Until now, I perceived Garosu-gil as a place only to find decent foreign food ranging from Indian to French. I thought only options for Korean food were available on samgyupsal (pork belly) shops or soju bars located on side streets or streets branching from the main street. But I ran into Modern Bab-Sahng (모던밥상), which roughly translates to modern meals. English name for the place is titled “Homemade Korean Dishes”.
Conspicuous with a magenta display sign, the place is located right opposite of Tom N Toms or next to Kuai19 (a Chinese dumpling place).
If you are up-to-date with ‘it’ scene in Seoul, you will know that Garosu-gil over the last few years developed into the have-it-all street. Whether you’re looking for authentic & exotic restaurants, small or large cafes, wine bars, private lounges, the street which connects Apgujeong and Sinsa has it all.
In one of my latest expedition to Garosu-gil, I checked out this restaurant called Spain Club.
[Update: April 5, 2010]Unfortunately, I just confirmed last weekend that Serein is now closed indefinitely. We will miss all those mojito selection as well as that overly joyous yellow cat. We have yet to figure out what that cat exactly is.
Question: How does one test for another’s familiarity of Garosu-gil, Sinsa?
Answer: Serein.
Serein is a cozy bar specializing in mojitos, located off the main street of Garosu-gil, Sinsa. First floor is a bar and second floor a restaurant. Retro-styled light bulbs with clearly visible filament emanating warm light extends all the way down to just above your head from the ceiling, with yellow visual warmth bouncing off from the walls tiled with white bricks in differently-patterned spacing. Hints of artsiness is quite evident, with colorful cushions and chairs, in addition to signs of a yellow cat character that I recognized from other places… (Does anyone know what this character is about??? I think I saw this at Mix Lounge at Garosu-gil as well as in other venues @ Samcheong-dong as well).
More review, photographs of interior and menu after the jump!
What's up, SeoulGrid? Sorry about the delay in posting the club guide this week. My already crazy week unexpectedly got a bit crazier... [My plane crashed on this mysterious island, then we got attacked by this big black column of smoke, and... Ok, so I'm really irresponsible and I spent the past week catching up on "Lost" instead of writing this article -- look, I'm sorry, alright?!]Quick updates this week: The good, Club Heaven has free entry Friday night! The bad, Club Volume is still closed for renovations until further notice. The ugly, I'll be in Tokyo this weekend, so you all will have to party it up without me. Yeah, I know you'll miss me, but don't worry -- the East Sea won't stop me from giving you the lowdown, and there's lots of good stuff going on this weekend.Read on to find out what's up, and prepare yourselves for yet another weekend of the chaotic debauchery that is Seoul's club scene...
Club Naked shutting down has mixed things up a lot. I remember seeing a lot of these guys at Club Naked back in the day, and now I guess they have a bit of freedom to play at other parties as well.
These guys are really talented -- some of the shows they put on at Naked when it first opened were incredible. (I went to Naked much less frequently in the last months before it closed, so I'm not sure if they continued). Two of them would DJ simultaneously, often creating new music on the fly, blurring the boundary between a DJ set and a live performance.
This party is described as "House Mixset for Driving," so I'm not sure exactly what kind of style to expect, but it reminds me of my midnight drives up I-95 between my college and my hometown. So chug a Red Bull, crank the volume, push the pedal for the floor, and check your review mirror periodically for flashing red and blue lights!
Nothing much to write here -- Eden's resident DJs usually play tech-house and minimalism. I can't find a decent quality video of their resident DJs online.
Note that although Club Heaven also lists "Shut Da Mouth" as a guest DJ, I'm not listing because on last week's poster it read:
Club heaaaaven...
Anyway, actually guest DJing tonight are Clubber Langz from the UK and Ross Mackay from Ireland. Here's Clubber Langz playing at Elune in Busan with an MC:
Free entry: From what I gather, you can get in this show for free if you arrive before midnight and say "Clubber Langz" at the desk. So if you've been wanting to check out the club scene but don't feel like paying a W30,000 cover, here's your chance.
A friend of a friend just saw Kavinsky in Tokyo and said that the show was incredible. People are calling him the next generation of French Electro, following in the footsteps of Daft Punk and Justice. After listening to his stuff, I can say his style is definitely one-of-a-kind.
Think synth film scores from the '80s. Think SNES. Think Knight Rider meets Tron. [Speaking of SNES, did anyone here play Mega Man II? This game had one kickass soundtrack. Ok I'm a huge dork.] Anyway, If I wanted to sum up Kavinsky's style in a word, I would have to go with "Neo-Retro," if that makes any sense. So it's like he came from some strange alternate universe where the '80s was awesome.
Check out more of his music on Kavinsky's Myspace. If you like what you hear, then I'll see you Saturday!
This duo goes under the name "Masters at Work" or MAW. The video I posted is a bit more upbeat than a lot of their stuff, but it was the highest quality video I could find. For the most part their style seems to be a kind of funky, soulful minimal house with some Latin influence. Definitely an ineresting sound if it's your style.
What did you guys think of the new layout for this installment? Easier to navigate? Like it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments.Next week we should finally see Club Volume reopen permanently, a thus our weekend megaclubbing options will increase by, well, 33.33%. And with so many options, it can be confusing to decide where to party. But fear not, dear reader! That's what we're here for. So tune in again next week for the lowdown on what's happening in the Seoul club world. Party hard, SeoulGrid!JamesAttn: Promoters: Want to make sure your party gets included in a weekly update? Send an email to parties@seoulgrid.com with the information and flyer. We’ll check it out, and if it meets our standards we’ll include it. Thanks!&h=60&w=100&zc=1" alt=""/>
What's up, SeoulGrid? Sorry about the delay in posting the club guide this week. My already crazy week unexpectedly got a bit crazier... [My plane crashed on this mysterious island, then we got attacked by this big black column of smoke, and... Ok, so I'm really irresponsible and I spent the past week catching up on "Lost" instead of writing this article -- look, I'm sorry, alright?!]Quick updates this week: The good, Club Heaven has free entry Friday night! The bad, Club Volume is still closed for renovations until further notice. The ugly, I'll be in Tokyo this weekend, so you all will have to party it up without me. Yeah, I know you'll miss me, but don't worry -- the East Sea won't stop me from giving you the lowdown, and there's lots of good stuff going on this weekend.Read on to find out what's up, and prepare yourselves for yet another weekend of the chaotic debauchery that is Seoul's club scene...
