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.

Update:

This cafe is now closed down.

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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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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Midnight in Seoul • 미드나잇인서울

Supposedly known as Seoul’s first cereal cafe, I visited Midnight in Seoul (미드나잇인서울) last spring with my cousin when we were exploring Gangnam (강남) area. The cafe’s interior is definitely unique. When you step into the cafe, you’ll be greeted with different kinds of cereal on display against the pink walls surrounding the space. There’s also a sitting area inside a dark purple room decorated with pink and turquoise furnitures and a ‘sh*t happens’ neon on the wall. At this point, you’ll probably start to pull out your phone to take some snaps around this Instagrammable cafe (if you haven’t already).

Originally opened by actor/K-pop singer Yoon Kye-sang, photographer Kim Rin-yong and Hong Sung-hyeon, and stylist Lee Jin-kyu, the cafe has now changed ownership to the singer Jo Kwon from the popular K-pop group 2AM since last year. They also have expanded their cafe to a new section right next door so the space is now bigger than before. (The new area was still under construction when I was there but I believe it’s now has been completed looking from their Instagram updates.)

The main menu here is obviously a different range of cereals. You order based on whatever you feel like eating and build your own cereal bowl. First, you choose your base cereal, add a dairy product, and finish it of with toppings if you wish. They also serve drink menu on the side.

The concept of a cereal cafe is definitely unique. I mean, coming from a person who spend a lot of my time living/traveling alone, I do sometimes crave cereals but having to buy a whole box of cereal just to fulfill my one time craving is a bit much (and yes I know some brands do offer the one serving cup version, but the choices are very limited). So this type of place could come in handy at times when I crave for cereals.

But I have to say, the menu price here is a bit on the expensive side. One bowl of cereal ranges from ₩3,500 to ₩8,000 (without the additional dairy and topping fee), depending on which cereal you chose. But maybe that’s okay, since they are location in Gangnam after all. In any case, come here to get your cereal fix or maybe just to check the place out. Who knows, you might bumped into Jo Kwon or one of his friends ;)

Update:

On October 31, 2018 Midnight in Seoul announced in an Instagram post that they’ll be closing the cafe on November 1, 2018.

Midnight in Seoul • 미드나잇인서울

Address: 서울특별시 강남구 논현동 63-16
Telephone: 02-545-6321
Hours: 10:00 - 22:00

Website: Midnight in Seoul
Instagram: @midnightinseoul_official

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Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 • 카페 연남동 239-20

When you step into Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 (카페 연남동 239-20), you’ll feel as if you’re stepping into a world of comic books where everything around you is defined by black flat line drawings. I accidentally found out about this cafe when I was scrolling through my explore page on Instagram. My curiosity was piqued as I saw the monochrome thumbnail of the cafe’s interior and decided to tap on it. After seeing a couple of pictures of the cafe, I thought it’d be interesting to check the place out. So one day, I went with my friends in search for this cafe in the middle of a residential area. Honestly, when we reached the location, I missed the entrance and if not for my friend who pointed me to the door of the cafe, I probably just continue to walked pass through.

Nestled in the middle of a quiet residential apartments, Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 opened its door last year. The interior design of the cafe was supposedly inspired by Korea’s hit TV series, W, where the real world clashed with the webtoon fantasy world. So I guess this is the webtoon concept of a cafe. Pretty neat.

The cafe itself isn’t that big. I bet nowadays, since the place has gone viral on the internet these past few weeks, it’ll be packed with more people who wanna take a snap at this place for their Instagram feed. It is a pretty Instagrammable place after all. When we were there, it was pretty quiet. There were only 2 other people there with us who were sitting inside, so we opted for the patio area and took our seats. I ended up chatting with the owner for a little bit and she was very nice. She told me they opened last year and asked me how I found out about her cafe. I told her I found a photo on Instagram and she told me that I wasn’t the first. Apparently, lot of the visitors who came also knew from Instagram. She was surprised how Instagram could bring so many people here since she never really did any marketing for the cafe.

I ordered Ice Oat Latte (고귀한 라떼) and a tiramisu for us to share. Their ice oat latte was actually pretty nice if you like milk, oat, grains or the combination of the three. If you are curious to see what the place look like or just want a snap in this place for your instagram feed, definitely check out this cafe ;)

Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 • 카페 연남동 239-20

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 239-20
Telephone: 010-7252-8633
Hours: 11:00 - 21:00 (Close on Mondays)

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Update:

This cafe location seems to have now closed and (I believe) have been rebranded and moved to a new and bigger location (not sure if the owner is the same, cmiiw, but the concept is very well the same). I haven’t been to the new location because every time I passed by the place, it always have a long line of people waiting. The information on the new cafe name and location:

 

Greem Cafe • 그림카페

Address: 서울 마포구 성미산로 161-10 그림카페
Telephone: 010-2612-8103
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday 12:00 - 21:00 | Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays

Instagram: @greem_cafe

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