Exploring Seoul – Hoho Myoll Cafe
We have just a little more than a month left in Seoul, and the fellow and me will be heading back to America.
Honestly, when we put in the papers for an early release I was relieved. I miss home… I miss my family, finding clothes that fit me, not being dropped off somewhere because a cab driver can’t figure out where I need to go. But ever since then, time has run away from me. And I’m starting to feel homesick for things in Korea that I know I won’t find as easily in the States.
So I’m trying to make it a point to get out there and explore, and actually document the things I find. And hopefully it helps out someone =)
A friend of mine and I went to Hongdae this past weekend to search out a little cafe she had seen a YouTube video about, which I will link here. It was on a Sunday, and I guess didn’t open until 1:00 p.m. so we decided to grab some lunch. I didn’t take pictures of it, but we ate at a Gusto Taco that was right across the street from where you come out of the subway exit. The girl who took our orders impressed the popularity of the pulled pork tacos, but pork isn’t usually my go-to, nor was it my friends’. She got a steak burrito bowl and I got two steak tacos and under some serious peer pressure from the waitress, got the pork tacos. Well, I’m just going to say it. If you go to Gusto Taco, get the freakin’ pork tacos. They’re a little messy, and the corn tortillas fell apart pretty easily but wow, the flavor was really great. The pork just fell apart in your mouth and it was well worth the pile of napkins. The steak, was fine… and that’s all can be said about it. We did happen to meet the owner though, and he was a very nice man. He moved us to a bigger table that was near the open windows, which was quite nice.
The coffee shop was open now so we went in and were immediately blown away with the amount of stuff that was around us. It looked like someone has stuck a coffee shop inside an antique store.
You can sit inside the bus, at surrounding tables next to the wall, and over on the other side there were a few more tables and then a bunk bed set-up, which is where we parked ourselves.
But first, we ordered. We had just eaten so we weren’t exactly hungry but you can’t NOT get something! So my friend ordered a beautiful art latte, and I got a glass of the house wine and we shared a piece of chocolate cake, and these weird bread sticks (with some amazing marmalade). Oh! They also had a brunch menu and other various alcoholic beverages which was kind of funny for a coffee house.
We tried to get as many good pictures as possible, but there was so much to see it was hard get everything!
This place is really all about the details. There was something to look at every way you turned. Albeit being a very small establishment, and feeling kind of crowded, it was very serene and peaceful. There was soft instrumental music playing and the atmosphere felt almost romantic, and very content.
It took us a VERY long time to get our drinks and even longer for the cake, but this is the kind of place that works off of quality, so you don’t even mind the wait. The latte was very good, and I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the wine was. The cake was so so good, and if you can see in the picture, the attention to detail is superb. We couldn’t figure out what was on top of the cake. We thought it was ice cream but the flavor was so subtle that there almost was none. Maybe it was a custard? Maybe we’ll never know…
I have to say something about the bathroom, because it was so cute and set up in such a cool way. There are drawings and papers lined all over the walls, a mirror across from you on the toilet, the hand soap is attached to a magnet, and as always, tiny details that are impossible to try to describe.
And that just about concludes our experience. All in all, I would absolutely go back, and if you have the chance to go, you totally should. Below I’ve posted just other pictures that I got of different parts around the cafe and directions to the cafe =)
If you would like to visit the Hoho Myholl Cafe, take Line 6 train to Sangsu Station, exit 2. Turn left and walk toward Hongik University. It is only a block away from the station and is small. It will be on your right.
Part of the address is in Hangul but I’ll list it as well.
서울시마ㅠㅍ구 상수동 93-44 1F
93-44 Mapo-gu, Sangsu-dong, Seoul
Chew On The Write Words 