Hongdae Veggie Holic

Veggie Holic

Next to Time Guesthouse there is a newly opened organic and vegan friendly cafe/bakery called, Veggie Holic. It houses an assortment of baked goods and drinks that are made from diary-free products. Although it may not sound delicious to those who are not used to this kind of diet, it is absolutely worth trying, at least once.

The lovely array of baked goods made fresh every morning.

You can either take your things to go or enjoy them upstairs with friends or by yourself in the comfortable and quite cafe area.

Some delicious purchases:

Green Tea Cookies

Almond Rice Muffin

Coconut Almond Flavored Ice Cream, made by coconut milk.

Green Bean Pastry

Although some of the items can be a little bit pricey at times, considering how much better they are for your body and digestive system, they are well worth the price. 

Hongdae Oyori Organic Restaurant

Oyori

It is very difficult for me to find places to eat in Korea, as I am a vegetarian. However, all hope is not lost. Through my travels around Seoul I have stumbled across a few vegetarian friendly restaurants thanks to internet blogs, friends, and during random sightseeing adventures. Yesterday I happened to find an amazing organic restaurant called Oyori in Hongdae. 

What is the meaning of the "O" in Oyori?? What I thought was just a quirky name actually stands for several different things. The most interesting one of all is #3, the interpretation of "oh" when tasting an exquisite dish.

They occasionally have special events and seasonal dishes, all posted outside of the restaurant.

Korean and foreign cooks working together to make delicious and unique food. This is the first place I have seen foreigners working in a restaurant in Seoul. I was pleasantly surprised seeing this, as all of the staff looked very comfortable and friendly working together in the kitchen. There were workers from several different places, all speaking Korean to each other and to the customers. It made me determined to improve my Korean ^^/.

Oyori has a very comfortable and stylish atmosphere.  

Malaysian Fried Rice 

I decided to order this dish, which was the best decision ever. It was spicy, but not spicy enough to make me cry like some other dishes I have tried here in Korea. The dish had a perfect blend of pineapple, vegetables, and rice. Although I shared with one other person, I very well could have finished of this whole thing by myself in 5 minutes, it was that good. :)

Szechuan Seafood Noodle

Although this is not vegetarian friendly, it is a very delicious dish for seafood lovers. Despite its name, it is not very spicy, and includes very tasty ingredients. Although I didn't eat any of the seafood, the person I was with seemed to enjoy the dish.

http://orgyori.com/

Hongdae Be Sweet On

Be Sweet On

Due to its unique desserts, Be Sweet On is one of the more famous dessert cafes in Hongdae. There are about eight main desserts served in Be Sweet On, a chocolate cake, a strawberry layered dessert, an apple tart, an orange cream dessert, macaroons, tiramisu, a strawberry and macaroon cream dessert, and green tea shaved ice. You can also order from the assorted list of domestic and imported teas and coffees to go along with the dessert of your choice.   

This place is always incredibly busy, so it was difficult to take pictures inside without people noticing. Although it looks as though the manager (in the first picture) was not too happy with me, most of the workers seemed accustomed to customers taking photos of the cafe.

Green Tea Bingsu (Shaved Ice) and Mont-Blanc au chocolat

I cannot even begin to explain how delicious these desserts were. It was like heaven in your mouth, if heaven was chocolate and green tea flavored. Both were very very sweet, so if you do not have a tolerance for sweet things, I don't recommend eating these two desserts. As for me, I love sweets so I ate as much as I possibly could.  Most of the desserts also come with green tea in order to help clean your pallet after or during eating. I highly recommend this cafe to my fellow dessert loving enthusiasts. 

Hongdae J-vistro Hwayouil

J-vistro Hwayouil (화요일)

Next to Time Guesthouse, there is a small little Japanese bistro/pub. Their menu mainly consists of various forms of udon, as well as curry. There is also an assorted sake and anju (side dish for drinking) menu for those who go there later on in the day and want to drink, eat, and just relax with friends and/or colleagues.

The interior of the restaurant is very comfortable and welcoming. As you can see the place is not too big, and can only accommodate maybe 10-12  people inside. However during crowded times, especially around dinner, there is also an outside patio set up with tables for those who prefer to eat and drink outside.

Seafood Yakiudon

The first time I came here was at night with my boss. We drank a bottle of very smooth sake and ate Seafood Yakiudon. I was incredibly spicy but it mixed well with the sake's light flavor.

Shrimp Curry

I came here during lunch time the second time. The shrimp curry was delicious, and tasted very unique compared to other curry places I have tried in Seoul. 

Shrimp Curry Udon

My favorite dish was the Shrimp Curry udon, a perfect blend of two of my favorite foods. It looks similar to Shrimp Curry, but it had a slightly different taste, which in my opinion was much more exquisite.

The chef and waitress relaxing after the lunch hour rush. The service here is great, the staff is friendly, and the food is not only quickly prepared, it is also incredibly delicious. If you have a chance to walk around the Time Guesthouse area, I highly recommend coming here to stop in for a bite. 

Hongdae Cafe Planet and Molly's Pops

My absolute favorite thing to do in Hongdae is walk around looking for interesting cafes and restaurants. One such cafe I found this week was Cafe Planet. As I was walking by, I was immediately drawn to the cozy and unique atmosphere of this cafe and decided I had to give it a try.

The cafe has five different areas to sit, three inside and two outside.  Following the theme of the cafe, the walls were lined with planet and space related paintings. There is also a small section in the cafe were you can buy Cafe Planet themed paraphernalia and other unique items.

Here is one of the cute little outdoor patios for customers to sit and enjoy the nice weather.

The light cover is made out of plastic space shuttle model molds. It is by far one of the most adorable lighting concepts I have ever seen in a cafe.

Carmel Macchiato

Genmai Tea

 

Afterwards, I stopped by a desert store located right next to the Cafe Planet coffee shop called Molly's Pops. The weather has been so hot recently so ice cream sounded like a perfect way to beat the heat.

The shop has a variety of different flavors such as fruit (strawberry, melon, blueberry, etc), chocolate, and coffee. They even have some distinct flavors like beer and wine for those who are adventurous enough to try them. 

We ended up buying mint chocolate and dark chocolate ice pops, both were very delicious. Next time I am in the area I definitely want to try out some of the other flavors.

Hongdae Street Food

 Fruit vendor

Every piece is only 1,000won. It may seem expenisive, but it is very cheap compared to the price of fruit in general in Seoul. Also, when its hot the price isn't as important as the refreshing taste of melon and pineapple.

Food Vendor 

Sesame leaf wrapped around imitation crab meat.  

Ddokbokki (spicy rice cake) and Soondae (sausage made of beef and bean curd and stuffed with pig intestine).

Egg bread and Red bean fish shaped bread. 

Due to its proximity to Hongik University and the various clubs and bars around the area, Hongdae has some of the best street food in Seoul. At some vendors you can either take out or eat right at their counter. The owners are quite friendly and will talk and joke with you while you sit and eat. I have picked out only a few vendor foods of the many more items to choose from. If you want a snack, or if you are a budget, I would really recommend dropping by some of these street vendors. The food is not only delicious, they also usually give you more than enough to be full for awhile. 

Hongdae Weekend Flea Market and Cafe Relax Time

    

Hongdae Flea Market

Almost every weekend there is a Flea Market held in the park close to Hongik University. People sell all different things from their own homemade creations to bargain used items. You can see many interesting items and find some of the most unique treasures here. If you are a creative person yourself, or interested in arts and crafts, this is a great place to talk together and meet people with similar interests. 

The market is usually packed with natives and foreigners alike. It was nice to be surrounded by a group of people from many different countries who shared similar interests with each other. 

Cute little themed stationary for sale.

Handmade wooden carved pieces for sale. 

The park in Hongdae is surrounded by a variety of street vendors, cute cafes, and restaurants. It is a great place to go anytime time of the day. On weekends you can visit the flea market, and anytime during the day or night there are street performers around the area always willing to provide a fantastic performance for their audience.

 Coffee Time

Dal.Komm Coffee Shop is located on the second floor of a building exactly opposite of the park in Hongdae.

This cafe has a very refreshing and comfortable feel to it. It has both tables inside and an outside patio, as well as little capsule-like seats for customers to relax in.

 Unique wall design on the way down from the second floor.

The capsule seats are so comfortable, customers can easily fall asleep while studying there.

My friend and I ordered a cute little cake and Iced Flower Americano, the most delicious iced coffee I have tasted. 

I went to both of this places together with my friend on a lovely Sunday afternoon. If you are in Hongdae during the weekend and you are looking for something simple but fun to do, I really recommend this two places.