After spending the morning on Namsan, we came back down to Myeongdong for lunch. We tended to avoid most chain restaurants or anything that veered too far away from traditional Korean fare while there, but I wanted nothing more than to eat at YG Republique, a 3-restaurants-in-one establishment owned by YG Entertainment (my favorite kpop agency!). You may have already read the post where we had drinks at 3Birds Cafe in Yeouido, which is part of YG Republique, but on this day I was interested in the KPub.
The staff here in the Myeongdong location was MUCH MORE CHILL than the barista we encountered in Yeouido, that’s for sure. Plus, we got there just before the lunchtime rush and had the place almost nearly to ourselves the whole time, which meant I could take pictures of all the YG memorabilia without looking like an eager tourist.
I had the omurice (literally just an omelette stuffed with rice and smothered in whatever delicious savory sauce that is up there) and it was reallllly nice.
K-Pub was on the second floor so we got to sit by the open windows and people-watch. I had the weirdest people of all to watch sitting right next to me.
Ugh, so much YG beauty!!
We had a really nice experience at K-Pub, and our waitress was super pretty and nice too. Henry made her laugh and then he spent the rest of the day thinking he was so cool after that.
Before heading on to Gangnam, we stayed in Myeongdong for a bit, because there is so much going on there!
Chooch was molested by a foot and then became obsessed with the idea of a foot massage since we were walking so much every day and our feet felt broken. I was like, “Ew, I’m not going to make anyone here touch your gross Barney Rubble feet!” The things Chooch latched on to in Korea, though…so random and hilarious.
I don’t know what the going rate for feet massages is here in America, but $18 for 40 minutes seems like a good deal, right? Shrug.
Henry and I shared a famous strawberry red bean mochi. I have watched so many people eat these on YouTube because this is my sad life, people. I live vicariously through super nerve-grating YouTubers. (Actually, some of them seem like pretty cool people contrary to what Henry thinks.) I didn’t get to take a picture of it because we fucking inhaled that bitch, but the strawberry was huge and incredibly fresh (we were in Korea during strawberry season and every cafe had their seasonal strawberry confections on the menu), coated with a hearty layer of delightful pat (red bean), and then wrapped in a beautiful robe of chewy and sweet mochi. It was one of the best things I ate in Korea. J/K everything was the best.
(People keep asking me what my favorite food was that I ate and I honestly start to panic when I try to answer that! There wasn’t a single thing I tried that I didn’t like. Korean food is so on point, especially their street food. Henry would never have to cook again if we lived there because I’d just be like, “I’mma run outside and grab some pajeon, do you want anything j/k get it yourself.”)
Several days after we came home from Korea, I wistfully said, “You know what else I really miss? Almost getting killed everyday by—-”
“—delivery scooters,” Chooch finished for me, knowingly. Those scooter drivers are RUTHLESS and RECKLESS! It was pretty impressive to watch them plow through the bust streets and sidewalks. Even McDonald’s has scooter delivery service! Korea has it all, truly.
Couldn’t get on the train without Chooch stalking all the underground sock vendors for Bambi socks. He would yell things like, “SERIOUSLY, THEY HAVE CHIP AND DALE AND NOT BAMBI?!”
Ugh, him and this Bambi obsession. It’s so odd. I have no idea where he gets this from.
On the real though, Korea made me feel things about socks that I never felt here in America and I became obsessed with buying them. In fact, one of the few regrets I’ve had since coming back (coming back being the main regret), is that I should have bought more!
OK, wow, this was a nice quick one! I’ll be back with the last part of my WEDNESDAY MARCH 28 recap and then we can finally move on to BUSAN!
In honor of eating at a YG establishment, here’s a super old BIGBANG video, le sigh: