Itaewon: For Cocktail Lovers?

This past summer I visited Seoul for a whirlwind, one night only stay after an interview for an MBA program.  I wasn’t there for the shopping or the nightlife, but a couple of friends from Busan were up for the weekend so I decided to stick around.  We checked out Prost, which I have since revisited and which has been jam-packed and unbearable each time.  Up until this weekend I hadn’t really had a wild and wonderful night on the town.  Enter Ramie’s and Fountain.

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Saturday night it rained HARD.  We were pretty tired, and with the rain the thought of going out was an option, but certainly not a priority.  I got a message from a friend of mine mentioning that her friends had taken off and that she was having a single social in Itaewon.  The cab to Itaewon tends to be around KRW 10,000, so we packed the ol’ umbrella and were soon whisked away to the Hamilton Hotel, behind which you’ll find both bars.

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For some reason, the rain seemed to make the neon lights pop even more brightly.  We could see a number of spots we had never explored, one of which was Fountain.  The stone staircase looked like it could be a really cool spot, but we were meeting at Ramie’s so we didn’t immediately stop in.

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At Ramie’s, I had my first Moscow Mule in AGES, which was served properly in a beautiful copper mug.  It was really tasty and well worth the KRW 11,000 for us to sit in the upscale, but still relatively casual and modern bar with some sweet, ambient lounge tunes.

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I’d like to try it out again for dinner (the menu looks amazing!) and drinks on a night when it’s a little busier, as there were only two or three tables on the third floor that were getting any action.  That said, it was raining something fierce!

20160417_051014.jpgAfter Ramie’s we wandered down to Fountain.  Of course, I had no idea that it was brand new, I just loved the old school Italian vibe wandering up the stone staircase to the venue.  20160417_024252

No cover was required, which surprised me as I walked in and saw a huge stone wall that made the bar which was oddly reminiscent of The Alamo, The Roman Forum, and the library of Celsus at Ephesus.

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Even more wonderfully bizarre?  The DJ played a hit list from my childhood.  We selfied a video of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” (which I will most definitely not be sharing here! :P) as well as “I Want it That Way” (Backstreet Boys, obviously) and a whole slew of other jams from my youth.  It turns out I had actually shared a profile of Fountain from A Fat Girl’s Food Guide.  Coming to the realization that I was in that barcade was pretty wild!

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The vibe was insane with the music, the decor, the Champagne (they have G.H. Mumm for a decent enough price as well as Veuve Clicquot and Moet & Chandon if you’re celebrating), the KRW 8,000 Negroni (seriously – where can you get a Negroni for $8 anywhere?!  That’s a 3 oz beverage, ladies and gents!), and the free arcade games (yes… FREE..thank you for sponsoring my new favourite place, Jack Daniels).

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I think this spot was built with me (or any other entitled, childish, and fabulous millenial) in mind.  Fountain, you’ll definitely be seeing me again!

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