Update 2020:

This cosy bar is closed permanently in February 2020.

One of my favourite drink here at the bar is the Dow’s Port. The one I had was a 2007 vintage Port, one of the Portugal based wine that has been awarded a perfect 100/100 score on Wine Spectator magazine. Never mind the complicated score sheet, what I really like is the amazing full-bodied texture, the beautiful aroma of ripe blackberries, the crisp hint of floral hint at the background, and the syrupy but spicy finish. A refined, polished dessert wine I will definitely stock a dozen of these back home next time when I own a house. : D

What makes this bar stands out is the Absinthe fountain set standing elegantly on the bar. I bet it is one of the very few bars in Seoul that carries such a special appliance in making a Green Fairy, a legendary aromatic drink that was so widely (and wildly) consumed since the 18th century until it was banned in most of the Europe and US.

The notorious Absinthe, or more known as the Green Fairy, was once blamed for causing psychosis, or even murder. Even so, it was also a popular drink for renowned writers and artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso, to seek inspirations. We were excited to discover that the bar serves Absinthe, but it took us awhile to finally order one because this green colour, herbal-menthol scented liquor is known for its hallucinogenic effects.

The process of preparing an Absinthe is like preparing rites. You need an Absinthe fountain, a special spoon, a sugar cube, and a glass to make the drink. The fountain contains of ice cold water and the tap on the fountain is tailored to drip the water slowly so as the sugar and the water can mix well with the liquor down in the cup. The whole process was quite bewitching.

I’d love to video the whole process, but the decision of ordering one came so sudden that I got so excited that I forgotten about recording it down completely. However, I found a really good short clip about the process of making a Green Fairy that I find watching it particularly fascinating, and strangely, it soothes my mood!

You can check out the video above if you are interested to know how a glass of Green Fairy was made. I don’t know why but I think it was the visually appealing ritual, the myths and the fact that it was actually banned for some time before resurfacing as a cultural or hipster icon that makes it an attractive drink.

This is what you get after dripping enough water into your glass– a beautiful shade of pearly mint green in your glass. You’ll get layers of mints, pepper, sweetness from the sugar cube and the bitterness from the nutmeg on your taste palette — Not exactly my type of drink but watching the process of making the drink from an Absinthe fountain was entertaining. This combination got me a little illusional effect that night though. I would say it is the whole package: the visual, the history, the tales and the mystical, peppery and minty taste that get you hooked.

혼자노는양 Sheep in Solitude in a midsummer’s night. One of the best place near the SNU campus that I would recommend anyone who needs a drink after an eventful day.

Below are the photos taken at the same bar another time during winter. It was much quieter compared to the above picture since it was the final exam season. I was there with one of my best girlfriends and best sul-chingu (술친구 drinking buddy) in SNU

Writer’s Note: One of the best bars around the area of Naksongdae/Sillim that offers you the variety, good atmosphere and non-dilluted, quality drinks. I love sitting at the bar, listening to the owners talking about the history of different liquors. The atmosphere is cosy and homey, an excellent place to wind down after a heavy artisan burger meal at 9ounce Burger just opposite the street.

Contact Details:

혼자노는양 Sheep in Solitude *Click to Link to FB* (Permanently Closed)
서울특별시 관악구 낙성대동 1625-25
1625-25, Nakseongdae-dong, Gwanak-Gu, Seoul. 151-818.
Tel. +82-2871-2789.

Directions:

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Started their business for about a month ago, Neighborhood Sinchon carries a wide selection of unique beers from a Canadian owned brewery in Korea, the Galmegi Brewing Co. which is located in Busan.

Everything look fresh and new on the day we arrived. The pub is divided into the air-conditioned zone and non-a/c zone (usually for smoking). The outdoor area is in a clean and simple setting with a slight industrial touch. For Social media users and Instagram-ers, and if you don’t mind the cigarette smoke odour, I would suggest the outdoor seating for the perfect lighting to snap your shot. : )

Indoor. The yellow lighting created a warm, cosy and inviting atmosphere. It looks like a good place for late nights, Boy’s Night Out, or a good chill-out place with your favourite people while chatting over a few drinks.

Neighborhood has a rather simple menu with one page consisting of all the drinks and the other the food. Currently, they have 7 different craft beers and more to come in the future. Different from some of the craft beer tap houses that basically just repackage the exact same beer from the same brewery, most of the Neighborhood’s beers are exclusively available only in Seoul.

Here are the drinks currently available at Neighborhood:

Galmegi IPA  갈메기 IPA (KRW 6,500 a pint)
Moonlight Pale Ale 문라이즈 (KRW 5,500 a pint)
Campfire Amber 켐프파이어 엠버 (KRW 5,500 a pint)
Driftwood Porter 드리프트우드 포터(KRW 6,500 a pint)
Lighthouse Blonde 라이트하우스 블론드 (KRW 5,500 a pint)
Red Devil RyePA 레드데빌 다이피에이 (KRW 6,500 a pint)
Seouless Ginger Summer Ale 서울리스 진저 (KRW 5,000 a pint)

Too many choices or feeling clueless? You can always start off with their sampler (KRW 13,000) that comes with 4 mini glasses of craft beers at one go.

The sampler set comes in a wooden holder box that contains 4 different beers with different colour tones. The wooden beer glass holder matches well with the earth tone colours of their 4 popular beers. Look at the shades of light golden, old golden, copper and black! Beautiful!

One thing I don’t quite understand is they only provide 4 types of beer in their sampler set while having 7 beers on their current beer menu. It would be great if they could showcase all their beers together in the set, as I know there is another one very good beer of theirs (we will talk about it here in the blog somewhere below) is unfortunately not on the list. So, a more comprehensive sampler set please, Neighborhood! : )

We started from the far left hand side —

Seouless Ginger Summer Ale: A summer edition with 5.0% of alcohol. This particular brew contains ginger, honey and fresh lemon. For those who don’t appreciate ginger, you may want to give this dude a chance. The fresh lemon and honey note cut the spicy and showy strength of ginger, leaving a refreshing, generally sweet after taste. It is indeed a pleasant beer to start with, but remember to finish it while chilled.

Lighthouse Blonde: Lighthouse Blonde comes in a beautiful shade of golden that contains only 4.5% of alcohol. A relatively lighter drink, with little hops and little bitterness. A very easy drink from my personal view.

Galmegi IPA: Added alot of hops, this IPA is the most well loved beer from Galmegi Brewery Co. Consist of 6.5% of alcohol, it is very popular at home (Busan). The copper colour Galmegi IPA comes with the right amount of bitterness, some “piney” and fruity end. It is not a “love at first sight” experience for me, but I find myself holding this drink most of the time after I have tasted all from the sampler.

Driftwood Porter: Nothing makes decent beer like brown malt. As a dark beer lover, my rating for Porter here among the 4 different beers could be a little biased. kkkkkk. I enjoy the distinct espresso notes, ending with a slight fruity touch of blackcurrent. A well-hopped beer with an alcohol level of 5.5%, but I was expecting a creamier and smoother texture. An enjoyable drink nonetheless. Calling all coffee lovers, try this!

Now, back to the beer that I mentioned earlier that is not included in the sampler set. The Red Devil RyePA. The batch that I had was actually in a darker shade of red. The Neighborhood team is expecting their upcoming batch of their RyePA to be in a delicious red colour.

RyePA is a kind of beer which rye is substituted for some portion of barley malt, usually this kind of speciality beer could be produced up to 60% of rye malt. I like the linger bitterness alongside the warming spicy note. Seriously a must try.

Neighborhood serves pizza, finger food (fries and beer battered squid) and ricotta salad at the moment. But efforts are spent — their french chef make almost everything — yes, almost everything– the tomato paste, the sauces, the cheese, the pizza dough all from scratch.

Mozzarella Pizza. Isn’t the pizza lovely? : ) Topped with homemade tomato paste, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil, this simple pizza was the highlight of the night. The gooey melted mozzarella is just right for me — moist and stretchy, full of milky flavour, a good pair up with the freshly homemade tomato base. The crust is very, very mildly burn at the end and softer towards the centre. The dough is fermented for 24 hours to achieve the chewy and airy texture at the same time, with the perfect crispness. It taste great with the garlic cheese dip.

Ricotta and Apple Salad. There was a “Ricotta Salad Wave” in the cafes and brunch places last year when a brunch cafe introduced their ricotta salad served with bread and it got so popular that every other brunch cafe began to serve this particular dish. However this one at Neighborhood is quite different from the standard version.

Their ricotta cheese is not as heavy as the ricottas from other places, which made the dish alot lighter. It mixes up the crunchiness of cucumber, zingy apple, and a spicy touch from the red onion. The salty and sweet ingredients, all pleasingly blended together in harmony, making it a wonderfully refreshing salad.

The garlic butter bread that comes with the salad smells deliciously wonderful. The crust is thin, crispy at the outside and fluffy at the inside — Think a garlic naan with a crispy outer layer. Light and full of garlicky flavour, it is already perfect on it’s own.

More pictures of the interior of Neighborhood Sinchon:

Craft beers or microbreweries are nothing new to Seoul — one of the Asian’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan city. In fact, more and more similar business are sprucing up in every single district here in Seoul. I must say I am not an expert in craft beer, nor I know much about craft brewing in Korea. As a consumer, what I value is the taste of the beers and food, the presentation, and the environment. Basically what we are talking about here is about the overall experience.

At Neighborhood we got good food (especially the wonderful pizzas and the bread)  pairing up with a solid selection of brews. Be it the stylish ones with interesting flavours, or the classic, timeless brews, you can easily settle down with one that fits your taste.

Another good thing about Neighborhood is that there is no need to compulsorily ordering Anju (side dishes) like most Korean bars do. This is great as sometimes I am really done with anything solid and just wanted to get a couple of drinks, ended up having no place to go, especially when we are at Gangnam. If you are having the same problem as me here in Korea, then this place is your type of place for a drink.

Contact Details: 

Neighborhood Gastropub Sinchon (Click name to link to their Facebook Page)
53-14, Level 1. Chang Cheon Dong, Seodaemun-Gu,
Seoul, South Korea.
서울특별시, 서대문구 창천동 53-24 1층, 네이버후드.
Operating Time: 5pm- 1am daily.

How to get there? 
1. Take exit 1 from Sinchon Station Line No. 2 (신촌역)
2. Walk straight. You’ll pass by Hyundai Department store, then KFC, and IBK bank and Paris Baguette. Turn to your right once you reach Paris Baguette.
3. Walk down the street and turn right into the 4th junction. Go straight down and you’ll see their signboard.

You can see low-rise shophouses, traditional markets that ooze historic charm in the alley that you least expected, and the little carts selling delicious street food around the area. It just looks straight out of a Korean drama from a foreigner’s lens. Famous for its majestic autumn scenery at the nearby Gwanak Mountain and also the fact that it houses the prestigious Seoul National University, the area consist of some really quiet cafes, popular brands and some quality eateries.

Update 2020:

This quaint neighbourhood has developed into a hip and trendy 샤로수길  (Sya-rosugil) as of the year 2020. The surrounding described in the blog and this particular store may not be available. However, you’ll still find a lot of cute cafes, mat-jibs or pubs around the area as it is where students from the Seoul National University hang out after class.

I came to notice that despite staying for a considerably long time here, I didn’t write any review/ blog post about my area yet. So I decided to come up with a series of “SNU Station Gourmet” introducing good eateries around the school area. The first post for this series will be a cosy little Japanese Izakaya nearby the Seoul Nat’l University Station. To be precise, it is just 6 minute walk away from the station.

Izakaya Cho (아자카야 초) is located down in the alley between Angel-in-Us Coffee and Olive Young at SNU Station Exit No.2. People have been raving about this whole stretch of shophouses because of its unique charm. Stepping into the alley, you will find all kinds of different little bars/ restaurants along the way, just like a mini Itaewon. Although less polished than Itaewon ones could be, this stretch of mini shophouses (each could only accommodate 4 to 5 four-seater tables) is more localized with an exotic touch.

Interior of Izakaya Cho. As a mini izakaya, it sits very limited guests. A little squeezy as it can be, especially when it is a full house. However, if you come slightly earlier (about 6 pm in my case), you can pretty much enjoy a cosy pocket of personal space with your friends together. ^^ They bring in various kinds of sake in a different range of price. Look at the gorgeous display of the colourful boxes of sake at the izakaya!

For those who know the least about sake, fret not. The menu comes with a comprehensive introduction about the taste of the sake they carry for the season. More of a fan of dry and rich texture? Check the index box printed below each item. Prefer it sweet and light? No problem. Check the index and I am sure you’ll get something you like even if you are a total sake dummy! Do check their promotional sake as well!

View from the inside. Now you can imagine how tiny the izakaya is? Anyway, I also noticed the nice little makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine) place right opposite Izakaya Cho. I am definitely going to try it out very soon!

The atmosphere out there on the street feels a little like a movie scene. Relax, laid-back with the young and hip characteristics, this neighbourhood is definitely a place worth exploring if you happen to be somewhere nearby.

Before we start the night, the boss came with this big tray of a variety of porcelain sake cups. It was for the customers to choose a cup that he/she would like to use for the night. Quite gimmicky but I like the idea. ; )

My pretty little porcelain sake cup for the night. Pardon my chipping nail colour ><

Our iced Junmai sake for the night, as the boss recommended it to be served cool.

The sake tasted smooth and light, with a faint sweet scent. It leaves a light vanilla and rice fragrance after you swallow the cup down. A very pleasant drink with the sashimi and seafood udon hotpot I would suggest.

Chicken Karaage. It was very crispy on the outside, with the juicy-tender meat on the inside. The chicken was well marinated in some sauce which taste similar to ngoh-hiang (Malaysian/ Singaporean 5 spices). Somehow it tastes like home so it is good?

The 2nd dish of the night was Tuna Tadaki (たたき). Tuna fish is briefly marinated in vinegar and seared lightly on the outside. The generous peanut sauce was a nice match with the tuna. As it was minimally cooked, the fish still retains its melt-in-your-mouth texture.

I was pretty delighted to see the freshly grated wasabi served together with the dish. As more and more Japanese restaurants are serving their sashimi with processed, bulk-produced wasabi paste, you will definitely appreciate the effort put in there by the chef upon seeing the freshly grated wasabi here.

Beef salad. Tender grilled beef cubes with fresh vegetables in vinegar sauce. A simple and pleasant dish to savour with this huge packet of sake.

Writer’s Note:

If you feel like having a night out with a small group of friends, this little Izakaya is probably a good choice. The dishes go pretty well with the sake. I really like this stretch of shophouses with a variety of themed minibars and cafes nearby the SNU subway station. For some reason, the minibars along this street have cosy outdoor seats that are really photogenic too!

Pricing is on the higher side considering it is around the campus area. The 4 of us spent KRW 20,000 each for the night (The total bill was KRW 80,000). The sake itself was KRW 40,000.  

Contact Details:
Izakaya Cho.아자카야 초
1604-8, Naksongdae-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
Tel. 02-882-1239
6pm-3am daily.

Korean version of the address:
서울시 관악구 낙성대동 1604-8

How to Get There: (click map to enlarge)
1. Coming out from Seoul National University Station 서울대입구역 (Line No.2) Exit 2, walk straight.
2. You should pass by a few big brands at your left hand side like: ABC Mart, Paris Baguette, Subway, Nong Hyup Bank (NH Bank) and finally, Angel-in-Us coffee.
3. Turn left into the junction. Take note that this junction should be in between Angel in Us Coffee and Olive Young drug store.

4. The below picture is what you will see once turning into the junction. Go straight down for approx.157 metres and you will reach Izakaya Cho.