#buccella

This place is as trendy as you can get in Seoul. The celebrities hang out here. The streets are lined with trees. Boutiques and pop up shops are the order of the day, topped off with fine dining joints and lounges for drinking and chilling. There are many restaurants and dessert cafes that will wet your appetite. The food on offer here is more European than Korean.

In Garusogil, even pedestrians who pass you by and maybe yourself for a brief moment will feel chic and in vogue. Being Korea’ best shopping location, this place has a lofty status and lives up to it in every sense of the word. Just a few years ago, Garusogil was just a stretch of road with nothing of note on it. But as time passed by, Businesses and cafes started dominating the landscape there. A hot spot for tourists and young people, this spot offers high class eateries and here is some of those establishments that should be on your radar.

Ace Pizza (에이스 피자):

Ace Pizza can be found Gingko Tree laden street in Garusogil known for food and fashion. Its owner is a famous Korean R&B rapper who goes by the name of Kim Jo Han (김조한). The unique thing about this place is the “DIY Pizza”, where you get to choose the ingredients for the pizza you want to eat all for just 15,000won. The bacon cheddar fries are too die for! It will fatten you up. But as we all know, anything delicious is always fattening. There is loads of space inside so you should be able to comfortable order and get a seat. Other food on the menu includes: gorgonzola pizza, R&B pizza, buffalo wings, ace salad. And the playlist is actually decent and fits the atmosphere well.

Modern Bapsang (모던 밥상):

This restaurant is owned by the mother of “Oppa Gangnam Style” singer, Psy. Modern Bapsang can be found in the centre of Garusogil. The menu is totally in Korean, fyi. The dishes on offer include stews, bibimbap, jeon and bulgogi. The recommended to try dishes are Jeyuk Bossam (제육보쌈) and North Korean Style Dumplings with Tangpongchae. You can expect pay 10,000won ~ 20,000won per person. I loved the tofu with potatoes though it was more like a light snack to me.

Gentle Lady Cupcake (젠들레이드  컵케이크):

This spot could be mistaken as being exclusively open to women but it isn’t. A great spot for meeting up with your special one or friends. The music is ambient and the atmosphere is light and pleasant. If you are a lover of cupcakes, macaroons and cakes with your coffee or tea, then this place will be a sweet melody to your heart. The flavours of cupcakes they sell are orange, lemon, vanilla, peanut better, chocolate, earl grey, orea, blueberry and malcha. And if you buy 10 cupcakes, then you can eat one more for free. Just make sure to get that loyalty card. A cupcake is 4,500won and drinks are about 4,500won also.

Villa de Spicy (빌라 드 스파이스):

Famous for its fusion style Tteokbokki (떡볶이) that can be said to be different of what you expect when it comes to Tteokbokki. The décor of the restaurant is neat, modern and up to date which shows off that this restaurant knows where it is located. In other words the “Garusogil of Tteokbokki”. Which I would say means that the Tteokbokki here is a little more high class. From the menu, you can decided which ingredients you want in your Tteokbokki. There is premium and customizable Tteokbokki dishes along with bunsik (분식) like rice balls and more. Prices start from 10,000 and up.

Dore Dore Café (도레도레 카페):

A dessert and brunch café located in Garusogil. The ‘Dore’ in the title means ‘gold’ in French. The coffee is 100% home roasted and the rainbow cake comes highly recommended called ‘Feel Good! 기분 좋아! cake’, made 100% with whipped cream. This cake is hard to resist, the taste is so flipping good. You might end up making silly faces like you see hosts make on foodie TV shows. The café is quite huge really, 4 floors and a basement. Cake with your cuppa sounds delightful right? Though the cake is colourful, the building and its exterior is decorated with an industrial vibe, black and white furniture. The coffee is a bit pricey between 5,500won ~ 8,000won. 1 slice of the cake is 8,500won to 9,000won and if you want a whole cake to yourself then its all yours for just 50,000won.

April Market (에어프릴 마켓):

A cozy and neat spot, perfect for women who wish to enjoy a quiet meal and relax. A fusion of Italian and Korean food, on the menu is spinach pasta, whelk pasta, abalone pasta, seaweed pastas with blueberry thin bread and pizzas too available. The location is nearby to Garusogil so have your route sorted out beforehand to save yourself from some confusion. Dishes go from 10,000won to 20,000won. Scrumptious food!

Buccella (부첼라):

A very famous sandwich shop, all made from ciabatta bread. During peak hours you can expect lines but definitely worth your time. The sandwiches cost between 8,500won ~ 10,000won. The chicken salad is awesome. A tasty beef sandwich is 9,800won and oh so tasty! The beef is pan seared. But avoid the prawn sandwich, it is a bit of a rip off, only 2 pieces of shrimp. Not worth it.

Vulkan (불칸):

This place offers the best hamburger meat out there. To keep the hamburger meat tasting great, it comes out to you on a hot plate. Vulkan means “volcano”, in German. And you will get to see why they are called this once you see the way the hamburger sizzles on the hot plate. The Popeye tortilla is pretty delicious too. A tuna and spinach packed tortilla sounds alright, doesn’t it? The interior of Vulkan is like that of a pub. Great for small gatherings with friends. Expect to fork out between 10,000won to 20,000won.

Hanchu (한추):

Argued by some as the best chicken in Seoul. The recipe of the fried chicken is quite cool really. They fry the chicken with peppers inside and fried green pepper with stuffing inside. The interior may be nothing special but the taste cannot be disputed. The quality of the food is high with this one. This spot is said to be popular among celebrities. The fried chicken costs around 17,000won and the fried green pepper is 13,000won. Both are perfect companions for beer or soju.

Deli Heinzberg (델리 하인즈버그):

Posted from: CA, USA

I was very recently told (ie last night) that I put a lot into my blog posts in writing so much.  Read: I am long winded and too verbose.  This may be true, but once I get on a roll the words just spew from me with grammatical reckless abandon and lack of sensitivity to one’s time or attention span.  Lo siento.  So I will try to keep the words here short.  My blog isn’t really about reviewing drink after drink and assigning scores (enough of these are out there), or just flashing pretty pictures (my pics are ugly).  Hell, not really sure what the slant is other than what strikes me to write.  But for every post I probably take a good 10-20 or so pics of bevie occasions I capture but fall short of being inspired to write at long wind about.  And so below I present pics and brief words about what I have been drinking (and up till now not sharing).  Enjoy! 

Ethiopian Beans + Chemex + Stumptown = Morning Long Goodness

 Andrew Will wines are always underrated (I think it’s the label), but the Ciel Du Cheval doesn’t help the cause to achieving greatness like the other much better blends

Russian River Brewing Rocks!  Redemption Rocks!  Vinnie Rocks!  Where the hell else can you get such a good single Belgian ale?

Hey Beringer can do more than White Zin (though don’t tell my grandma…she is just fine with her WZ and ice cube).  Mind blowing!  Very nice brawny merlot from one of my favorite places (Howell Mtn)

 Oh Ken, you made me love Oregon Pinots, you wooed me, and now you continue to disappoint me (stand in line for you aren’t the only lost love these days)

 Brian Loring is one to really admire.  Caught the wine bug, didn’t give up his day job and cranks out some pretty good Cali Pinots.  This one being one of his best values.  Recommended!

 Oh I should write much more about this Priorat beauty.  Modern, dense, inky, powerful, lush, velvety, thick, a true wow.  Would drive me to drink

 Uccelliera.  Say that 3 times fast.  After sinking into this nice Italian you really won’t care if you sound like a fool.  And it only gets better with their Brunello

La Jota by the glass and glowing light of the bar.  Nice time.  Too bad the La Jota let me down on my second dance with it

Nice bubbles for the price…mmmm, yeah but probably wouldn’t buy again

Buccella.  Talk about amazing packaging!  Good thing the wine is just as good or even better.  Beauty inside and outside of the bottle

Had a lot of hope and dreams for this wine.  Disappointments happen.  Move on.