Restaurant: Craftworks

Here it is, another restaurant review!

I was actually going to write one on a Spanish restaurant named Bodega located in Jamsil, but it's closed down! My boyfriend and I did some research on Bodega since it was suggested by a friend and nowhere on the internet did it mention that it was closed. So, I am here to break the news. It's actually been closed since sometime around September of this year, due to reasons I do not know. We just had to find out the hard way by showing up to the place hungry to find it dark and closed up.

On a lighter note, we did find another great restaurant to brag about. This taphouse and bistro has a good selection of typical pub food as well as a few South African dishes mixed in. The beer selection is pretty good, considering the fact that it is all brewed in Korea.

Since we went on a weekend, waiting time did take a while (thirty minutes!). Although they don't have much of a waiting area, they do have a wide selection of t-shirts available with the names of the beer printed. They also have a couple of English magazines you can read while you're waiting.

The food itself was pretty delicious. We ordered some chili cheese fries, a steak burger, chorizo sandwich, teriyaki burger, and sirloin steak. All delicious. It was pretty interesting to see all orders taken by an iPod although it seemed a little inefficient since our waitress took a long time pressing all the buttons possible.

I will state that their pies were pretty disappointing. They have it on display in the waiting area and it seems like the most delicious thing ever. However, the peach pie was too thick and stuck to my teeth, while the pumpkin pie was the complete opposite. Both were served cold and not satisfying to the palate.

Do check out this restaurant to catch up with friends. It has a very chill atmosphere and they even have a few vegetarian options, including veggie moussakas and salads. They also have specials throughout the week such as wing nights, quiz nights, and all-you-can-eat pasta nights.

Craftworks is located near Noksapyeong station, exit #2. It's located on the other side of the street, but a little ways down, about a ten minute walk.

A CDI Halloween

Let's face it, Halloween in Korea is nothing like Halloween back at home in America. Kids don't dress up, there are no trick-or-treaters, nor are there carved pumpkins in front of homes.

In order to bring some of the Western culture to our students, some teachers decided to dress up. I guess it's almost become a tradition and a huge competition at my school, because there was even a prize for having the best costume: an extra hour of pay.

I dressed up two days in a row, one as a basketball player. Halloween is a perfect excuse to wear basketball shorts and a jersey to work. On another day, I dressed up as Waldo and none of my students recognized me. They guessed I was Santa.

The students also got to draw posters for Halloween. The prize was a big bag of candy and I've never seen my students work so diligently on a project.

The contest was held for the whole school and only three winners were chosen, my students being one of them. These girls were so creative and even came up with a 3D poster.

One downside to Halloween this year for the students was that it was held during the week of level up tests. As excited as they were to see their teachers dress up and receive candy, I'm sure the thought of having to take a big test disappointed them a bit.

As far as the Halloween culture for the rest of Korea, it's more popular amongst the younger crowd. Although the Korean youth don't go all out with their costumes, party promoters use the name to advertise for clubs.

If you do swing by Korea around this time of the year, check out Itaewon. This is where you'll see most of the foreigners hang out with their costumes on.

If you are trying to shop for costumes, check out Dongdaemun station exit #4. There are a few stores down a dark alleyway that sells a variety of costumes and party accessories.

Did you dress up this Halloween?

 

Restaurant: Castle Praha

This is yet another restaurant edition to my blog. I know I'm in Korea and should be trying all the different kinds of "exotic" foods Korea has to offer, but sometimes I just need my time away from all the Kimchi and barbeque. 

Castle Praha has one of the most unique architectural designs when it comes to restaurants in Korea. From the outside of the Hongdae location, you wouldn't even think they served food in there. It looks like a castle from the medieval times where one would expect to see a museum or a haunted house inside. The name Praha is actually how Koreans pronounce the city of Prague. Hence, the style of architecture.

Actually, the interior is kind of like a museum/haunted house. It has 5 stories with dim lighting and the interior is a mixture of cement walls and dark, old wooden floors. Even the ceiling is decorated with what seems like insignias.

The restaurant brews their own Czech style beer and pride themselves on it. They have four different kinds and out of the two that I tried, they tasted great. I wish I could tell you an exact description of their beer, but unfortunately I am no connoisseur. I just got over the fact that not all beer taste the same. Sad, I know, but I do know food! Their ever so large menu consists of salads, sausages, pizzas, and "house specials" (Czech dishes).

My friends and I ended up ordering the chicken salad, calamari, and margherita pizza.  It doesn't sound so Czech, but nevertheless the food was not disappointing.

 

I did mention earlier that the restaurant also reminded me of a haunted house. Ladies beware. The ladies bathroom was actually on the bottom floor from where we were seated and right at the entrance is a life size clown doll staring creepily at you. I wish I took a picture of it. Unfortunately, a camera is not something I think of to take to the bathroom and I was not going to go back down by myself again later to do it. 

Castle Praha has a couple of other locations including Itaewon and Garosugil in Sinsa. I'm pretty sure the exterior of the restaurant does not look like the one in Hongdae, but the menu is still the same. 

St. Patrick's day in Seoul

I'm sure there's a deeper meaning behind this day we call St. Patrick's day, but from my experiences back at home in America, it's a day when people wear green to avoid getting pinched, drink a lot of alcohol, and even dye the rivers green. I thought this was one celebration that I would miss out on in Korea, but boy was I wrong.

Seoul annually hosts events to celebrate this ol' St. Patrick. Right outside of Sindorim station,  a crowd of foreigners were gathered in an amphitheater enjoying their booze and listening to live Irish music. The bands weren't only Irish. The first band performing was actually Korean!

the Korean Irish band

They don't dye the rivers here, but the sea of green shirts worn by hundreds of foreigners came close.

Irish Festival outside of Sindorim stn

The concert ended around 6pm, but that didn't mean the party was over. Many made their way to destined party areas in Seoul like Hongdae and Itaewon.

At Rocky Mountain Tavern with friends

I met up with a couple of my college friends and explored around Itaewon. We even bought bright green t-shirts that say "St. Patrick's day" in three different languages for only 5000won! 

If you are Irish or are into celebrating this day, you won't be missing out while you're in Korea. Even if Koreans don't celebrate certain holidays, you'll be sure to find a group of foreigners who do.