Cacao Boom • 카카오봄

I visited Cacao Boom (카카오봄) with Soo Zee last spring after one of our usual catch up dinner. This place is apparently one of her favorite gelato place in Hongdae (홍대) and since I don't drink coffee and never been here before, she thought this would be a prefect place for us to get dessert. The weather outside was a little bit chilly for me so I ordered their hot chocolate. It was delicious. Not too sweet, perfect temperature and it even came with side of a leaf-shaped chocolate bites. Soo Zee on the other hand, despite of the chilly weather outside, already had her heart set on ordering their chocolate gelato even before we reached this place. And so she did and according to her review, it tasted really good. Don't believe me? Watch the clip here or go try their gelato and see for yourself ;)

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By the way, if you haven't already known, my friends Soo Zee and Leigh, who make videos on Youtube for their channel DoStuff, actually also have a food account called TasteStuff on Instagram that is filled with awesome food spots. They've taken me to so many different places that have tasty and excellent food and some of those places have become my favorite spots too. If you're looking for some legit places to eat in Seoul (and sometimes outside Seoul), go give this account a follow!

p.s: They also just recently post their thoughts on Cacao Boom's chocolate gelato. 

 

Cacao Boom (카카오봄)

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로27길 6
Telephone: 02-3141-4663
Hours: 11:00 - 22:00

Instagram: @cacaoboom

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Zapangi • 자판기

I think every single one of you who has been searching for popular Seoul cafes on the internet recently, especially on Instagram, has probably came across this pink vending machine image that has been popping up a lot lately. This place has been featured on several Seoul and Korean tourism related accounts and that only help boosts its popularity amongst tourists as well as the locals. I gotta hand it to them tho, having a pink vending machine as an entrance to the cafe is pretty ingenious. Not only it's pretty unique (there might be other places which has done this, but for me, this is the first time I've ever seen a vending machine as a door) but it is also a great incentive for people to come to this place just to check out this pink vending machine and take a picture with it. Good job Zapangi (자판기).

I actually came to Zapangi (자판기) on two different occasions. First, during a weekend and the place filled up pretty fast soon after I arrived. I was pretty overwhelmed by the amount of people who were in the space so I decided to try my luck on a weekday, hoping that there would be less people around so it's easier for me to take pictures of the space. So on my second try, I did go on a weekday afternoon and boy, was I wrong about my prediction that this place will be less busy on a weekday. Nope. It was as crowded as my first visit. The place was packed. Anyways, I tried their Jasmine Milk Tea and it was alright. It's not bad but it's also not something that I would come here specifically for either. They have other fancier drink and dessert menu options that are definitely more instagrammable, but I opted out from ordering those cos they all look very very sweet (I might be wrong tho. Anybody who has ordered them, let me know).

The pink vending machine itself is pretty cool I guess. If you come here specially to take picture with the vending machine, I have to warn you that there could be a bit of a waiting line going on since I guess everybody who comes here wants a picture on that spot (watch my video to see what I'm talking about). On both occasions I was there, there was quite a queue going on. Everybody is pretty civil, but you just have to be patient since almost everyone came in groups and try to do creative poses and plandids. So if you get there, and there's no line, I suggest you grab that opportunity to take your picture right there and then. And oh, another interesting observation, some people who came to the cafe and couldn't find an empty seats or people who was just passing by the cafe, they ended up just taking pictures with the vending machine and left. So I guess there's that option too.

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Watch the video:

 

Zapangi • 자판기

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 월드컵로13길 79
Telephone: 02-325-8185
Hours: 10:00 - 23:00

Instagram: @zapangi_official

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Tokyo Bingsu • 도쿄빙수

Bingsu is probably my favorite Korean dessert, especially during summer. A bowl of this fine ice shavings on a hot day could make the hot and humid summer days in Seoul more bearable. Tokyo Bingsu (도쿄빙수) is one of the new bingsu places I tried when I was wondering around Mangwon-dong with my friend, Jesselyn. Although they are well-known for their Tomato Bingsu (토마토 빙수), we opted for their Oreo Bingsu (오레오 빙수) since we weren't sure if we would like the Tomato ones and kinda felt like eating something sweet. The bingsu was great. The snow-like ice shavings were covered in condensed milk and top it off with the oreo crumbs, it made a perfect combo. And it's not too sweet either. I found out later that they have multiple locations in Seoul. Not a lot like those chain stores, but you got different options. Next time I visit, maybe I'll be brave and try their Tomato Bingsu.

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Tokyo Bingsu (도쿄빙수)

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 포은로8길 9
Tel: 02-6409-5692
Hours: 12:00 - 22:00

Instagram: @tokyobingsu

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Off The Ground • 오프더그라운드

This past spring, there has been a good number of new cafes that I came across during my neighborhood exploration walks. Off The Ground (오프더그라운드) was one of them. I was heading towards another place with my cousin but then decided to check this place out cos it's on the way. We stepped into a rather white minimalistic space and I headed to the counter to order our drinks. Chatted up the guy who took my order and turned out, he's the owner of the place and they just opened a week before. So this place is like new, new. The place is not that big, but I feel like this could be a good place to get some work done (on the communal table) or to meet up with a friend if you are looking for a smaller spot to hang out at. And... they also serve non-coffee & tea options which is always a plus point for me. 

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Watch the video:

OFF THE GROUND

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로 39-12
Tel. No: 010.9129.4104
Operation hour: 11:00 - 22:00 (Closed on Mondays)
Subway: Sangsu Station (Line 6) Exit 1

Instagram: @__cafe_offtheground__

 

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BookPark • 북파크

I still remember the first time I stumbled upon a picture of a book cafe online. It was a couple of years ago and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Back then, book cafe hasn't became a thing. My association of rows of books wasn't usually paired with a cup of hot chocolate or ice green tea on the side to sip on. The consumption of food and drinks is usually prohibited in libraries and bookstores. And reading books in libraries or bookstores usually involved some level of discomfort caused by standing too long in one of the corners of the bookstore or sitting down for a prolonged period of time on one of those uncomfortable library chairs.

I don't know when the book cafe trend started, but it's definitely a thing in Seoul. I stumbled upon quite a number of book cafes in the city and BookPark (북파크) is one of the recent book cafe that I visited. Located on the 2nd and 3rd floor of Blue Square (블루스퀘어), the place is pretty huge for a bookstore. Other than great selections of books, you can also find Hollys Coffee inside the store, plenty of chairs and tables if you decide you wanna read a book or do some studying, and there's even a balcony area for you to chill at if you want to enjoy the nice weather outside. If you are not into books, there's a section on the third floors that sells accessories, toys, stationeries and other knick knacks that you can browse. And they also have another cafe on this floor (which name I didn't pay attention to) and a sitting area with tables bigger than the one in Hollys Coffee area.

If you're looking for books, definitely check this place out. If not, this is also a great place to meet up with people or to get some work/studying done. Or if you are not into all that, you can always come for their instagrammable tall bookshelf and stairs ;)

p.s: thank you @seoul_stateofmind for bringing me and @_marshellia to this place!

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And oh, started to upload video to my Youtube channel. Subscribe of you wanna see more! :) Here's the first video.

 

BookPark • 북파크

Address: 서울특별시 용산구 이태원로 294
Tel. No: 02-6367-2018
Hours: 10:00 - 23:00
Subway: Hangangjin Station (Line 6) Exit 2

Instagram: @bookpark_

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