#theboothbrewing

Places covered in this post: Imun Seollongtang, Insadong, Ssamzil, The Booth Brewing Company

When you have finished the first full day in a new country, you can immediately feel the aftermath of the day taking a heavy toll on your body. Your body has still yet to fully adapt to not only the time difference but spike in daily physical activity. I also tend to find myself parched and a bit dehydrated the day after because I forgot to drink more water than I normally do to account for that added activity. Thus, I prefer to keep the the first two days relatively low key and then gradually tack on more strenuous activities for later in the itinerary.

My second morning in Seoul began with a 10-15 minute walk from my hotel in Myeong-dong to a cafe called ‘FELT Coffee.’ As a self-proclaimed cafe addict, this typically tends to be the very first thing I do in the morning to get me pumped for the day. It is one of the many thrills when traveling abroad, just simply knowing that there is unchartered territory just overflowing with adorable local coffee shops just waiting to be discovered. There is no better place to explore cafe culture than Korea because people are obsessed over here. Seriously, there is no shortage of quality cafes here and it seems very much integrated with the everyday lifestyle here. Read more about all the favorite cafes I visited in Korea here: (link here)

Imun Seoollongtang: Restaurant Review

‘Seollongtang’ is a clean healthy and protein-rich soup made primarily of ox bones and this restaurant gained recognition for boiling their soup for over 17 hours!

For brunch, I ate at a well-known restaurant called ‘Imun Seollongtang,’ which came highly recommended by the same friend that suggested ‘FELT Coffee.’ For first timers, you might have a bit of difficulty spotting this location because the restaurant is tucked away on the side of a parking lot. Normally this dish isn’t one that I crave out of all the delicious Korean dishes but it actually felt perfect for a winters day especially as the first meal of the day. In my opinion, Seollongtang is much more suited for breakfast than kalguksoo as it is a much lighter dish but still fill you up. The taste of this soup is typically quite bland but you can customize it and add salt accordingly based off your preference. The ox bone soup had a generous amount of meat and chunks of gelatinous tendon as well as a solid amount of noodles and rice. If the soup is not filling enough, they also had a few trays containing homemade kimchi, Kkakdugi otherwise known as “kimchi radish(깍두기),” soup salt and chopped scallions.

Insadong: Ssamzil

Insadong is one of the few places that I distinctly remember from my trip 8 years ago! The street itself hadn’t changed much aside from a new line up of stores, but besides that it pretty much is exactly how I remember it to be. I distinctly recall being mesmerized by the “whiskers” of Kkul-tarae (꿀타래, dragon’s beard candy) here and happily getting sugar stuck in my teeth while paying a nearby visit to Changdeokgung Palace. Inside Insadong there is a creative mall filled with small local businesses called ‘Ssamji-Gil.’ The mall has four floors and you can easily reach to the top by walking up in a reverse funnel pattern. Each floor has a handful of highly curated local artist shops that sell a wide range of items from handmade fragrances, Korean ceramics, and more. They also offer have a few more engaging and “interactive” activities such as a leather making workshop, painting and etc. I even got my own custom design embroidered on a luggage tag here! Disclaimer: I spent an annoyingly long time perfecting my luggage design, only for them to just pick out a pre-designed logo for me. Sad.

If you have some additional time to kill, there is a pretty neat shopping mall nearby called Insadong Anyoung.

The Booth Brewing Company: Beer & Pizza

The Booth is a Korean micro brewery that originally was a small pizza pub but has since evolved and even found its way into the American market.

To finish the day strong, I ended up grabbing dinner around Gangnam and stopping by The Booth Brewing Company in their Jongnu location to a nice cap to the day. I believe this is their original location but have other micropubs around Seoul. I am a huge fan of their brand identity as it is very distinct and memorable. Their logo is an alien that reminds me of Monsters Inc and feels very hipster, young and trendy. The actual pub itself was difficult to find as it’s on the second floor and hidden in a corner but I eventually found it through a pullup banner outside. It seemed quite popular and seemed to specifically draw out many Korean Americans. I didn’t try their pizza during this run because I had already eaten dinner but would highly recommend it as the people next to me seemed to enjoy it.