Mmm Records • 음레코드

I visited Mmm Records (음레코드) last spring with Ken and my cousin during one of our outings in Seoul. Ken was actually the one who wanted to check out this place and we just tagged along since we never been to this place either. Mmm Records sells vintage LPs, 7-inch records, as well as old school cassette tapes. The store is decorated with vintage furnitures as well as turntables and boomboxes that are for sale. The walls are plastered with black and white typography posters with musicians lyrics and names. Mmm Records also hosts record fairs, DJ events and even DJ lessons if you are interested in learning how to DJ.

On top of selling all these vintage analog music, they also have a cafe/bar section in the store. You can order food, like Poutine and Banhmi Sandwiches, or if you just want to chill and order some drinks, they have a good selections of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options. They have seatings spread out around the two floors inside the building and they have a rooftop area as well that is pretty cozy to hang out at when the weather is nice. We actually ended up hanging out at the rooftop for a bit after checking out the store, ordered our drinks and brought them upstairs. The rooftop has a view of Namsan, Seoul Tower and all the small houses that made up the neighborhood around the area. Since the area is pretty quite, watching the view with the sunset in the background was really nice. If you’re into vintage LPs and vinyls, this place is definitely worth a visit. If not, you can always just hang out and enjoy the view from their rooftop with your friends.

Mmm Records • 음레코드

Address: 울특별시 용산구 한남동 620-152
Telephone: 070-4001-0625
Hours: 15:00-24:00 (Weekdays) | 12:00-24:00 (Weekends)

Instagram: @mmmrecords

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What's Your Cereal Number (WYCN) • 왓츠유어씨리얼넘버

What's Your Cereal Number (왓츠유어씨리얼넘버) or WYCN is another cereal cafe that I’ve visited just out of curiosity. Knowing full well after my visit to Midnight in Seoul that this could be another overpriced cereal cafe, I still decided to give it a go since the place’s newer, smaller, and less popular, thought I give the underdog a go. The cafe itself is pretty small, it only have seatings for around 6 people max. If there is more people than that, the cafe will already be full. Luckily, it was empty when I was there.

Ordering system is slightly different than Midnight in Seoul. Here, it is based on the cup size you choose and it has a flat rate for each cup which includes up to 2 cereals + 4 toppings of your choosing. The regular cup costs ₩7,000 and the large cup costs ₩8,500 (my prediction about the price was right, pretty pricey). The cereal and milk taste pretty standard but the combo that I ended up ordering was way too sweet for me. I think I just didn’t choose a good combo. Anyway, now I found another cereal cafe that is on the opposite side of Seoul, in case I have one of my cereal cravings episode.

What's Your Cereal Number (WYCN) • 왓츠유어씨리얼넘버

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 384-11
Telephone: 010-3744-1792
Hours: 12:00 - 21:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Instagram: @wycn_kr

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Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Art Platz (사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠) is a small store located in Yeonnam-dong (연남동) neighborhood that sells a number of different local products and arts & crafts. The neon decorated exterior was what attracted me to see what’s inside this place and sure enough there were a lot of interesting pieces to see inside the small store.

Later, I also found out that turns out, this place has been making appearance in a couple of popular Korean dramas including Your House Helper (당신의 하우스헬퍼), Jealousy Incarnate (질투의 화신), and Individualist Ms. Ji-young (개인주의자 지영씨). Anybody watched one of these drama? Does this spot look familiar? Let me know!

Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 257-5
Hours: 12:00 - 19:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Instagram: @artplatz.co.kr

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Underyard • 언더야드

Came to Underyard (언더야드) with my cousin for some late brunch on a Monday and we had to wait for quite a bit for our table cos the place was packed. We weren’t expecting it to be packed since, first, it’s a Monday, and two, the restaurant itself is located in the middle of a quiet residential area that does not necessarily attracts a lot of foot traffic.

After we finally got our seat in one of the tables inside of what felt like a contemporary underground kitchen, we looked through their menu to decided what we’re gonna order. Their food menu is pretty simple. There are sandwiches, salads, and homemade yogurt options, and also Shakshuka to complete the food menu. Their drink menu on the other hand consists of selections of coffee, tea, and soda.

We decided to order their Shrimp & Salmon Sandwich and Shakshuka and to share. The shrimp & salmon sandwich was light and fresh and a perfect choice to open our meal. The combination of shrimp, salmon, cucumber, eggs, dill, and lemon was really well balanced. The shakshuka—which is basically eggs in tomato sauce—on the other hand, came with bread and it tasted wonderful. The fresh juicy taste of tomatoes combined with the eggs gave us a perfect end to hearty meal. If you are looking for a brunch spot in Seoul, I would recommend to give Underyard a try.

Underyard • 언더야드

Address: 서울특별시 강남구 논현동 62-20
Telephone: 02-3443-3356
Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 (Closed on 1st, 3rd, 5th Monday of the month. Closed on Sundays)

Instagram: @underyardseoul

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Ban Bossy Boutique • 밴보시부티크

Finding Ban Bossy Boutique (밴보시부티크) on my first visit to this place was quite and ordeal. Originally, I was looking for a cafe called Plank & Gilt. I looked up and followed the direction to this cafe, and I was so sure that I already arrived at the right spot. But then, there’s no Plank & Gilt sign found anywhere in the building of the address or anywhere close to that spot. I even try to check out the area surrounding the building and made my way around the block twice. After a good 20 minutes of searching, I was ready to give up when I finally noticed that there’s a cafe on the third floor of the building where Plank & Gilt was supposed to be, but the name’s different. At this point, I thought might as well check the place out. Better than nothing right? I stepped into the cafe and, lo and behold, the interior of the cafe is the same as Plank & Gilt but the name on the wall is now Ban Bossy Boutique. Turned out, the cafe changed their name to Ban Bossy Boutique but kept everything else the same.

Ban Bossy Boutique is one of the nicer cafes I found around Hongdae (홍대) area. The cafe is spacious, with a lot of natural lighting coming in from the big windows surrounding the space. The interior is a combination of marble tables and various furnitures with different pastel colors combination, such as pink, mint, grey, white, and rose gold as accent color. This place is definitely a good place to take photos and the cafe is very Instagrammable.

As for menu choice, they have plenty to choose from. Coffee, tea, juice, and desserts are available for more lighter options. But if you want something more fulfilling, there are food options available as well as beer and wine options to go with that. I was happy that I was able to order tea from their 28 tea bags collection (pretty rare for cafes to have good extensive tea selections). This place is definitely a good place to hangout with your girlfriends and my tip is to come during day time if you wanna take some photos inside the cafe and enjoy the view.

Ban Bossy Boutique • 밴보시부티크

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 408-17 3층
Telephone: 02-337-9896
Hours: 12:00 - 22:00 (Weekdays) | 11:00 - 22:00 (Weekend)

Instagram: @banbossy

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