glow of a French wine cellar? At Les Baux right here in Seoul. This restaurant is located across the street from Zen Hideaway in Apgujeong, but you would think you are a world away once you step inside.

Find a bright spot by the window upstairs.

Or find a rustic table in the wine cellar downstairs.

Due to the economic crisis and the lateness of the hour the Seoulite and his friends just had drinks. But here's a sampling of the food. A tomato frittata. I'll post updates if and when I taste the glorious food.

Here is the Filet au Boeuf from another fan.

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. The cuisine of Provence is the result of the warm, dry Mediterranean climate; the rugged landscape, good for grazing sheep and goats. The basic ingredients are olives and olive oil; garlic; sardines, rockfish, sea urchins and octopus; lamb and goat; chickpeas; local fruits, such as grapes, peaches, apricots, strawberries, cherries, and the famous melons of Cavaillon.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the most famous painters in the world converged on Provence, drawn by the climate and the clarity of the light. The special quality of the light is partly a result of the Mistral wind, which removes dust from the atmosphere, greatly increasing visibility. Artists included Paul Cézanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

The Romans complained about the competition from and poor quality of the wines of Provence. In the First Century A.D. the Roman poet Martial, condemned the wines of Marseille as 'terrible poisons, and never sold at a good price.' Sounds like the wine in Seoul due to heavy import taxes! Vote for the EU-SK free trade agreement please!

Pastis is the traditional liqueur of Provence, flavored with anise and typically containing 40–45% alcohol by volume. When absinthe was banned in France in 1915, the major absinthe producers (then Pernod Fils and Ricard, who have since merged as Pernod Ricard) reformulated their drink without the banned wormwood and with more aniseed flavor, coming from star anise, sugar and a lower alcohol content, creating pastis. It is usually drunk diluted with water, which it turns a cloudy color. It is especially popular in and around Marseille.

Les Baux
Food: Je ne sais pas. Cal domage!
Drinks: 5/5 You can find Stella Artois and not to mention wonderful capuccinos and extensive wine list.
Ambiance: 5/5

Phone: 02-3444-4226
Location: Apgujeong
Go straight from the Cine City Alley
Make a left a Milk Bar and the restaurant will be on your right
Hours: 11AM - 2AM

In Korean:
위치: 압구정 씨네시티골목에서 직진
밀크바에서 좌회전해 쭉 들어가다 오른쪽 위치
전화번호: 02-3444-4226
영업시간: AM11:00~ AM 02:00

Where is one place in Seoul that can serve as a place for 1) a first date, 2) a going away dinner, 3) a college reunion lunch, 4) a consistently fresh and good meal, 5) an urban tropical oasis in the middle of Seoul, 6) a business meeting, 7) a coffee and a chat or a restaurant to recommend to friends? Zen Hideaway! It’s the most unique place that has common denominator appeal.

At night, the interior is dramatic and lush.

Perfect place to get together with intimate friends. It's a good place to 'talk'.

The food is fusion Asian. Here is the mussel creme pasta that had a bit of a Thai inspiration. So yummy.

Fried rice prepared to perfection.

The Pad Thai had all the right flavors going on.

There are two locations. One in Myeongdong and the other in Apgujeong. All of these photos are from the Apgu branch.

For lunch, it is nicer to go upstairs and sit along the terrace on the second floor. You can look down into the atrium.

Ladies who lunch and bring their dog. It's not allowed so stuff junior back into the bag.

Another view from upstairs.

Should we? No, we shouldn't. Yeah, no, we should. Really? No, you think? Yes. Definitely. Right. Definitely. No. You sure?

You can take a nap in a canopy and for an extra service they will feed you.

You can suspend reality for a moment while eating here.

The dressings on the salads are very good.

Try the fusion wraps. Very delicious.

The roasted garlic chips on the seared ahi tuna salad are the best part of this dish.

Who can not resist another go at pad thai for lunch and dinner?

Zen Hideaway
02-541-1461
http://www.zenhideaway.com

Ambiance: 5/5
Food: 5/5
Service: 4/5

A Seoulite favorite! It is best to make reservations. You can do this by phone and online.

Some places you go because the atmosphere seems cute - even like another world away. I’m sure many Seoulites have noticed the sign for this restaurant - Abbey Road written in the logo of a sign for the London subway. The entrance through a little plant festooned corridor seems very promising… as does the nice lighting and veranda.

But one word of advice - it sucks actually, to be really honest. Or at least the Mojito does. So bad we didn’t drink it and left. Three leaves of mint, white sugar dumped at the bottom of a glass, some kind of low-shelf rum (was it even rum?) mixed with Sprite. That’s 9,000 won.

When politely asked to switch the drinks, the staff said it wasn’t the wrong recipe - it was their own house recipe. Hmmm…. I wonder how they’d feel if they went to a restaurant and order Jja Jjang Myeon and got Spaghetti because that was the ‘house recipe’. Also very bad service here. It was just really ‘off’ for some reason.

The offensive drink.

Too much religion lately led the Seoulite to just pay up and leave peacefully.

Abbey Road
Apgujeong
02-546-9505
Food/Drinks: 0/5
Service: 0/5
Ambiance: 4/5 - Overall pretty nice decor, but the second floor looks like the ugly stepsister.

If you wander on the streets parallel to Garosoo Street (가로수길), you can find islands of various nations. To escape into an overdecorated French bubble, go to Mon Lit for wine and appetizers. This place focuses on wines so the food list is not too extensive. The West African chicken sounded better than it tasted. Very ordinary. But the tapas dish, which was some sort of creamy dip was very delicious.

This was West African Chicken. But it tasted like Seoul Chicken with no s(e)oul.

You come here to escape.

Trust the recommendation of wine from the wait staff. They're pretty good with answering questions and if they don't know the answer, they will call the owner!

It really is this dark. At night, it feels like wine cellar meets French grandmother's sitting room.

Mon Lit
Apgujeong Station
Walk towards Garusoo Gil (Street) and go one block south. Make a left.
02-548-2789

Food: 3/5
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 5/5

For pictures of it during the daytime, visit this blogger who also had the West African chicken! http://blog.naver.com/202xender?Redirect=Log&logNo=140051454676

Hi, I’m Sean Lim, an American expat living in South Korea.  This is my blog about becoming a Seoulite.

What is a Seoulite?
A ‘Seoulite’ (서울깍쟁이) is a citizen of Seoul, just as a ‘New Yorker’ is a citizen of New York. Of course the label ‘Seoulite’ doesn’t simply denote a place of residence [...]