Cafe Jubilee - Itaewon

For this blog post, let’s zip up to Itaewon in Seoul for a coffee shop/chocolatier. Café Jubilee is located across the street from Hamilton Hotel where the Coffee Bean used to be. I'm not very good at remembering exit numbers after a while, sorry!

It’s a map!

I’ve only been here a couple of times to just kind of pass time while waiting for people to meet up usually. It’s a decently sized place with a nice patio for a smoking area. They also have lots of window seating so it makes a nice place to sit and people watch in Itaewon, too. Both times that I’ve been here, it hasn’t been very busy at all, and they have wi-fi.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a chocolatier shop, so they have lots of different yummy desserts and chocolates available. I haven’t ever tried any, unfortunately, because I’ve usually just eaten a huge lunch and I’m not hungry enough to have dessert.

Macaroons (top left), chocolates, and truffles (bottom shelf).

Nuts (top left), cake pops (top right), and truffles (bottom).

Muffins (top), tortes (middle), scones (middle right), and cakes (bottom).

I believe they also have some popsicles and such available in a cooler. I think next time I go in, I’ll try a cake pop or a muffin – those both look really yummy right now. You can also get iced and hot coffees and teas here for the usual Korean coffee shop prices (around 3000 – 5000 won).

Iced caramel macchiato.

Overall, I think a nice little dessert place to stop in and relax and try something new.

Updated So, I came up this morning to Cafe Jubilee to try a cake pop for breakfast since I'm always too full after lunch to get dessert here :). So, this is a cake pop.

Took me 5 minutes to open the damn thing The texture is like a cake, but denser. This one is the chocolate one (I told the guy to surprise me when he asked me what kind I wanted). I think they have strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and something else: they aren't labeled. The flakes on the outside of this one are chocolate flakes. It was really quite good and very chocolatey. I'll have to try a strawberry or something next time.

Updated: 08/08/2012

Before I jump in to my update, Cafe Jubilee has updated their business hours to the following:
Monday - Thursday: 7am - 2am
Friday and Saturday: Open 24 hours
Sunday and Holidays: Closed

So I went back to Cafe Jubilee to pass time until meeting some friends for lunch and tried something new for breakfast: a coffee fondant.

It was really very good and warm since they heated it up in the microwave before serving it to me. The middle has a sort of coffee flavored cream and also what tasted to me like peanut butter. The texture is light and fluffy so it doesn't sit heavily on your stomach. I wouldn't say it's extremely filling or anything, but it tastes really good and is good for a light breakfast or snack.

I also looked a little closer at their drink cooler/rack and noticed that you can get mini bottles of wine to go with your chocolate (bottom shelf).

So yeah, I still recommend this place for some good chocolates and desserts and to just chill for a bit out of the sticky heat of Korean summer.

Caffe Bene - Yeongtong

Alrighty...Caffe Bene. *sigh* I so wanted to be able to write a nice, happy, wonderful post about the waffle I went in search of this morning. But that is not to be. You have incurred my wrath, Caffe Bene, and now I must write an angry blog about you. This particular Caffe Bene opened up about a year ago or so across from Baskin Robbins.

Duh-nuhnuhnuhnuh-nuh MapTime!

Caffe Bene serves little waffles with a variety of toppings available, coffee, and gelato. The waffles will run about 3000 to 4000 won depending on what type you order. Coffee is around 4000 - 5000 won.

The gelato flavors available
The inside of the shop is kind of small, but there is another section across the hall. The chairs are pretty comfy, but they are kind of low.

I would love to show you a picture of the caramel banana waffle that I ordered, BUUUT I didn't get a caramel banana waffle. Nope. I got this piece of nastiness:

That would be a honey egg sandwich, and it tasted like it sounds: not good. I took it anyway even though I told the girl that's not what I ordered - I ordered a caramel banana waffle. She started babbling something in Korean about a "special set" and pointing at the menu, but I have no idea what she was saying - I can understand some Korean, but this chick had a retainer or braces and I couldn't understand a single word of what she was saying. I just threw up my hands and said, "whatever" and took the nasty sandwich even though I never uttered the words "set" or "sandwich" when I ordered. I guess my "waffle banana caramel" sounded like "honey egg sandwich" to her. I have no clue how, though. The sandwich wasn't good, though. I took two bites and that's it. I even peeled the ham off to make it more edible. The bread was sweet (hence "honey" in the name) and chewy and the piece of "egg" was rubbery and tasteless. At least my iced caramel machiatto was ok.

Overall, my experience here was not good and I will not be going back - there are other places in Yeongtong to get waffles.

As a side note, this kind of problem happens a lot to foreigners in Korea (at least foreigners that I know) - especially in taxis. Koreans expect to NOT be able to understand you to begin with, which already biases their listening skills when you talk to them. The problem isn't your pronunciation - most Koreans seem to be completely unable to connect the dots when you say the wrong word. For example, "pojang" means "take out" and is used for food take out: "take out" or "to go" is used for drinks like at a coffee shop. If you use "pojang" for your coffee at a coffee shop, oftentimes the employee will look at you with a confused look and have no clue what you're talking about. They are just completely unable to make that word meaning leap for some reason. In English, we can understand a wide variety of accents and understand people even if they use the wrong word, usually. However, in Korean, that seems to not be the case. I used to (and still do) tell the story of when I first came to Korea and would take a a taxi to Homeplus. The conversation would go something like this:
Me: Ingyedong Homeplus kajuseyo.
Driver: Odi?
Me: Ingyedong Homeplus.
Driver: Uuhhh...moolahyo...
Me: *sigh* Ingyedongah Homeplusah. (and a little part of my soul died)
Driver: Ahh! Homeplusah! Nay!!

For some ungodly reason, they just can't make that leap in understanding from "Homeplus" to "Homeplus-ah" because you aren't saying it the "Korean" way.

So, since they don't expect to be able to understand you, they purposely don't no matter what you say or how well you say it.

At any rate, yeah, there's a Caffe Bene in Yeongtong that will serve you a nasty-ass sandwich instead of a yummy waffle if you want to go check it out.

Village Coffee - Forest City, NC

So, Doug and I had several hours to kill between lunch at Louie’s and the wedding, so we sought out a coffee shop. We found 1 (maybe the only one in Forest City) called Village Coffee.


Village Coffee is located at 247 Oak Street in Forest City, NC. It’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. My GPS told us it was in a field about a block further down the road after all.

Anyway, the inside is spacious, but they don’t really have very much seating for customers. I guess with a city the size of Forest City (6963 people according to the 2009 census...it also apparently used to be called "Burnt Chimney"), they don’t need much. They do have a conference room available for usage though oddly enough. They also have a drive-thru which probably lessens the foot traffic in and out of the shop.

With Doug strutting his stuff to the loo

I liked the wall painting on the wall by the entrance.


I ordered a drink that was apparently named after a local band – sorry, I’ve forgotten the name by now! But something like "something hawks iced something er something". Anyway, it was pretty good.


They also offer some dessert items, like cheesecake and such. The staff here was very friendly and they didn’t yell at us for sitting in their lobby for 3 hours using their wi-fi to amuse ourselves. However, to be honest, we were the only ones in there except for 1 lady that I think was selling stuff that sat down for a bit.

Overall, it’s a nice little place to stop for a bit to have a coffee if you’re in the area, so stop in and check out Village Coffee if you’re passing through.

Coffee Tweet

So, Coffee Tweet...yes that is the name of this coffee shop, and no, it's not based on Twitter. However, it does have a bird theme. This is the only Coffee Tweet that I've ever seen, so I assume it's just a privately owned little coffee shop. The sign outside says the hours are 10am - 12pm (they of course mean midnight and not noon, though). However, I think the hours are different on Sunday because I've been here around 11 am or so and they haven't been open yet.
It's located on the same block as KFC but on the other side by Donglee Pie Shop and Calvin Klein. It's also across the street from A Twosome Place. Another lovely Paint map
The prices on drinks here are typical of most coffee shops: 3000 won for an espresso - 5600 won for a cafe mocha. The difference being that they only offer one size here instead of a regular and a large. They also have a small dessert selection: maybe three or four items? A brownie, cheesecake, and a couple of other items. The prices on these are around 4000 won. They also have bagels and a pretzel. You can also get the elusive Arizona iced teas for around 3000 or 4000 won, I think. A decent selection of teas and blended drinks is also on the menu. A few set menus are also available.

The first time I came here, I ordered an iced mint mocha. The guy that runs the place was very friendly and offered to add more mint flavor for me if it wasn't strong enough, in English I might add. The mint was fine, though, however the coffee here seems to be a bit more bitter than at other places. My iced cafe mocha that I had today was also more bitter than other places.

The inside of Coffee Tweet isn't very big, but it's comfortable. One downside is it seems that voices carry too well and even with just a few people in the lobby, it seems like there is an army chattering in their high-pitched Korea.

The bird theme is very evident in the decor with a large bird cage on the wall directly across from the entrance and bird cages acting as light fixtures. There is also a row of birds on a shelf along the side wall.
Overall, it's a cozy little place, but I'm not sure how often I'll come here due to the noise level and slightly bitter coffee. The seemingly sporadic hours don't do it any favors either. However, it's a cute little place with a friendly guy behind the counter.

Droptop Cafe

Alrighty, I've been meaning to check this place out since it opened a few months, and I'm finally getting around to it: Cafe Droptop. Cafe Droptop is a new coffee shop in Yeongtong - it opened up a few months ago between Cafe Pascucci and ABC Mart, and right behind the Yeongtong Park bus stop (by the foot bridge by Homeplus). It's hours of operation are the same as Cafe Pascucci's: M-F: 7am - 2am; Sa, Su, Holidays: 8am - 2am (ooohhhh, competition, girlfriend!!). I'm off work today for the elections, so I might as well do something semi-productive with my day :)

And here's another of my lovely maps:

outside view of the shop from inside the building

One of the very first things I noticed about this cafe when it opened was the door handles:

I just thought the 'D' forming the handles was unique and liked it.

Every time I've been by this place, they haven't been busy at all. I don't know if I just walk by during non-peak times or what - it might pick up in the evenings. Despite it being empty in here right now, just me and one other girl, I can't hear myself think even with my iPod on. The music in here is up too loud, like in most coffee shops in Korea, which is completely un-necessary in my opinion. Why do people go to coffee shops? To visit with a friend or to study are the most common reasons, yet they feel the need to have the music soooo freaking loud that you have to shout to talk to your companion or put in ear plugs to do any work. *sigh* I digress.

They offer free Wi-Fi (after you enter the password posted by the register) and also have power outlets under the booth seats. The young man working today was very friendly and started to bring my tray out to me in the lobby, but I was already standing near the pick-up area, so he just handed it off to me. He's also the only employee here as far as I can tell, so this must be their slow time of day (I got here about 10:30 am).

I like the interior design, and they have a separate smoking room for their smoking customers. The counter says "modern" on it near the Droptop logo, so I think they're striving for a clean, modern look in the interior design. The white ceiling and back wall give a clean, open look while the pipes kind of add a unique industrial feel to the place. This used to be a hair salon, so I'm not sure if having the piping exposed is purposeful or not - this is the only Cafe Droptop I've ever seen in Korea.

the back wall

view of the interior from my seat in the corner

interior from another angle

As far as drink offerings and prices, they're pretty typical of Korean coffee shops. Prices range from 3000 won for an Americano to 5600 won for a cafe mocha. They also offer a selection of teas and hot chocolate drinks. For food, they have sandwiches, breads, "cheese balls," and some desserts. Prices on these are between 3500 won and 6000 won mostly. I'm hesitant to try any of the breads since they tend to be sweet in Korea, even if they're a cheese bread or garlic bread of some sort.

display case

They also offer sets for desserts w/ coffees and sandwiches with coffees.

sandwich specials

They also seem to have a daily special during the week. Today's Wednesday, so the special is a macaroon brownie and 2 cups of Americano coffee for 9000 won.

So what did I try on my first venture to Cafe Droptop? Well, I saw the Oreo brownie and it was all over (I hadn't eaten yet today, so it looked especially delicious).

Oreo brownie or sin on a plate

It looks like it would be super sweet or rich, but it's not. It's really no sweeter than a regular brownie. And it has crumbled up bits of real Oreo on top - not the Korean Oreo-wannabes.
And for my drink I got a cafe mocha with no whip cream.

cafe mocha w/ "no whipping"

Overall, I think this coffee shop is pretty nice. I'll have to check out their oven chicken breast sometime and post it along with some other drinks.

Update June 2nd
I recently decided to stop in for a pretzel for a snack at Droptop, and I will not be doing that ever again.

That orange....stuff on the left is the cheese. It was pretty gross. The pretzel on the right was a pepperoni pretzel. The pretzel was barely lukewarm. So yeah, I don't really recommend the pretzels here, but the desserts are decent.

Donglee Pie

So....It's been a bit. Sorry, just been distracted and busy with other things. Today I'll talk about a pie place in Yeongtong called Donglee Pie. Now, it only has variations of walnut pies, so if you don't like walnuts or are allergic to them (like my brother), ya might want to stay away. However, they also offer a small selection of coffee and tea at very reasonable prices (around 2500 won if I remember correctly), so you can always sit with a friend that wants pie and have cup of coffee or tea. I was excited to see this place because it's nearly impossible to find pie in Korea (Tartine in Itaewon is the only other pie shop that I've found). You can find cake on every corner but not pie. So even if Donglee only has walnut pies, I'll take it!

Donglee Pie is located on the ground floor by the Yeongtong Kinex and across the street from A Twosome Place.

Mmmm, pie
I'm not sure of their hours, but they aren't open before 9am (I've been in at 11am and 8pm before). The pies will range in price from 14000 won - 24000 won. They also sell walnut chocolates and cookies.

This is the mini pie set with four different pie types. I picked this up for Christmas at a friend's place. This pie set costs 24000 won.

This one is the choco walnut pie. I liked this one. It has a light chocolate flavor from the chips and the crust is good. The crust isn't too hard yet provides stability to the pie so you can pick up a piece with your hands to eat it.

This one is the pumpkin walnut pie. I also liked this one. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, but found this one to be quite good.

This one is the blueberry walnut pie. I don't like blueberries that much, so I didn't try it - plus I was kind of full from dinner.

This one is the cranberry walnut pie. Again, I was full from dinner, so I didn't try this one, but it looked good.

Since I enjoyed the mini pies so much, I decided to pick up some pies for my team at work to enjoy for the new year. So I picked up two pies and some chocolates. The pies were 20000 won each the box chocolates was 6000 won for 10 pieces. For my 46000 won purchase, the couple running the store for the evening (owners, maybe) gave me a cookie and a piece of chocolate for free, lol.

This is the "combi" pie. It's a combination of blueberry walnut, pumpkin walnut, and plain walnut.

This one is the pumpkin walnut pie.

The chocolates come in a cute little house ^^. And they have *gasp* walnuts in them! I tried the sample they gave me and loved it! The chocolate is very smooth and just melts in your mouth. I would definitely recommend their walnut chocolates to anyone.

This is a walnut cookie. I wasn't a fan of the cookie :( . To me, the cookie part of it tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie, which I don't care for. But, the cookie was soft and moist. If it didn't taste like oatmeal raisin batter, I would've loved it.

So, I think overall, Donglee Pie is a nice little shop with fairly reasonably priced pies (as far as I can tell, they make them fresh each day). And they taste good :) So if you're looking for a pie in Yeongtong, swing by and share a mini pie with a friend or have it for yourself ^^