Caffe Inbus (bus cafe), Gangnam

For a couple of years now, Uncle Yenny has been plagued with a horrible intolerance to yeast. Ingesting any kind of yeast-containing food leads to symptoms akin to a yeast infection, which, my friends, is a very unsavoury thing to experience. Luckily though, there is one time a month when I'm able to eat bread.... Yup, you guessed it. When it's that time of the month. How is this possible, you ask? Well, the blood alters the pH level in that area, the yeast can't survive, and thus I am free to guzzle down bakery goodness without suffering from yeasty repercussions. (TMI? Nah... We're buddies now. No such thing! :P)

Luckily this month, my cycle happened to coincide with a trip to a funky little place called Caffe Inbus, which was just as well because the cafe is famous for its handmade bread and not even Jeebers himself could have stopped me from scoffing it down.

Caffe Inbus, as the name suggests, also has another awesome thing going for it -- there is a bus in the cafe. This hollowed out vehicle with a giant motif of Jimi Hendrix across the front is where the food and drinks are whipped up, and the rest of the cafe is fittingly decorated with bitumen floors, oil drums, road markings, rainbows, and peace signs everywhere. It's like hippie meets hipster in the middle of a parking lot. And it is fabulous.

I ordered a croque monsieur and an Americano because cheesy carbohydrate goodness + piping hot dose of caffeine = WINNING.

Croque monsieur, 5,700 won.

It was made using straight up white bread without any of that extra sugar Korean bakeries often tend to throw in. The fluffy softness of it went amazingly with the gooey, melted cheese.

Americano, 4,000 won. Comes in large size only. MOAR CAFFEINE.

Loving the peace signs all over the coffee cup.

The cafe is split into two parts, one being the main area and another being a smaller, sectioned off "business area" where you can head if you're there to do work. There aren't any speakers in the business area so you won't be disturbed as much by any background music the cafe plays.

Apart from coffee and bread, the cafe has all your tea, latte, and (some) alcomoholic needs covered:

Although I personally found it a tad bit pricey (I'm extraordinarily cheap though, hah) I adored the decor of the place and definitely wouldn't mind visiting again. It's a great place to go if you're in Gangnam and looking for a light snack, or when you just need some time to sit in aesthetically pleasing surroundings and regain your inner peace. If you're on the north side, you can also check out their other locations at Omokgyo's Hyundai 41 Tower and Dongdaemun's Doota Tower. (See their website for details. ^^)



Caffe Inbus, Gangnam
Hours: 6:30am - 11:30pm weekdays, 9am - 11:30pm weekends
Address: 서울시 서초구 서초동 1316-5 (1316-5 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://caffeinbus.com
Directions: From Gangnam Station exit 9, go straight for four blocks and you'll see Caffe Inbus on your right.

Molly's Pops, Hongdae

Ice cream is one of those foods that is extremely hard to say no to. Ice cream in kooky flavours is even more so. Ice cream in kooky flavours that's handmade in a quaint little shop with cute decorations is... GARGHHH.... Get a mop quick before someone slips in my puddle of drool! @__@

Molly's Pops in Hongdae is an uber cute little place that sells handmade ice cream and is run by a lovely, smiley lady whose daughter's English name is Molly. The owner started off making ice cream pops for her daughter in lots of different flavours and eventually decided to open up a store and share her awesome creations with the masses.

At any one time, there are usually about 12-14 flavours on offer including funky ones like Erdinger beer, wine & strawberry, and wasabi, along with unique Korean flavours like injeolmi (powdered soybean) and Kahlua makgeolli (Korean rice wine). At 3,500 won a pop (see what I did there? Hah!) they're a bit more expensive than a scoop at places like Baskin Robbins, but when you consider the fact that they're handmade and there are funky flavours you wouldn't find in regular chain stores, it seems entirely justified. Plus the owner is super nice. I don't know about you, but when I go to a place with friendly staff, I usually feel inclined to spend more money. This meme comes to mind:

XD

Anyway.. As the owner is constantly coming up with new flavours, sometimes things are rotated or eventually phased out, so what you see during one visit may not be there next time.

As an example, in winter last year I saw marscapone cheese:

And I have not seen it again since. :(

In summer, I saw milk tea:

But I haven't seen that again since, either. .___.;;

I'm not sure if those flavours have been discontinued, or if I just have bad timing with the rotations, but I've certainly learned my lesson: If you see any flavours you like, get them right away (even if it means eating several ice creams at once) because the opportunity to taste that flavour may never arise again.

Life is too short to miss out on kooky ice cream!! T_____T

Some of the pops I've tried so far:

Kahlua makgeolli. (Excuse the blurriness T__T)

This stuff is YUM. Couldn't taste much Kahlua but the makgeolli was definitely there. Makgeolli is a fermented rice wine which some people find kind of stinky. With this ice cream, you can taste the makgeolli but there isn't any of the fermented smell that usually comes when you crack open a bottle.

Wasabi. (Excuse the blurriness T__T)

I've heard that people either love this or hate it. Unfortunately, I think I'm in the latter group. For me personally, sweet and creamy + spicy and radish-y was not a good mix. Everybody's tastebuds are different though, so you should definitely try it for yourself. ^__^

Wine & strawberry, mint chocolate.

Wine and strawberry was pleasant -- sweet and fruity thanks to the strawberry, though I couldn't really taste much wine. Mint chocolate was great. This is my favourite ice cream flavour at Baskin Robbins, and Molly's Pops does it really well.

Injeolmi (powdered soybean).

My favourite at Molly's Pops so far. There are actual pieces of rice cake in it, which are soft and chewy, and the flavour of the ice cream is exactly like real injeolmi. 

This is what satisfaction looks like. XD

The store is quite small, so there aren't many seats (only a couple of small tables inside and in the warmer weather a couple more outside). However, they do offer take away if you order four or more pops, and they package it up nicely for you with dry ice. Since winter's drawing to a close and warmer weather is on the way, me thinks I shall be staking this place out a lot more. >:D



Molly's Pops, Hongdae
Hours: 12pm - 10pm, closed on Mondays
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 332-21 (332-21 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Website:  http://mollyspops.com/
Directions: From Hongdae station exit 8, turn right and head up the street until you reach the roundabout. Turn left and walk for a block until you reach another roundabout. Take the first right and then turn right again. Continue down this street a few metres and Molly's will be on your left.

Gami Udon, Hongdae

Several years ago, my co-workers and I used to live in Hongdae in a pleasant little alley called Fuck Street. Okay, so of course that wasn't its official name but someone (a modern day Picasso, no doubt) had spray-painted the word FUCK in huge block letters across a wall near the entrance of the alley, and thus it was branded in our hearts as Fuck Street forevermore.

The good thing about Fuck Street was that although being somewhat hidden away from the public eye, it was still relatively close to all the happening places in Hongdae, including lots of great restaurants. One such restaurant, literally just a single street away, was Gami Udon. When it first opened up, we could not for the life of us figure out why it was so popular. Regardless of the time of day, there was always a swarm of people milling around outside waiting for a seat. Finally, curiosity got the better of us one day and we decided to try it. And BOOM. The answer was clear within seconds of the food reaching our table.

Gami Udon, as you've probably guessed from the name, specialises in one thing -- udon noodles. But these are no ordinary, run-of-the-mill udon noodles. We're talking handmade, nay, handcrafted udon. (Because making noodles that taste that delicious should seriously be considered an art form.) The udon is freshly made in-store and the texture is amazing. It beats the pants off of regular udon served at other restaurants and is quite possibly the best I've ever had in Seoul. If you're at the restaurant at the right time, you can catch the noodles being rolled out near the window by the lovely staff in their cute Japanese-style uniforms.

The first time I went with my co-workers, we struggled a fair bit with the menu as there wasn't anything in English and it was one of those cases where you point randomly at something and cross your fingers that it won't turn out to be indigestible. But now that my Korean has improved (slightly -__-), I can finally understand the menu better (slightly -__-).

The top part of the menu lists the types of udon dishes they have and is split into two: hot on the left and cold on the right. Below them are the sets where you can get your noodles with a side of tempura or fried chicken.

Hot udon (from left to right):
Kake -- basic soup udon, 5,000 won
Wakame -- udon with soup and seaweed, 6, 000 won
Tsukimi - udon with soup and a raw egg, 6,000 won
Kamatama - no soup, but a special sauce made of egg and soy, 7,000 won

Cold udon (left to right, all 6,000 won)
Bukkake -- udon with dashi sauce
Zaru -- udon with dried, shredded seaweed on top
Cold -- The menu literally just says "naeng" which means "cold" in Korean, so I'm guessing maybe it's a fusion of udon with Korean style naengmyeon broth?
Shoyu -- soy sauce


On a recent visit there, my friend and I decided to be ultimate dwaejis and got 2 sets: tsukimi udon with tempura (9,000 won), and bukkake udon with fried chicken (8,500 won).

While the tsukimi was nice, and I imagine it must be perfect on freezing cold winter nights when you need something to warm up your insides, for me the real star of the show was the bukkake:

The noodles were deliciously chewy, and the broth was savoury with just enough of a sweet tinge to balance it out. That and it had a name akin to something out of a porn film, so it was just plain fun to say out loud. XD

It's odd, since it's all the same udon, but I suppose the heat of the tsukimi soup caused the noodles to become softer, while the coolness of the bukkake broth kept the udon firmer, and a firmer texture with noodles is something that I personally prefer.

Apart from the noodles having a most satisfying texture, they were also crazy long and it was extremely enjoyable attempting to slurp them all up in one mouthful.

Yes, that's one single strand of udon.. and doubled over the chopsticks too, so you can just imagine how long the whole thing is. o__O

Food from the sets that also deserve some love:

Deliciously crispy batter on pumpkin, sweet potato, and prawn tempura

Crispy on the outside, tender, succulent chicken seasoned with salt and pepper on the inside

Apart from the food being incredibly scrumptious, another reason for the constant queues is probably due to the restaurant being quite small, with less than 10 tables.

This keeps the lines going during peak hours, but if you have the patience to wait it out, I'm sure you'll find that the food is worth it!



Gami Udon
Hours: 12pm - 9pm (break between 3pm-5pm), closed Mondays
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 346-31 (346-31 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Hongdae Station, exit 9, take the first left and follow the road all the way around the bend until you reach the part where it splits into 3. Take the road on your left, a bit like making a semi U-turn. Follow this down a few metres and Gami Udon will be on your left.

Cafe Nazzzam (hammock cafe/nap cafe), Gyedong

It's no secret that Uncle Yenny is an uber lazy person. Being lazy means that I do zero exercise, and zero exercise means that I'm super unfit and have a terrible tendency to get tired very easily. So, what to do if you're out and about and feeling tired enough to zonk off in public?

Well, you could go to a regular cafe and take a nap while slumped over the table in a most uncomfortable manner.

OR...

You could head on over to the awesome Cafe Nazzzam, where you can take a nap while laying down in a cosy, comfortable hammock, swaying your worries away. :D

So... Cafe Nazzzam is not really a "cafe" in the conventional sense of the word. There are no chairs or tables to sit at, no food being sold, and drinks are served to you in a take away cup only when you're ready to leave. Still, the concept is unique and pretty darn awesome. It's a large room with twelve or so hammocks strung up about the place and you can lie down in one to read, take a nap, or just relax. The owner wanted to create a place where people could come and rest their weary souls, and I daresay restfulness is easily achieved when you're swaying gently in a hammock with classical music flowing softly in the background.

(Side note for any K-pop fans, it's also the place where an episode of Super Junior M's "Guest House" was filmed. So by coming in and touching stuff, you could potentionally be coming into contact with Eunhyuk or Donghae's germie germs. Woot.)

As for the price..? A very reasonable 5,000 won buys you an hour of hammock time, which includes a drink at the end. An extra 30 minutes will cost you 3,000 won more, but of course you can stay as long as you like and and the total will be calculated when you leave. (I stayed for 2 hours and paid 10,000 won.)

To use the cafe, first change your shoes and pop on a pair of soft, fuzzy slippers...

Then climb into your comfy hammock. These can be sectioned off with nifty little curtains, so you don't have to worry about people ogling you while you sleep. :P

This was my home for the next two hours. It was blisteringly cold and windy that day, so the soft blanket and hot water bottle were really comforting!

Other things you can utilise around the place are eye masks while you sleep, and books to read:

Lots of little pot plants and humidifiers make the room comfortable and homely:

Yay for free oxygen and moisture! XD

After two hours, I finally rolled my lazy butt out of the hammock and proceeded to get my drink.

Cute kitchen area :3

They had a nice range from coffee (including decaffeinated), to herbal tea (like chamomile and mint), to Korean style ginger tea and citrus tea. There was also the choice of hot chocolate and some other more adventurous tea flavours like chilli mango black tea. I was pretty impressed to see that they use UK brands like Horniman's, Whittard's, and Twinings.

I ended up choosing milk tea. The lovely owner made it just right, with a strong enough flavour from the tea leaves and not overly sweet. ^____^

One final thing to keep in mind... Payment is cash only, no cards:

Happy napping, sons!



Cafe Nazzzam
Hours: 11am - 7pm Tues - Fri, 1pm - 7pm weekends, closed on Mondays
Address: 서울시 종로구 계동 115-1 3층 (3rd floor, 115-1 Gye-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)
Website:  http://www.nazzzam.com/
Directions: From Anguk Station exit 3, take the first left and keep going straight for about two minutes until you come to a small 4-way intersection. You'll see Cafe Nazzzam across the street on the left, in the same building as the Mini Stop convenience store.