Hey I'm going to be coming to Seoul for business with 2 of our designers and we extended the trip to have next Wed-Sat be time to just hang out and explore.

What neighborhoods would be best for drinking/partying? Not really into shopping at all, interested in the fried chicken and beer restaurant scene (but here this is very prevalent); the others are interested in 'cultural stuff' and gaming scene (they are nerds).

I lived in Thailand for a long time as an ESL teacher and really enjoyed it, got to meet a ton of cool people from 2p2 and contributed long winded stories to that thread. Hoping to learn more about a new place and looking forward to the trip.

We're all 27-30 y.o. I am american and the other 2 are eastern european (one has never left Serbia, the other lived in SF for like 3 years) We all work for same company but it's a startup so they don't really care about our degen-ness and encourage it to some extent.

We're probably going to get an AirBnB for all three of us. Would also be down to meet up with people if that's not too creepy.

Arrive there Sunday, working till Wednesday, flying out Sat Night.

Any recommendations/thoughts would be greatly appreciated, PM or in this thread.

Chicken and Beer you'll find literally any and everywhere. As far as the chains go I prefer Kyochon and Chicken Mania but it's all essentially the same. Local beer is swill but for some reason I drink a lot of it. Soju is cheap. Mix it with the local beer. That's totally a normal thing. Have a few korean dinners while you're here. Get samgyupsal one night. Try talkkalbi another night. Maybe some live octopus if you're feeling adventurous. Food and drink availability, variety, affordability, quality is the best part of Seoul imo. If you need a break from Korean food there's actually a lot of great Indian food in town. Everest in dongdaemun is my favorite but others swear by Jyoti near Shinchon/Hongdae.

Nightlife wise I can speak for Octagon and Eden. Both are a lot of fun. Both are expensive by Seoul standards but average to low average by states standards. Maybe 40 bucks cover and drinks 10-15 bucks. I'm hearing good things about Ellui from my younger local friends but I don't like electronica (and I guess I got old and married this year) so I've not been. Koreans LOVE it though. So that might be worth a look too. That would be my recommendation for Friday night. Koreans go hard late. I wouldn't want to head out until like 9 or 10. Grab food first. Hit the club at 11 or 12. High time 1-3 but it can go later. Much later.

Hongdae and Itaewon are each decent hangs for different nights for people in their 20s. Hongdae skews younger. Both have a lot of foreigners. Itaewon has ladies nights on Thursdays. facebook that for more info.

I had a really good airbnb experience at a place near Gongdeok station that I would recommend if you wanted to stay north of the river. The best clubs are in Gangnam though and that's south of the river. You can do really well in this city for 80-100 bucks a night on that route. My recommendation overall would be to draw a triangle between Sinchon station, Myeongdong station and Gangnam station and do not stay anywhere outside of that.

Anybody else wanting to chime in I'm not offended. That's just some general idea.

v. solid post

Haven't been to Eden, I love Ellui's space
https://www.facebook.com/ellui.go/photos_stream
girls are hot but more importantly the main floor has a ton of room and a big ass LED screen

I think Octagon has like free entry on Thursday nights or something, at least during the summer they had some promo like that. Was told it's a club that's top 20 in the world or something like that.

If you have no friends in Korea, I think starting your night off in Itaewon on Thursday night would be the way to go, and then head over to octagon later in the night if you want to do clubbing.

Itaewon is very foreigner friendly and has become a pretty cool chic neighborhood for even locals to go to.

You can't go wrong with B1 - Itaewon tho I recommend you explore the area as there are tons of bars and clubs, it's right infront of the Hamilton Hotel and next to the metro station.

Whoa. I suddenly have the urge to go to Ellui.

I've seen nice looking women outside B1 every time I've gone out exit 1 at night. Is that the old Hard Rock location? I used to play that bar back in 2009. Somebody completely destroyed the place one night. And then it was closed. Was weird at the time and I never figured it out. Organized extortion money possibly?

B1 used to be on a side street, now they moved to that new location, it's really good for meeting people.

The first you enter is a big bar where you can actually talk
then you have the main edm dance floor in the 2nd room
and then there's a 3rd room that's another bar with vip tables
then there's a 4th room with some good electronic music

I don't know what used to be there before.

There's also some other chic looking upscale bar near the hamilton hotel, i forget the name, but i liked that place a lot. it's like set up so you have no choice but to meet and chat with people.

Thanks a ton for the replies!

The area known as Apgujeong (technically also in Gangnam I think) has some interesting bars, cafes, restaurants and stuff, and surely some attractive, fashionable ladies. Known as a "rich" area, but actually if you go there it doesn't have that kind of feeling. I'd just say it's more "mature" then those other areas, but not overly.

Might be a good alternative to the huge, loud clubs in Gangnam, the crowded, trendy Itaewon, and the younger, somewhat brash college areas such as Hongdae and Shincheon. In my opinion, Hongdae is way over-rated and really kind of lame, and Itaewon "used to be good" but has become just too hip for its own good.

Itaewon is very good, however, for foreign restaurants of high quality, and some excellent microbreweries. Be ready to pay $$$ at these places, but if you get sick of eating Korean food, Itaewon is the only place (In all of Korea, actually) to find good quality non-Korean food. How a glass of beer can cost 12 ****** bucks is beyond me, though...that's the thing, the area is just too trendy and these places are just skinning people alive while they can...hell some of them even tack on an additional 10% to your bill, which is nearly unheard of in Korea!

There are numerous other smaller entertainment districts around town too, but most of them are old and dirty and just "too korean" (i.e. either korean-style bars where you have to order food and a whole bottle, or "hofs" which are kind of restaurants and bad for socializing, and so on...korean style anything is basically lame if you like western style clubs, cocktail bars or lounges....)

So, you might try Apgujeong.

If you need some advice about "touristy" things to do, I could give you some. What are your interests?

No more updates on WH tournaments..none planned for the near future at all.

Here's the inside "official??" scoop: WH Poker Room is going to be moved to another room or possibly another "wing" of the casino in the near future, after some recent (still ongoing maybe?) construction and that's kind of why they are suspending the tournaments for the time being.

I sure hope they do move it, since the air quality is so bad (often very warm in that corner), and there is so much distracting traffic where it is now, and the slot machines right there and so on. It really needs to be in a quieter area with proper air conditioning or fans. And they need a few more tables...there been a waiting list more and more lately seems like.

I received this message from WH on the 17th of May:

I've been there a few times since, never seen any construction. I just assumed back then that they were building something new for the pokers, maybe a new locale or something.

its almost as if they gave up on the tournaments.. the website doesnt work anymore too..sigh

I'm a 21 year old guy from toronto, I play 200nl> cash on ftp, any open poker houses?

Seoul Update:

Hotel is in Gangnam seems like a nice area, 517, Eonju-Ro, Gangnam-gu. Went jogging around the streets this morning and got more than a few looks.

Love all the Aston Martin knock offs.

Samgyupsal...check, life changing. Beer+Soju, check...tastes like Milwaukee's Best Ice and feels like just a faster way to get drunk which I understand and support.

Coffee here offers the worst value I've seen worldwide. Keurig needs to come over here and make a fortune, and I think that stuff is barely tolerable.

Popeye's chicken was a promoted deal on the front page of the website we're working on; my kind of country. Everyone is smoking Dunhills as well, also a sign of great taste from the Koreans.

Trying to get some of the Korean employees here to go out with us on Thursday/Friday.

A+ experience so far, see why you guys like living here!

You also lucked out at timing. The weather is so awesome this time of year.

i have usd at boa and wf and im looking for a person who has korean won for a trade. pm me or kakao: kimjinwoo609

Hey, you can get dirt cheap coffee here too, if that's what you want...

Coffee in Korea has to be seen as an investment in a nice place to relax for several hours, clean bathrooms, usually fast wi-fi, and a chance to check out and maybe meet some ladies.

If you think coffee is a bad value, wait until you pay 12 or more for a Jim Beam or JD and soda or something...cocktails are outrageous, and so is wine and any imported beer...

What do you mean "a few looks"? Are you freaky looking, or do you mean from women like in a good way, or just cause you are (lemme guess....) white?

It's not all that common to jog through the streets either for what it's worth. Or maybe he's handsome? Or really tall. People stare at me and I'm only like 6'7"

I completely spaced that Friday is a holiday. Go out tonight for sure!

Yet another bull***** report about the Daegu Casino, as if anyone needed more: The (not so) new angle they have now is delaying people's ability to cash in their chips. A friend of a friend had to wait something like 40 minutes recently while the cashier's window was closed. Upon seeking a manager she was told "just another 10 minutes..they are having dinner." and 10 minute turned into another 30.

Imagine this: a casino where probably 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars are wagered each day where you have to wait to cash out.

I can personally add that I've had to wait 10-15 minutes on two or three occasions myself. And also, that the "manager" she spoke with is in fact not a manager, but some kind of "marketing" person and the only one there who can speak decent English by the name of Hwang..I think it is John (English name, not real)..he has been there a long time and has always played that role...ask for a manager, get him and his stonewalling....it is virtually impossible to speak with anyone in charge of anything there.

Oh, and their baccarat game has been busted at least 3 times now by some kind of authorities for being rigged....it has been national news in Korea. Google it if you can... Imagine that.

Someone should burn that place down.

Went to Everest again with the wife last night. Mutton Masala. Chicken Makhani. Gralic Naan. Two local rice plates. Draft beer. under 30,000 won. It's probably my favorite low cost restaurant in the city right now.

Alvin_, I didn't find anything on Baccarat cheating at Daegu. But, there was a big cheating scandal involving several billions of won uncovered in 2012, that was going on for 3 years at Kangwonland- casino employees had placed micro-cameras in baccarat shoes.

Looking online I just learned that there is a casino called Alpensia open to foreigners in Pyeongchang (3 hours drive east of Seoul). Its a ski resort and year round tourist attraction. The Winter Olympics will be held there in 2018.


I love Koreans who sometimes say something with unintentional bluntness (mostly because of English as their second language and/or not always worried about being politically correct.........

At the casino a few days days ago, friends were ribbing on one who didn't tip the dealer. The dealer, coming to the non-tippers defense says, "Its ok, tipping is not necessary and actually its quite stupid."

So now they focus their attention on the dealer saying he just called everyone stupid. The dealer says. "No, I'm just saying that tipping is stupid." So now one guy asks him if he agrees that driving drunk is stupid and the dealer says yes. So the guy says well then don't you agree that that driver is stupid for driving drunk? The dealer says yes. So he says well then you are really calling us all stupid for tipping then! The dealer is now flustered and embarrassed saying, "No, no, thats not what I meant". Everyone got a good laugh. lol.

Loosekanen, I'll have to check out Everest too. I never tried Indian food til I came to the ROK. I love it. But then again I never had duck til I came here either, I love that too

Dongdaemun station exit three. Second left (약 sign) and then first right. The sign is on the building in front of you. Second floor. It's often crowded. Especially with expats.

I asked the Baccarat Trny director on Thursday, if there really is a new Baccarat VIP section under construction and he told me that there definitely is, and that its located upstairs. He didn't know the estimated completion date.

A floor Supervisor told me that Walker Hill will become non-smoking soon!!! I know a lot of pit game players will hate that, but I will love it!! YAY!!!

Thanks Loosekanen!