Korea Travelogue: Day 9 - Café J Holic & Loco Quan 401 Restaurant
Hey everyone! It's the bff here again :PI'm back because this entry is gonna be about my husband JYJ Jae Joong's cafe in Myeongdong. Sorry but you have to bear with the fangirling again LOL XD
Some of you may have known that Cafe J Holic is the second cafe that Jae Joong open; the first being Coffee Cojjee which was located in the expensive area of Cheongdam. It was located in the same building as the famous Korea celebrity hair salon The Red Carpet. Coffee Cojjee was really crowded the last time I was there in August 2013. Other than Jae Joong's fans, there were usually people waiting around in the cafe to spot celebrities who go to the hair salon. But anyway, Jae Joong withdrew his investment in Coffee Cojjee in late 2013 and opened Cafe J Holic in Nov/Dec 2013. Okay, enough with the boring history :P
Directions
From Myeongdong Station, take Exit 6, turn left and walk down the famous Myeongdong street. Just walk straight on the main street to the 3rd T-junction (Nature Republic/Uniqlo being the first T-junction), and turn left into the smaller street. Next turn right into another small street and Cafe J Holic will be on your left. Do look up and spot the yellow signboard as the cafe is located on the 3rd and 4th floor. (Alternatively, you can enter from the 4th T-junction where you will see Laneige; turn left at Laneige then turn left again into the small street where Cafe J Holic will be on your right).
Address: 54-6 Myeongdong 2-ga, Chung-gu, Seoul, Korea (Level 3 & 4)
Look out for the yellow sign! You can enter the cafe from the MAG/MAG store - walk in and take the stairs up.
Here we are! You will see a mirror with the "HOLIC SOUL" tattoo on the way up. This "tattoo" is similar to the real tattoo that Jae Joong has on his back which says "TVfXQ SOUL". Come Cassies, let make a circle, hug and cry T_T
So... on the 3rd floor, it is where the ordering counter, merchandise and most of the seating is. There is also a smoking room, meeting room, JH room and JJ Room on the 4th floor!
The nicely decorated counter! So christmasy~ :)
Most of us ordered a Dark Horse Chocolate that day as it is one of the signature drinks and we were cold from all the walking in Myeongdong that evening.
Cafe J Holic regularly updates their seasonal menu. As you can see, they have a winter menu when we were there. In summer, they serve bingsoos (shave ice) as well!
What is a cafe without cakes, right? Other than drinks, they serve cakes, toasts etc as well!
The amount of merchandise you can get from here is just !@#$%^&* D:
TAKE MY MONEYYYYYY :(
They were also selling the Moldir paper toy there. Moldir is Jae Joong's money-sucking fashion brand btw - he is the Art Director.
Lots of pretty mugs and cups! Many of the merchandises get sold out in hours on the day of release, so you can see many of those cute mugs, as well as chocolates, all specially designed by Jae Joong, are all SOLD OUT.
Many fans leave gifts and letters for Jae Joong at the cafe too! (See the window area) Jae Joong actually does collect these gifts and letters and read them! :) But now that he is in army, i guess not :P
With every order, you will get a plastic receipt sleeve to keep your receipt from the cafe! And it even has Jae Joong's (printed) signature on the back. This is like the most thoughtful and sweetest thing everrr, don't you think? LOL. Check out the additional lovely "items" on the receipt too <3
Cute christmas and winter napkins!
We ordered a tiramisu (more for photo and instagram sake).
We ordered a Christmas Fruit Waffle and Honey Butter Toast to share as well.
Before we left, I went up to explore the rooms on the 4th floor.
This is the lung-cancer smoking room...
The meeting room - just a quieter place for patrons to hangout chitchat sing song~
Tada! Sneak peek into the JJ room! This room is usually not open to public. It is an exclusive room for Jae Joong himself and he will use the room whenever he comes to the cafe. But in Jan 2015, Jae Joong wanted to share the room with the customers so it is now open to public but by reservation only and only for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries etc.
The area outside the JJ room is decorated with lots of fanarts and gifts.
Here's a clearer view of the "tattoo" on the mirror that I was talking about earlier. And notice how I came empty-handed and left the cafe with that huge bag?! T____T
Alright, after Myeongdong, we decided to rush back to Hongdae to visit the sheep cafe - Thanks Nature Cafe. Unfortunately, when we got there, the cafe was already closed :( But we still manage to catch a glimpse of the sheep! There were 2 of them and one of them was trying to close the gate on its own! (with its mouth of course)
Directions
Take the metro to Hongik University Station and come out via Exit 9. Turn left to go up the hill at the first intersection then walk towards the university's main gate. Look out for a neon sign that reads the café name and photos of sheep attached on your left.
Address: 486, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seogyo Prugio Apartment store B121
While walking around Hongdae to find food, we passed by Twosome+ Coffee which is owned by Teddy from YG Entertainment.
We decided to head to Paljamakchang for dinner - Haha's restaurant in Hongdae (Gary has the same restaurant but located in Gangnam, not sure if it is still there though). When we got there, we discovered that Haha's Paljamakchang is no longer there and has been replaced by Loco Quan 401 Restaurant which is still owned by Haha. It is a BBQ restaurant that specialises in pork, so we decided to give it try! I shall let the photos do the talking :D
For directions on locating Haha's restaurant, you can refer to Paula's previous post here.
OMG the five-fold pork belly (Ogyupsal) is so so so so good and to die for! In my personal opinion, it was the best pork belly I have eaten during this trip. Maybe because it is five-fold and not just three-fold (the usual samgyupsal). The sad truth is, unhealthy food is always more delicious. The fatter it is, the more yummy it is. <3 #cravingthisrightnow
Haha recently opened a branch in Myeongdong too!
Can't leave out the soju when you have great food and great company (:
Okay, bff signing off now ^^