Restaurants, Bars, Clubs and Nightlife in Seoul, Korea

My quest for “The Best Brewery in Seoul” has recently led me to the second review in this series: Platinum Brewery in Apgujeong. A purely Korean-owned Brewery, I was very excited to see how things were done locally without significant outside influence.

As I approached the entrance, I was amused by Platinum’s sign which clearly indicated that they were a brewery by writing their name on a large fermentation tank and placing it above the stairs leading down to the brewery. Making my way down the stairs, I entered the brewpub.

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Now and then I come across some very unique and interesting venues in Korea. Sometimes they are specialty fusion restaurants, other times they are live jazz bars. Recently, I stumbled upon a gem called Pierrot Strike in Apgujeong.

As I first walked up to the giant wooden doors of the entrance to Pierrot Strike, I could tell that this bowling ally was going to be a bit different from your stereotypical ally of old men drinking beer. As I entered, I immediately noticed the massive bar straight in front of me along with the bowling lanes to my left. The venue is constructed mostly of well crafted woodwork and brick which gives it a “winter resort” feeling.

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Seoul is one of the largest cities by land mass in the world.  Because it’s so large, there are so many regions to visit for different kinds of people, looking for their ways of fun at night.  In coming series of SeoulGrid, we will cover various regions of Seoul and what each place has to offer.

Each area will be reviewed for 1.) Relative Location in Seoul, 2.) Types of venues 3.) Prices 4.) Accessibility via subway 5.) Demographic of the area, and 6.) Restaurants, Bars, Clubs or Lounges around the area.

SeoulGrid will divide Seoul up into 7 parts, as far as night life is concerned.

1. Itaewon (이태원)
2. Apgujeong-dong (압구정 동)
3. Cheongdam-dong (청담 동)
4. Hongdae (Hongik University, 홍대)
5. Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong (신사동 가로수길)
6. Gangnam station (강남역)
7. Samcheong-dong (삼청동)

So next time you are looking for a nice hot spot or a new ‘it place’ in Seoul to hang out with your friends for drinking, clubbing, partying or chilling out in Seoul, you will know where to look!

Articles describing each coming soon, so stay tuned!

When I heard Copacabana opened behind ex-Club Circle building at Cheongdam-dong, I was expecting this:

So I went to check it out.  Well, I was off by a bit.

As soon as I stepped into the venue, I found myself in a nearly all-white decor with light green lighting, which conjured up an interesting mixture of energizing and relaxing  ambiance.  Then I noticed the furniture, especially the chairs.  Looking half alien-ish and half jellyfish-ish, the chairs and other decorations on the wall, and lighting made me feel like I was a fish that came to chill out at some underwater hideout… I promise you I wasn’t under the influence of anything when I thought this!

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One of the latest additions of the club scene in Seoul, Ark Lounge is located one block from Lound lounge or S-Bar in Cheongdam area, right across from Apgujeong Rodeo. It is across from KooBar, if you are more familiar with the location of that venue.

Ark is a smaller private lounge club, which I guess is mainly used for private events. I have not seen them promote their venue in public, which I see as a mechanism to encourage only those familiar with the scene or the neighborhood of Cheongdam to know about the venue (and hopefully come regularly! That’s the most important part for any venue-owner).

I wrote in my previous article that smaller private clubs are emerging at a rapid rate. Maybe this will turn out to be a short-lived trend in a few months or years to come, but Ark lounge is a great example of what a private club should be; suitable for throwing a closed party, for guest numbers in between 50 to a 150. I can see the venue easily accommodating up to 200 guests, but anything more would jam the place.

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