Food at bars
SA: There seems to be something missing from the sports experience, in my opinion.
PM: What seems to be missing? Besides the lack of large size jerseys?
SA: I knew all that samgyeopsal would come back to haunt me, but that large RaGunAh jersey still fits. No, it’s not the swag.
PM: So then what? It’s something obvious from the title of today’s episode, isn’t it?
SA: Yup! I’m talking about sports bars! Or at least, what we consider to be sports bars.
PM: Are there even sports bars in Korea? Or at least, western equivalents?
SA: Yes there are! They are few and far between, but they exist.
PM: Let’s start by talking about the bar and pub scene in this country, shall we? So, I suppose Korea has three main types: the pojahs, the hofs and the western-style pubs with other establishments in the grey areas. The pojangmatcha are street stalls that are meant to be the most affordable option for your typical drinker. The food is supposed to be good but not in my experience. What say you on the grub at these establishments, Mr S?
SA: Really hit & miss, but I would be too drunk to care.
PM: I have long maintained the most overrated part of Korea is the street food and the pojahs are a part of that. Honestly, I’d rate every Asian country I’ve been to over it as far as eating outside goes.
SA: Them’s fighting words.
PM: I know. I live dangerously. Next, there’s the hofs. Fried chicken joints primarily though it isn’t a specialty at every place. Did you ever join me at the hof near Gwangju’s main train station? Their fried chicken sucked.
SA: No, never. What was their specialty?
PM: The jeon, especially the tuna-kimchi jeon. Wonderful. They had a giant vat of superb dongdongju which led me to suspect that they had been a makgeolli place that evolved into a hof.
SA: Makes sense.
PM: Which is why their fried chicken wasn’t worth a damn. Hofs will often refuse service if you just want to drink. Given how much Koreans love to eat while getting drunk, this isn’t usually an issue but westerners like us have run into this problem from time to time. Finally, there are the western style pubs.
SA: Which seem to be less common than they were 10 or 15 years ago.
PM: I know. Even establishments that had been around for years have closed like Geckos in Seoul’s Itaewon district and it appears the last Wolfhound Pub has also closed up shop too. There still are some but you might be hard pressed to find them outside of Seoul and Busan.
SA: Did you ever have a favorite?
PM: I suppose Canada Buddy in Bucheon. It was run by a guy called Lance along with his Korean wife whose name escapes me. They had AlleyCat on tap, the sandwiches were pretty good and they ran it like a business rather than a bloody clubhouse. If you’re ever in a pub has a sign that says “Let’s All Be Friends!” go find somewhere else to drink. Otherwise, the owner will probably be sitting with a group of foreigners the entire time rather than serving people. That’s not to say old Lance wasn’t cordial: he would sometimes come and sit with me and my buddy James and pour us shots of soju but this wasn’t something he did as a rule.
SA: What happened to it?
PM: Lance and his wife moved back to Canada in the fall of 2008. Another couple began running it but they were only there for maybe a month and then it was closed. One time after work at my adult academy I popped in for a quick beer and I discovered my ex there with a date. I still can’t believe she tried to steal my pub. It was almost worth it closing just for that. I was a real treat to be around back then.
SA:You mentioned spots that are in a grey area. What kind of establishments were you referring to?
PM: Places like Wabar, Miller Time and some others whose names escape me.
SA: Miller Time is still around but not everywhere like it used to be.
PM: These sorts of establishments are a bit like a hof by placing emphasis on ordering food but they tend to look more like a western pub. The guy that ran the Wabar we used to go to in Naju didn’t seem to mind that we seldom bothered with the food.
SA: The grub at your Wabars and Miller Times isn’t all that great, is it?
PM: No and it’s really expensive.
SA: We used to watch sports from time to time when getting fried chicken at Hoban Hof in Naju. To us and the students, that was kind of a sports bar.
PM: Hoban Hof had an oil soaked box TV bolted to a corner of the room. It was loud because many students ate dinner there and they didn’t have the sound on. That said, they would turn up the volume if it was slow there or if it was playoff time and Kia was still in the hunt.
SA: I don’t remember too many visits there, but for us it seemed more like a place where we talked about our school more than whatever game was on TV. But I recall they almost always had a game on. Dunno if the owners were sports fans, but perhaps they listened to our students and put on a game.
PM: There was certainly always a baseball game on. Association football was rarer, mostly just during the World Cup or other tournaments involving the Taeguk Warriors. Do you remember my Wwoofing buddy who used to crash on my floor from time to time?
SA: Vaguely.
PM: We went to a ball game several years ago and the following night we went to Hoban for some chimek and the ajumma who ran it told us she saw us on TV. I think they’d watch the games when business was slow. As for what you said a minute ago about us not always watching, I think that depended on who we were with. It must have been about 12 years ago during the Korea Series that we decided to go there to watch a game and have some beers and all that. Our good friend Mr. T was also down but then we mentioned it to another pal of ours who didn’t care all that much for baseball. But you know, we were all happy to chat and watch the game. However, he became none too pleased every time our attention wandered over to the TV screen.
SA: Some of the other bars we visited were better set up for sports viewing. But some were not.
PM: I’d like to think the MillerTime bar chain was better set up for sports bar purposes but many of them had the TV screen in an odd spot. The ones in my neck of the woods have leaned into viewing more and have projectors and such in better positions, but sometimes they aren’t working.
SA: Fundamentally speaking, bars here are more social gathering spots than solo drinking places. So people here are more concerned about talking with each other than watching the games. Now that changes when there’s an important game on, like the World Cup or World Baseball Championships. Then the bars that think they’ll get a lot of customers will improve their setups and show the games.
PM: With a small caveat.
SA: What’s that?
PM: Even though a World Cup match will pack a pub, they aren’t necessarily the cash cows you’d assume they ought to be.
SA: How come?
PM: Because there’s a Korean custom in these situations to order your beer and chicken before the game starts and then watch the game. Maybe get another pint at halftime but that will often be it. These events are surprisingly sober, not unlike Gulliver’s Pub in Bangkok back during the 2002 World Cup.
SA: Oh, I think you’ve told me this story many times.
PM: I’m sure I have. It was the night England was to meet Denmark in the round of 16 and just before the game started they had to stop serving alcohol because there was an election the next day and the city was supposed to be dry 24 hours in advance of it. Never mind that this was on Khao San Rd and hardly anyone in there was Thai. I knew about it because I was a regular there so I got there early and ordered four beers for myself. People came in and I saw their faces fall to the floor when they were refused booze. Still, they seemed to enjoy themselves.
SA: It no doubt helped that England won.
PM: It certainly did.
SA: I’ve also found some bars, especially the sports bars, are willing to change the channel to a game you wanna see. You just have to ask, and have a general clue as to which channel is on. This is where understanding the league website comes in handy since the betting apps usually don’t list the TV channel. Of course, this strat only works when they have the cable package with the game you wanna see. Much to my chagrin many times with the WK league.
PM: I really appreciate their flexibility at times.
SA: I feel like the least flexible bars are the ones that have screens but they’re set to some mindless pre-fab video of people walking around a rainy NYC street, or show the bar brand. They’re usually upscale places in dingy former warehouses, that trend you see a lot in gentrified city districts back home. Yeah…they do that here. I think some of those places are more for social cred and mackin’ than they are for shared experiences like watching games. And even then, the TV or screen isn’t in a good place, like behind some supporting pylons or a fence.
PM: You actually like those pretentious bars?
SA: Here or back in the states?
PM: Here.
SA: The experience is better than the smoky pubs with the 20 year old felt chairs that smell of broken dreams and are full of grumpy whisky swilling ajosshis who wanna fight you when you don’t look at their wives. That got old REAL quick my first year in Korea. But I have a fondness for quirky places.
PM: So fundamentally, what we’re saying is that if you want that western-style sports bar experience, you’ll want to go to an actual sports bar. But if you just wanna watch a Korean sporting event or a Euro League something, your local chicken shack or decent bar will be sufficient. It’s better with friends, let me tell you.
Actual Sports bars in Korea? Actually?
SA: Now we’re going to bring up the actual sports bars in Korea! They are a rare bunch, honestly I thought COVID would’ve killed them off, but they’re still strong. I believe that Son Heung Min and other top athletes playing in Europe have brought some fans to the bars to watch him play, especially for fans that don’t have the sports pack on their TVs, or live in apartments with thin ass walls. But anyway, our first step is to know how to find them.
PM: Easy! Type “sports bar” in Naver maps! Done and dusted (clap twice)!
SA: Hahaha, no. *joke sting* When you do that, you get a bunch of other places like Golfzones and pilates places that are clearly not bars. Hell, the first time I tried, I got a fishing supply shop in Incheon as the first result. Although I did find High Class in Bucheon that way. So, to get actual sports bars in your results, type in 스포츠 펍 in hangeul. You’ll still get some odd things like bowling alleys and poker clubs, but you’ll find more actual pubs in the results.
PM: Good point. How many establishments claiming to be “jazz bars” have you wandered into before discovering that they’re just shitty old dives without even a trace of jazz?
SA: Just once in Korea. Though I loved the one I went with a friend to in Miyazaki Japan because it had once hosted a famous singer from the USA.
PM: Oh, I did it several times. I just never learn. So. have you actually been to any clearly defined sports bars?
SA: Yes and in surprising places, too! The first one I recently visited is in Tongyeong, called Playball. There’s another branch in Nonhyeon-dong Seoul, which might be closer for many people. Anyway, Playball has like 6 screens each independent of each other for easy game switching. The one in Tongyeong will take channel requests. And they have foreign but kinda pricey craft beers along with fish & chips!
PM: What’s the fish in their fish n chips? Probably not cod, huh?
SA: Tongyeong’s a fishing town so not cod. They said 광어 which is a kind of flatfish. It translates as halibut as well as japanese flounder. It doesn’t have a particularly strong taste and if you’ve ever ordered the 모듬 sushi set, you’ve had it before. It looks egg white with beige striations. I think it goes well with soy sauce and wasabi- ur, not the fish n chips, the sushi cut. And now I’m hungry. *joke sting*
PM: We’ve become a food podcast again. Anyway, this place has a specialty sport?
SA: Baseball for the most part, but they’ll run others when there isn’t a game on. I’m not there on weekends so I don’t know if they’re running football or not. They open from 6pm to late. Their menu is def on the fusion side of things. Oysters gambas, things like that.
PM: Great, I’m on a drinking break and we’re talking about beer. What perfect timing!
SA: The next sports bar I found is in Gyeongju of all places. A big city without a big league men’s team. They have a women’s team we talked about last time in the women’s sports episode. The bar is called Round 2 and they mostly show EPL games. I wanted to watch the Jeonnam game but they didn’t have the cable package for K-League, but that was OK since I had my tablet with me. They have multiple TVs so you don’t have to strain your head to watch the games. They’re big on their large burgers with everything double patty this or that.
PM: So nothing for vegetarians? Or at least us pescatarians?
SA: I saw some salads on the menu. They also have the ubiquitous Egg in Hell and basil something cheesesticks. I mean, it’s a bar, what do you expect?
PM: The Korean ones have fruit platters. They’re good for keeping a night of drinking going but you pay through the nose for ‘em.
SA: Yeah but this is a western bar. In fact, westerners actually go here with friends. Heard a lot of English when I went there. It’s small but popular with the university crowd.
PM: And those are the only ones you went to?
SA: Yes, that are still open as of this recording and I’ve been to post-covid. So for our next step, I’m going to share my screen and we’re going to look at a review of 7 sports bars someone wrote before COVID and talk about the ones that are still around.
PM: OK…(Load article on sports bars) what about #1? It seems good.
SA: It’s gone.
PM: What about #2, Doubleplay chicken?
SA: Still around! There’s actually two in the Hongde area. They are heavily into baseball as you can see in the picture.
PM: Yeah, they’ve got that creepy Tron Cyberpunk dark light aesthetic going too.
SA: I like it because it’s futuristic but I hate it because I feel like I’m in a Blade Runner city street or a dark alley and I can’t see my table.
PM: It’s a chicken place so probably nothing for me.
SA: That’s what I thought too until I saw the menu. They got a range of fried potato snacks, tteokbokki, and ramyeon. Dunno if you’re a fan of any of those but it’s better than nothing.
PM: So, based on the pictures uploaded on Kakao Map, it’s a place for baseball. Do you think soccer fans would be able to watch soccer there in the offseason?
SA: Who knows? Unless they’re gonna run Mexican league games or Winter baseball, they don’t got a lot of options.
PM: What’s next on the list?
SA: WangsPub by Gangnam station. They’ve got a few screens so you don’t have to strain your neck. They seem to focus on snacks like nachos, quesadillas, fondue fries and the like but they also have salads, pizzas, spaghetti. Their signature dish is a rack of baby back ribs. They have a happy hour between 2 & 7 so if you can’t get into Jamsil or Gocheok, come here instead and watch the game. Dunno how good their projectors are. They look kinda ass in the photos.
PM: How’s their beers and cocktails?
SA: Looking at the pictures, they’ve got a wide variety, or at least a bit wider than most. But this is Gangnam, so you gonna be paying for it.
PM: It says they got wine. That’s quite demure for a sports pub.
SA: Maybe they get a lot of wine country fans? We like wine at our baseball games! Chardonnay by the bay! *joke sting* But unlike the others they don’t really have much sports stuff around their walls.
PM: So next up is…what is that? Peum Pi Mack?
SA: Yes! For some reason the writer recommended the one by Mokdong stadium. They’re a New York style pizza chain but only the Mokdong area has TVs and projectors. If we missed the ice hockey game I think we could’ve set up shop there and watched it.
PM: Our ears would’ve been saved!
SA: This is also one of the cheapest places in that the drinks aren’t overpriced, there’s a lot of taps, and the pizza you can get by the slice. So if you wanna watch a game without breaking your budget, check it out.
PM: What’s next?
SA: Dunno if you heard of this place from your Bucheon days, but it’s called Scrooge Pub in Itaewon above ABCMart. They’ve got a pool table and a bunch of darts set up. I think it’s on the local pool and darts contest circuit. They’ve got a rooftop section but for obvious reasons there’s no TV up there.
PM: Why not? Watching a game outside would be fun!
SA: It rains, it pours, it snows, it snores.
PM: Yeah…plus we can’t have Canucks fans throwing each other over the ledge.
SA: Their menu’s a bit limited, mostly fried stuff like chicken wings and platters, but they also have egg in hell shatshuka. Their beers aren’t expensive and they’ve got shots. I think the main draw of the place is that they show western sports and there are lots of foreigners going there.
PM: So it feels like this is a place for conversation as much as it is watching a game. Certainly for watching foreign teams. Their hours are 7PM to 3AM, so it’s one for the bleary eyed and the East coast day gamers. But they’re closed on Sunday which is wild because that cuts out the NFL and college schedule.
SA: Maybe the Itaewon school district requested it? The teachers all come to class late because they were up all night drinking and watching the games back home?
PM: What’s the next bar?
SA: It’s a very opposite of Scrooge called 대니내서울포자 by Jamsilsaenae Naru station. I think it might be gone since it’s not on Naver but on Kakao map. It might be in the basement. Looking at the picture, they focus on Korean baseball. They got a lot of jerseys on the wall which all smell like old french fries.
PM: Anything I can eat there?
SA: Cream pasta and tofu kimchi.
PM: Thrilling. Well, it’s another place you can go if you’re close to Jamsil and you can’t get in. Though I get the feeling it might be a mirage.
SA: That’s one of the things you realize when you live here as long as we do. It’s there on the map but when you get there, it might be gone. Anyway, that’s it for the list.
PM: What? Is Canucks gone?
SA: Yup. Probably didn’t survive COVID. But one that did is Sam Ryan’s. They got a location in Itaewon behind Hamilton, just a little north of the crush zone, and two in Busan at the two main beaches. They’ve got the widest menu with something for everyone including mocktails!
PM: Fake drinks yaay!
SA: But based on the pictures I’ve seen of the beach locations, it seems like the Itaewon location has the best setup and reviews and interest in sports. The owner wants you to DM him for game requests or schedule.
PM: Makes sense. You don’t want to plan for 1 game and then 2 people show up wanting to watch ESPN tonight or some shit. They can watch Stephen A yell at the screen at home! Anyway, these are all up in Seoul. What about down south where we live, besides Busan?
SA: There’s one in Mokpo that looks good called 작탐 between the free market and the high school. It looks very baseball focused, but based on their schedule they also run football games.
PM: What about food?
SA: They’ve got a seafood heavy menu also with fried chicken and sausage. For you they got rice…and morning rolls…and fries. Yaaay.
PM: I’m excited already. *Joke sting*
SA: As a brief sidenote, sports bars might be a comfy setting for K-League games if current talks eventually come to fruition.
PM: How so?
SA: Due to concerns over playing in the middle of the blistering summer, there are whispers that the football league here may switch to a more standard autumn to spring schedule at some point. They’re calling it a “two-year system”.
PM: Two years? As in, it’s going to take them two years to implement such a measure?
SA: No, it could well take longer than that, assuming it’s adopted at all. No, by two years, they mean a season begins in, say, September, 2025 and ends in May, 2026.
PM: That isn’t two years. That isn’t even one year for god’s sake.
SA: I know.
PM: I suppose if a baby can be born on December 30th and already be one and then suddenly be two a couple days later then why not think of a single soccer season as being two years.
SA: Hey, they scrapped the Korean age system!
PM: Oh did they? Ask the average Korean how that’s been working out.
SA: The challenge with a September-May schedule is trying to convince people to show up to games in Goyang in December with a brisk Siberian wind pounding down on them.
PM: Is that really any different than getting the good folk in Daegu to come out for a match in the middle of August?
SA: A little since they often schedule summer games for the evening when the sun isn’t beating down on fans and players. But look at it this way; at least the fans won’t die like that one almost did in Jeju.
PM: But let’s put a pin in this topic for now and come back to it next year in our season preview episode. Maybe we can even offer some ideas of our own that they’ll totally listen to!
Ending
SA: Thanks for tuning in today! We hoped you learned something new about Korean sports!
PM: I certainly did! Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in irreverent takes on Korean Sports.
SA: Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get.
PM: Don’t forget to rate our podcast 5 stars of course. But don’t do it if you don’t like us.
SA: You can email the show at hwatingsportspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment on our various podcast sites. Hate mail will be read aloud on special episodes and ruthlessly mocked.
PM: Fan mail will be mocked but in a more wholesome way.
SA: Our next episode will be before Christmas and we’ll be talking about swag! The stuff the bars put on walls
PM: Get yer credit card ready for this one, especially if you don’t know what to get for a present!
SA: Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! Until next time, Korean sports fans!
PM: Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast dine on the sidewalks of Kingsland Apartments, phase II. The old ladies in the neighbourhood seem to think they’re still living in some remote hamlet and happily cover the walking paths with veggies, beans and herbs so that they can dry. Permission? Who needs that when you’re old! Just like you don’t need to ask if you want to help yourself to some of the grub they’ve left out in public for the past several weeks! And don’t mind any stray spit or guano: they’ll probably just give this crap some much needed flavour!
Notes
Sam Ryan’s https://www.instagram.com/samryans.itaewon
Seoul Sports bar reviews (Old)