Happy Little Coffee: The Hongdae area (at the Hongki University)

Sorry for the shortened post last night ^^' BUT today, I try to write everything else from the last night~ :) Souu.. let's start with the hongdae area<3 Really liked the place~ It's one of those places you just have to go when coming to Seoul! The metro line 2 comes directly to the Hongki University station. If, however, you have to change metro lines, you can do it for example at the City Hall station, though the Hapjeong station is as good too~ and something to remember, when you come to the Hongdae area, come out from the exit 9!! It's THE exit~~

The exit n. 9 (metro line 2, the hongki university)

But really, why are we here?! Well.. On every last Friday of each month there is the Hongdae Club Day~! Souu, we decided to go check the area beforehanded so that we would not get lost on The DDay~^^' but more of the Club Day later~ when we actually go there :D We wandered across the area a little and then decided to muster the courage and try one of the Korean style restaurants :D It was a little scary at first, 'cause we didn't know if the staff would speak English at all.. probably not >.<' BUT, wait what? they did! The staff spoke some english~ At least so much, that we were able to order and pay without any bigger problems~ Jeij :))

The name of the place was 92ga ^^ (www.92ga.co.kr)

All the staff members were about our age (20 something~) and almost all guys ^^' Also the music was youngish (kpop) so when there wasn't much customers around, you could see the staff dancing to the music and having fun~ We went there about six o'clock. The place was almost emphty, but after awhile it started filling up quite fast~ It was nice and not too crowded :)

And here is where I give the explaning part to Annika^^ Because of her, I was able to enjoy the restaurant experience~ <3

What's up guys~? I will try to keep things simply and short here (cause I want food, and I won't get it before I'm finished with this post >.< ), hope this is even a little bit helpful for someone~

So we went to eat Samgyupsal, pork belly, to one of those traditional korean restaurants. This was my second time in Korean restaurant, so I didn't have so much experience either ~^^'

Before we even got to decide what to eat they brought us our side dishes (banchan): garlic, onions, kimchi, somekind of green salade with spicy sauce, lettuce leaves and pea sprouts~

We ordered two services of Fresh Samgyupsal, one bottle of soju and coca~

(The Samgyupsal what we ate is fresh, aka better one than normal samgyupsal cause it's not frozen as it normally would be~ So if you have enough money to spend for, I recommend you choose the fresh samgyupsal :))

Then starts the cooking -that's right, you'll cook your own meat and vegetables, but what would be more perfect way to get the rightly done meat that's suited to your taste, than the meat your cooked on your own!?

But for the first timers~~ put your samgyupsal to the grill, don't put everything at ones, only if you're fast eater XD It will smoke quite much so make sure that the pipe which sucks the smoke out, is close enough to the grill. Remember also to move the meat from time to time, otherwise it will get stuck to the grill. (If they brought ice cubes, you can clean the grill with them if the meat gets stuck or the fire is too strong and comes through the grid~).

When samgyupsal is almost done, warm up your side dishes~ We put some kimchi and onions there. (This is not needed, you can also eat them cold~). Then cut your meat (they'll give you scissors for that) in little pieces, and check if it's done~

After that you're ready to start eating~

There is two general ways to eat samgyupsal, first is to wrap it into a lettuce leave with side dishes (I choose-> pork, kimchi, onion and pepper sauce). Second way is to eat it as it is~

And the plate (cup) they give you is for your meat, where you can but(in our case the brown kind of) sauce ~ and dip it there :)

Then just enjoy your meal and company~

Oh, for the side note, what is amazing about Korean(also Japanese) restaurants, is that they have table-bells !! No need to have a waiter/-tress to breath to the back of your neck all the time, but they'll come when they're asked~<3

P.S Soju is quite strong so drink with care ;)

Mata ne~

Now all that is left is to show you the places we visited^^ BTW after we had eaten, we went to the Coffee Brown to get desserts~ and there too, some of the staff spoke english quite well~^^ Also there was a FREE WI-FI connection (you just have to ask the password from the staff~ If you are not confident about if the person you are going to ask the password speaks good English or not, show the wi-fi connection and the password from your phone. They will get it^^) and don't worry the password is in english~

Entrance to the Coffee Brown: you can either order take out or go to the second floor to the cafe~

The cafe :)

Our order: iced caramel macchiatto, ice latte, cheese cake and tiramisu cake <3

The view from the window~ you almost with certainty see everyone who come to the Hongdae area, because the cafe brown's location is near to the metro station and the way to the club area goes right next to it too~^^

The bill~ you will take this to the counter when you are about to leave.

And now, from this on it's only the pics from the different places, shops and bars in the Hongdae area. We tried making a map to you so you'll get the image of the area~ sadly we had to use someone elses 'cause there isn't many good maps. (So all the credits go to the rightful owner of the map~~!)

Firtsly, here is the original map of the Hongdae area (some of the points are a little old though, but its for the illustrative purposes only :D)

The second map we have done some marks so that you can see where we visited or walked~ we will but the number (we used on the map) of each place next to the photos of those places.. Have fun~

The photos: