Buam-dong 부암동 and the Best Coffee Shop in Seoul

When looking to have a classy afternoon of coffee and shopping, many Seoulites head to Samcheong-dong (삼청동), an upscale neighbored next to Gyeongbok Palace (경복겅). Filled with boutique clothing stores, independent coffee shops, marvelous little restaurants, and timeless traditional Korean architecture, Samcheong-dong is a great place for a weekend stroll (Anguk Station, exit 3). However, it’s an extremely popular area. On any given weekend afternoon it will be overrun by crowds looking to shop, or tourists hunting for a meal after a walk around the palace.

If you’re looking an equally charming area without the crowds, try heading over to Buam-dong (부암동). Not as developed as Samcheong-dong, Buam-dong is a small neighborhood with a lot of character and a quaint atmosphere not often found in Seoul. It’s located between Inwangsan and Bukhansan, two mountains, offering great views at every turn. It’s also known for an eclectic mix of hidden galleries, classic restaurants, and superb coffee shops, including the famous Sanmootonge (산모퉁이), which is arguably the most beautiful café in Seoul. Buam-dong receives a lot less crowds since you cannot get there directly by subway, but here are simple bus directions!

1. 1.     Go to Gyeongbokgung Station (line 3), get out at exit 3.
2. 2.     Go straight about 100 meters to the second bus stop, take green buses #1020 or #7022 and get off at the Buam-dong Community Service Center 부암동민주센터. It’s only 6 stops away and it will be announced in English.

Places to go: 

To get to the first four places on my list, go to your right when you get off the bus and walk straight up the hill for 2 minutes or so until you hit Espresso Club (pictured below on the left). Known for serving up some of the best cups of coffee in Seoul, Espresso Club is also at the base of the road that takes you to most of major destinations on Buam-dong.

Espresso Club is the brick building on the left. You can stop in there for a taste of some of the best coffee from around the world! If you want great views and coffee however, head up to Sanmootonge.

Sanmootonge (산모퉁이) 

1.    According to the internet, this coffee shop was made famous by its appearance on the Korean drama Coffee Prince. However, even if you are like me and have never seen a Korean drama (it’s true), you’ll still be impressed. Located in a lovely brick house with magnificent views of Seoul and what I’ve deemed the Korean “Hollywood Hills”, Sanmootonge has just the right amounts of style, class, and quirk.

The coffee is a bit pricey at 8,000 won but it’s good quality, and of course you are really paying for the seat. Try to go early (before 1 pm) so you don’t have to fight K-drama fan girls or couples taking selfies for a seat on one of the balconies or in front of a window! The gallery downstairs is also worth checking out.  

Directions: Once you hit Espresso Club, turn left and you’ll see a fork in the road. Stay left and keep walking; soon you’ll hit a small bend where you’ll see a white building with a large brown sign for Santoomonge, pointing you uphill. It’s about 10-15 minute walk uphill, but there are great views and architecture along the way. Additional signs along the hill will keep you on track!

Jaha Sonmandu (자하손만두)
This is a famous mandu (만두) or dumpling restaurant. Known for its fantastic tteok mandu guk (떡만두국), or rice cake and dumpling soup, this restaurant also has a beautiful minimalist interior, perfect for dates, birthdays, treating yourself, and other special occasions. While certainly pricier than every day street mandu, regular dishes only cost about 6,000 to 15,000 won; 12,000 won for the tteok mandu guk. As a huge mandu fan, I think it’s well worth the visit!   

Directions: It’s just a little up the street from Espresso Club. Turn left at Espresso Club, then stay right at the fork, going a little up hill. You will see Jaha Sonmandu almost immediately on your right. 

Gyeyolsa Chicken, 계열사 치킨 (formerly “Cheers Chicken”)

Gyeyolsa is one of the most famous chicken restaurants in Seoul and is known for its traditional Korean fried chicken. Traditional Korean fried chicken is distinguished by a very thin crisp shell. The chicken is served on platters with large home fries. There is no English menu, but it’s just the first item on the menu, 후라이드 (which is Hangeul for “fried”). If you’re feeling more adventurous, another popular dish you’ll see many people ordering is the second item on the menu, 골뱅이 국수or snails with noodles! Get here by noon if you want to avoid the lunch rush!  

 Directions: It’s also just a little bit up the street from Espresso Club. Stay to the left at the fork. It’s located down on the lowered sidewalk to your left. 

Changuimun Gate and Seoul Fortress

if after all that eating you’re in need of some exercise, make a right behind Espresso Club and walk straight for just a minute and you will come to the Changumin Gate (the oldest of the fortress gates) Through the gate you’ll find one of the entrances for the Seoul Fortress which you can hike (yes that large fortress you can see from Sanmootonge).

Ivy and Shortcake

If you want to explore another part of the Buam-dong area, make a right at the base of Buam-dong (when you are facing these shops). A few minutes down are some other neighborhood favorites.

One of the first places you’ll see walking down the street is Ivy, a small yellow café with only 3 seats. Apparently it can be rented out at night to small groups for 50,000 won. After Ivy you’ll see Shortcake, which is a popular cupcake shop. While probably more sought out for its cute décor than the cupcakes (I agree with the assessments I’ve read that the cakes are a little dry) Shortcake is still pretty good! In a city with a lack of cupcakes, I don’t get too choosey! The frosting on my Oreo cupcake was quite good. 

Left- Ivy, Right- Shortcake interior and Oreo cupcake!

Keep walking past Shortcake and you’ll come to a rotary intersection. You have to cross the street to get down to the pedestrian intersection. If you go to the right you can get great views of the mountains and visit some other interesting shops.  I didn’t get a chance to go left, but it looked like there were a few interesting things there as well. Really you could spend an afternoon exploring, which I would encourage you to do if you have the time.

August

With limited time, my friend and I decided just to check out nearby August (to the right of the rotary), which is an interesting vintage shop filled with clothes, house ware, and other knick-knacks. The owner was very friendly; she used to live in L.A. and speaks English very well! 

 Pro tips for Buam-dong (and in general):

1.  Wander down small streets, take long walks, and let yourself get lost. The neighborhoods surrounding Gyeongbok Palace, particularly Samcheong-dong and Buam-dong, are filled with hidden coffee shops and galleries. There are tons of great places and little treasures to discover.
2. Taxis are cheaper than you’d think. If you start the day checking out Gyeongbok Palace or Samcheong-dong, which I would recommend, a taxi to Buam-dong from there will only cost about 6,000 won. In general, travel between major destinations in central Seoul isn’t too pricey, especially if you are splitting it with friends. Even going all the way from Hongdae to Gangnam is only about 15,000-20,000 won depending on where you are.
3. Coffee shops are empty before noon. For most Koreans, coffee shops aren’t for morning pick-me-ups, but places to be seen in the afternoon. If you want to avoid crowded coffee shops in Samcheong-dong or Buam-dong, you don’t have to get there too early. Coffee shops start to get really crowded around 3 or 4 o’clock. 

How to Swim with Sharks in Busan

Dun dun.

Dun dun.

Dun dun.

Careful, he's hungry. I ran into this guy at the Busan Aquarium. I had a few days off from school and decided to take a trip to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea...or Seoul with a beach. While the Busan aquarium may not have had fish swimming in toilet bowls and washing machines, for a mere $120, you can actually go diving in the shark tank! They only do it on weekends and you have to book it in advance, but I'm thinking it might be worth making a return trip for...hopefully the sharks don't think that I'm bite sized.

I also found what appears to be the stuffed animal version of Nemo's dad after a night on the town. Lookin' a little out of it there eh?

Moving on from the never ending rotation of questionable stuffed animals...I stayed at the Pusan Hostel, which I discovered is actually a temporary hostel, a.k.a. a giant apartment located in super ritzy complex (please refer your eyes to the picture below). Lesson: you can live in a fancy apartment as long as you rent it out to 20 other guests on the weekends to pay the bills. It was a bit far from the major downtown areas but I had a room to myself and a fabulous view of the ocean! Definitely one of the nicest apartment complexes I've seen in Korea so far.

View of the buildings from a neighboring park.

 Though I've traveled a lot, this was my first true solo trip abroad, going to a new city by myself. Traveling in Korea isn't like traveling in Europe where you're guaranteed to run into other foreigners where ever you go. During the day I went sight seeing with other people from the hostel, a small group of English teachers and travelers, but at night I would generally go out and just make friends with the first English speaking people I could find, which were surprisingly few and far between for such a big city! Nevertheless I had a great time!

My adventures started immediately after I arrived. I wanted to try and get a nice view of the city, so I began walking up a nearby hill thinking I would get to the top, see the city and walk back down, but the trail kept going and going...I ended up hiking 5 kilometers around the rocky coast before I finally found the view I was looking for.

Almost...

Parts of the trail were just a man made path, you can see the fence.

 Getting there...

There it is!

I knew Gwangalli Beach, a popular nighttime destination, was just beyond that bridge. What started as me looking for a bus or taxi to Gwangalli turned into another 5-ish kilometer venture until my toes finally hit the sand. I re-energized with a true American meal: a chicken quesadilla with avocado. Back home this wouldn't be news/blog worthy, but finding good Mexican food and avocados for cheap in Korea after weeks of nothing but kimchi, Korean BBQ, and dumplings was like stumbling on the holy grail. I ate it at the Fuzzy Navel, a popular restaurant across the street from the beach.

This is a picture of Gwangalli at night. On the right you can kind of see the crowds (there was a concert going on further to the right). There are three beaches in Busan, Haeundae being the largest and most popular, but Gwangalli is known for its nightlife.  I've been taking a lot of pictures with my iPhone, for the most part I think the quality is decent, but for night time I need to start carrying around a real camera.

The next day I checked out the Haedong Younggungsa temple, famous for its beach side location. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. While it certainly was beautiful (you can't go wrong with a good ocean back drop), I noticed that the temple also looked somewhat familiar:

Me forgetting to throw up my peace sign!

Because of the many wars and Japanese occupations, most temples in Korea are reconstructions...with identical paint jobs. Most of the Haedong buildings looked like smaller versions of the ones at the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. I guess in general it just didn't have the same wow factor as other historical sites I've been to (though perhaps I've become a bit jaded).

Afterwards we went to Songjeong beach, which I'd recommend going to if you ever find yourself in Busan. Most people head straight for Haeundae Beach since it's large/well-known/has lots of touristy things to do, but if you're looking for a cleaner, less crowded beach for a relaxing day, hop on the #181 bus and get off when you see water! It's very close to the Haedong temple.

Since it rained Friday we skipped the beach and went to the aquarium which was awesome, evidenced by the opening photos. After that we went to Spa Land, the most amazing jimjilbbang (Korean spa) ever! It's inside Centum City, an urban development which is also home to the world's largest department store (they love superlatives in Korea). It's definitely a great place to relax if you're in Busan, but it might make all subsequent jimjillbbangs look pretty lame. It has 13 saunas, each with a different theme...how would you like your hot steam room? Turkish? Or Roman bath style? I opted to lounge in the outdoor hot spring (I know, life is rough).

Inside the department store....personally I think the Guggenheim could sue for copyright infringement...

Then we trekked to the other side of Busan (it is absolutely huge) and shopped around the BIFF Square where they hold the eponymous Busan International Film Festival. The outdoor markets in the area are enormous, you could spend hours just walking through the streets and combing through the various kiosks. I myself like to buy cheap funky socks:

I spy with my little eye...Obama socks.

A very tiny part of the market area.

We also checked out the famous Jagalchi fish market. And by checked out, I mean we walked in, saw this lady wrangle an octopus, turn it inside out, put it in a plastic bag, and give it to a customer....after that we decided we'd pretty much seen all we needed to see at the fish market. While we were walking away we saw another octopus unsuccessfully try to escape from the red bucket of doom...sorry buddy!

After regaining our appetite we tried some of the famous street food. If you go to Korea and eat nothing else, try hotteok. It's fried dough filled with brown sugar and nuts...the heat melts the brown sugar so it turns into a gooey filling...so unbelievably good.

And for the grand finale: we went up the Busan towers for some lovely views of the city!

Sorry for the poor picture quality...again I was just carrying the iPhone...but yes, that is another giant department store. Korea: the country that likes shopping more than I do.