Paul Bassett

For those of you who doesn't know, I've been spending time in my hometown these past few months and now I'm back in Seoul again. Spent the first day back just chillin' with @unlikelysquiggle at Paul Bassett (폴 바셋) the whole afternoon after meeting with @soozee324 to wish her a happy birthday. I've passed by Paul Basset hundreds of times before, but never actually tried this place before. The places always seem to be crowded for some reasons when I passed 'em by. Ordered royal milk tea lattes and the earl grey roll and we were pleasantly surprised on how good the food and drinks are. And by good, I mean not too sweet. The cake was really moist and fluffy too.

Anyways, I will be staying in Seoul for a while so things should be interesting in next couple of weeks. You can follow along daily on my instagram or my snapchat (@greysuitcase) to get a peek on what I'm up to here in the city. 

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Sightglass Coffee

Up to this point, I have posted many posts about cafes that I've visited in the past. And if you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm no food or coffee experts by any means. Most of writings involved the description of the place and whether or not I enjoyed their food or drinks. Some common things about the places I've shared are: first, they are usually nicely designed or cozy spaces and/or, second, they have great selections of tea, non-coffee drinks, or hot chocolate. So with that said, to make it a little bit interesting, from now on I think I'll try to share a little story about interesting things I saw or experienced during my visit or maybe just something random about me to mix it up a little ;)

I've never been a big on breakfast kinda person. I don't really get hungry when I wake up, not 'til a couple of hours later anyway, so breakfast is not something that is mandatory for me. But when I'm in the mood for breakfast, there are certain things that I enjoyed the most during these morning meals. A cup of rich but not-too-sweet hot chocolate with a perfectly baked pain au chocolat on a warm spring morning is one of them. And Sightglass Coffee actually serves that combo. I had a really pleasant morning hanging out with my mom at this place, eating pastries, people watching, and enjoying the warm sunlight that came through the window next to where we're sitting. If their famous coffee selections doesn't really convince you to check this place out, maybe their beautiful floor tiles will ;) 

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Chocolate Snowflake Bingsu

Patmiok's (팥미옥) version of chocolate snowflake bingsu (초코 눈꽃빙수) is my favorite chocolate bingsu that I've tasted so far. The thing about it is that it's not overly too sweet and those really crunchy chocolate toppings are just delicious. They also offer two different serving sizes for your order that you can choose from—1 person or 2 persons (1인/2인) serving. This location that I visited is the one located in Sinchon (신촌) area, but they have multiple locations all over Seoul so you can find them in different neighborhoods as well. I would definitely recommend this bingsu, especially if you are a fan of chocolate.

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Saint Frank Coffee

Walking into Saint Frank Coffee kinda feels like walking into an office space, or a library, cos everybody there seemed to be working on their laptops or tablets or papers. And the place was pretty quite. I really love this place tho. The cafe is more spacious than how it looks like from the outside and there is plenty of natural lighting coming in from the ceiling above. Came here with the fam to get some breakfast and my dad seemed to like their coffee (can't remember what he ordered tho :P). Anyways, I can totally see myself coming here to get some work done. Just hope that I can get an empty table next time.

Wishing everybody a great week ahead! :)

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Blue Bottle Coffee Co. Oakland

Blue Bottle Coffee is one of the most well know coffee in San Francisco. Having Oakland as the location for their headquarter and for being known for their excellent coffee, it's not surprising that they are pretty popular in this hipster town. I've seen their products here and there, spread across different locations in the Bay Area, but never actually go to their coffee shop.

And so, my mom and I decided to check the place out during one of our outings. We went to the Webster Street location in Oakland. They decided to use a restored brick warehouse and converted it to a cafe with an on-site roastery. The place was pretty busy when I was there. Half of the people coming in were grabbing their take-out coffees and pastries, and the other half stayed in the cafe to do meetings, work, or reading. Per usual, I tried their hot chocolate and decided to try their waffle as well. The hot chocolate runs a little bit on the bitter side, which I don't mind, and the waffle was delicious. The space has plenty of lights, high ceilings, marble tables, and tiled floors. Perfect space for a working, chllin' or if you want to get that perfect hipster shot of your coffee ;)

p.s: currently editing my cafe hopping pics when I was in San Francisco. More coffee shop posts coming up soon.

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