I liken Hongdae 홍대 to a playground for anyone below 40! Not that I'm being age-discriminate but it's a student town so everyone you bump is probably below 20 anyway. Alleys and alleys of shops, restaurants and bars gather at the base of the hill, atop which sits Hongik University.
We stayed at PigFly - an studio apartment-style guesthouse just at Hongik University Station (Exit 8). It's super cosy and makes you feel like home! Plus the little puppy Pol Pol and I became immediate friends :)
The energy and vibrancy of this area starts around 12 noon onwards and continues to the wee hours of the morning. I remember the first night we arrived around midnight in Seoul, and I asked the guesthouse owner if there was any restaurant still opened cos we were starving, and he said "Yes! It's peak hour now! Restaurants close at 4am!" So we immediately went for Korean Fried Chicken and Beer...yes at 1am. How's that for immersion!
You can spend days exploring Hongdae area alone, and that's just what I did. I mean, this trip wasn't so much to see the sights, we've already been to the touristy Seoul areas before. I really wanted to experience local life within the week, so I put myself in the mindset that I am exploring my neighbourhood! Here are some I visited on my last trip:
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The Bridge Cafe
2nd Floor, Mapo-gu 347-17 Seogyo
Not my first choice for food, and it's quite pricey too - we landed up having honey toasties. But it's worth a visit as it has different seating spaces for their patrons - you can choose to sit outside by the balcony, or on the floor in a private cranny behind the books. As it's on the 2nd floor, it's an ideal place to watch the crowd walk by (en route to Style Nanda hehe).
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Hello Kitty Cafe
358-112, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
This visited-to-death cafe is hidden behind The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf along the main Hongdae pedestrian street. Having been to the one in Taipei, this one is a lot DIRTIER and not as cute, I have to say. If you're expecting service, sorry everything's self-service. The only saving grace was that there was no minimum spending required.
163-19, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Randomly googling for the best waffles and ice cream in Hongdae and found this gem! Indeed, was good. Looking at the pictures now, I'm starting to miss it! This 2nd floor cafe was also full of canoodling couples on a date ^^
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Belief Coffee
Can't find the address but it's along the way to Style Nanda as well.
Truth be told, I stumbled in half drunk (we had couple flasks of makgeolli already) and thirsty. But I had walked past this super styling cafe before and when is a good time anyway to try something new? It was a cooling night, so blankets were provided. And can you believe, half drunk and standing in the same spot, I was able to take so many photos? When it comes to the coffee, the aroma half sobered me up. They do drip coffee as well as teas, along the espresso coffees, and they also do coffee classes as well if you're interested (though language barrier might be an issue).
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Caffe Inbus
From Hongik University Exit 9, walk straight to the junction and turn left. Walk straight, the cafe will be on your right opposite the road.
Searching for breakfast early in Hongdae, and not many places were open that early. I remembered while walking past they advertised homemade bread. It has a very cool hippie save-the-world vibe but the food took damn long to arrive. Luckily we had no plans as we were heading back that day. When the food finally arrived - it looked really good but lacked a little flavour. Plus I'm not that huge a fan of mayonnaise.
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Whale's Cafe
It's on a small winding street behind Hello Kitty Cafe.
Alternative crowd winding down with some good tunes and iced tea. This whale-themed cafe is just for drinks, and to be seen.
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Truth be told, there are so many cafes in Hongdae you can't possibly visit all. I often wonder as well, how they make money and do they even turn a profit? But I guess with the number of visitors and students in that area, there are bound to be some customers everyday.
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