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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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Ranman
Joined: 18 Aug 2012
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:45 am Post subject: Best Microbreweries in Seoul? |
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Was heading down next weekend with some friends and I wanted to try some of Korea's finest microbrews. I already know about Craftworks, but are there any other places worth checking out? |
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joeteacher
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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Just for the sake of variety, as I also favor Magpie's: link
I've tried Castle Praha's beer a long time ago. I remember it being pretty good but this was before Craftworks and Ka-Brew were around.
Article makes a slight slip-up with Queen's Head, it closed for a while and reopened. I've never been to either incarnation but heard the original was good. Again, this was in the past when choices were slimmer.
Is Platinum still open? I know the Gagnam branch is closed, but they did some solid beers.
edit: Looked at Platinum link and it seems to have been closed for a while now. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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7Brau's Pale Ale was good, but it's in the style of British pale ales, which probably isn't the favoured pale ale style by North Americans nowadays. |
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figshdg
Joined: 01 May 2012
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 7:00 am Post subject: |
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Decent beer selection, but the worst service bar none in the Itaewon area.
Queen's Head is alright. Magpie is pretty good. Craftworks also pretty good. I'd stick to one of those three places. |
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fezmond
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 7:21 am Post subject: |
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figshdg wrote: |
Decent beer selection, but the worst service bar none in the Itaewon area.
Queen's Head is alright. Magpie is pretty good. Craftworks also pretty good. I'd stick to one of those three places. |
Never heard of Queen's head but the above post is spot on.
Reily's has a great bit selection but they seem like they don't want to be helpful in the slightest and having 1 waitress trying to serve every table is shit. |
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bangbayed
Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:13 am Post subject: |
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Agreed that Reilly's is probably the best bar in Korea, but I think they've become a victim of their own success. I remember when they first opened, it was a nice quiet place to have quality beers. Now I think they've been overwhelmed by the demand. Hopefully they'll sort things out when they open up the roof. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:59 am Post subject: |
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Tried to go to Craftworks last weekend but was packed. There is a little microbrew place around the corner. Dark decor and a long narrow lay out. Had no customers at that time. I was going to go in when I saw a pint was 9,000. Not for mediocre microbrew, no thanks. What is the name of that place? |
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bangbayed
Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 6:22 am Post subject: |
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radcon wrote: |
Tried to go to Craftworks last weekend but was packed. There is a little microbrew place around the corner. Dark decor and a long narrow lay out. Had no customers at that time. I was going to go in when I saw a pint was 9,000. Not for mediocre microbrew, no thanks. What is the name of that place? |
I think you're talking about Springs Taphouse. Their beers are from BC, Canada. They're not bad, but yeah, pretty overpriced. Magpie is much better, IMO. Also, the Booth upstairs from Magpie has a pretty tasty pale ale also.
Springs does have a venison burger that isn't half bad though. First time I've had venison in Korea, and not bad at 15,000 won. |
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figshdg
Joined: 01 May 2012
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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bangbayed wrote: |
Agreed that Reilly's is probably the best bar in Korea, but I think they've become a victim of their own success. |
Best beer? Almost certainly. Best bar? Not by a million miles. The problem isn't the success of the place, it's that it has an owner who clearly has little experience of managing a bar. If he had, the service wouldn't be so dreadful. Watch him when you next go in. He's chummying up with the staff and his friends at the bar all the time without paying attention to the service being delivered.
I guarantee that if a place opened in the same area with a similar beer list and better service that Reilly's would close within the week. It's a shame because that place could be great. |
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ren546
Joined: 17 Dec 2010
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:21 am Post subject: |
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figshdg wrote: |
bangbayed wrote: |
Agreed that Reilly's is probably the best bar in Korea, but I think they've become a victim of their own success. |
Best beer? Almost certainly. Best bar? Not by a million miles. The problem isn't the success of the place, it's that it has an owner who clearly has little experience of managing a bar. If he had, the service wouldn't be so dreadful. Watch him when you next go in. He's chummying up with the staff and his friends at the bar all the time without paying attention to the service being delivered.
I guarantee that if a place opened in the same area with a similar beer list and better service that Reilly's would close within the week. It's a shame because that place could be great. |
Yeah what the hell happened to this place?!? Went there a few weeks ago at about 12:30 on a Saturday, and one of the waiters said, "Last call is in 30 minutes so you might want to leave" before we even sat down. We had a drink anyway, amidst the early20something screaming crowd, half of whom were dancing on the leather seats, the other half of whom were crying, fighting, and making a scene. Beer was flat, and they tried to make us pay twice. ALSO, not sure about the best selection thing, since a lot of the beers weren't available that night.
Craftworks also has bad service. There's a new place that opened up by Noxa Lounge near Noksapyeong (forget what it's called right now), selection is decent, and service is phenomenal (for now). |
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bangbayed
Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 6:40 am Post subject: |
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ren546 wrote: |
Yeah what the hell happened to this place?!? Went there a few weeks ago at about 12:30 on a Saturday, and one of the waiters said, "Last call is in 30 minutes so you might want to leave" before we even sat down. We had a drink anyway, amidst the early20something screaming crowd, half of whom were dancing on the leather seats, the other half of whom were crying, fighting, and making a scene. Beer was flat, and they tried to make us pay twice. ALSO, not sure about the best selection thing, since a lot of the beers weren't available that night.
Craftworks also has bad service. There's a new place that opened up by Noxa Lounge near Noksapyeong (forget what it's called right now), selection is decent, and service is phenomenal (for now). |
Yeah I should amend that. Probably not the best bar in town - that would go to my own neighbourhood bar near my school. But I still think they have the best selection of beer and don't charge outrageous prices (for Korea). Considering how much the beer costs in stores, I still find it reasonable. They're so crazy busy these days I guess its hard for them to keep the good stuff in stock. Hopefully they'll hire more staff and when they expand upstairs there should be more breathing room. Still have fond memories of when they opened, but haven't been back for a few weeks.
If the place by Noxa you're talking about is Springs Taphouse (next to Bao), the quality of beer was decent, but a bit overpriced. I'm from BC (where their beer is from) and I'd never heard of that microbrew there. On the other hand, Magpie and the Booth were both good places, but not a huge selection of beer. Considering they brew it all in-house, and the quality and price, they rate pretty high to me.
I wrote off Craftworks a while ago. The bar itself is alright, the service fluctuates, but the beer (the most important factor) is just so-so. Very uinderwhelming. I suppose the Pilsner is okay, but I like my hops and their ales are like hop-flavored water. |
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Seoulman69
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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I love beer and have been to most of the places mentioned here. Here are my experiences.
Craftworks - the innovator when it came to craft beer in Seoul. Their variety was more than just the pilsner, dunkel, weisen standard. The food was pretty good and the guy who runs the place was pretty nice. The fact they are so busy these days means it's difficult to get a seat. The food seems to have slipped slighty and the beers and no longer the best in town. Best beer - pale ale.
Reilly's - great variety of beer but poor service and overcrowding prevent it from being amazing. It's still pretty new but seems to have become a victim of its own success. Too busy and at least one or two beers always seem to be sold out. The food is very expensive and a tad elaborate for my tastes.
Best beer - depends what you like, I enjoy the Wee Heavy.
Magpie - good beer and good service. Whether you are in the original brew area they opened to the public or the downstairs new area the service is good. The people who run it and work there tend to be young and have a love of beer. Their selection is limited though (pale ale, copper, porter). They are trying to import US bottles of craft brews but I haven't tried any yet. I've never tried their food which I think is limited to pizza.
Best beer - a friend of mine said their porter was world class. I disagree but it is a great beer nonetheless.
Queen's Head - korean owned and run brewpub. Limited to pilsner, weisen, or dunkel. Food is suited to Korean tastes but the service is good. The beer is better than the common Korean swill but not a patch on any of the Itaewon/hbc places.
Best beer - weisen.
Castle Praha - they seem to have opened new locations in Itaewon but I have only been to the place in Hongdae. They started with the common three (mentioned above) but expanded their menu to include a lot of great beers. Sadly that menu has been downsized. I've never had food here. The beer seems aimed at Koreans but it is worth checking out. Last time I was there the beer smelt like vomit. Not appealing.
Best beer - British Ale.
Springs Taphouse - went on Sunday and was impressed by the variety. Sadly it is shockingly expensive for the size of glass we got. The beer seemed okay. Nothing that would tear me away from Magpie.
Best beer - don't know.
Platinum in Apgujeong has been shut for years. There is however a brewpub opened up in Busan called Galmegi (i think) making their own beer, and Craftworks are opening a bar in Bundang. |
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Mr. Peabody
Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Location: here
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hogwonguy1979
Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: the racoon den
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Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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Craftworks still has decent beer but the food has gone into the toilet, whats amazing about them is now say 6-9 months ago the clientele was almost all expats now its 90% Korean (maybe that explains the food problem, its been Koreanized). Dan needs to get a new manager to replace Alicia as the present manager is an idiot when it comes to customer service.
I was impressed with Reilly's when they opened, thought the beer selection was great (though a bit overpriced) and food pretty good. Was in there over the weekend and the service is horrible and the food has gone downhill, wife ordered a Caesar Salad and it was a tiny bowl, she also ordered a margarita and for 9000 won she got 3 sips.
Haven't been to Springhouse (or whatever thats called) but have looked at the prices and it seems a bit expensive |
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