Diner Pub, Apgujeong

(Directions at bottom of post)















Diner Pub has a good little thing going. Dishing out a good selection of beers, and some really high quality bar food, including 6,000 won burgers. Indeed, as the name suggests, Diner Pub walks the line between restaurant and bar, landing, in my opinion, more on the side of restaurant. (I guess this is the Seoul equivalent of the new breed of establishments: the “gastropub.”)

The atmosphere is jolly. Located right in the heart of the Apgujeong restaurant area, the place is packed with wealthy young Koreans, without that much of a foreign crowd. (This is Apgujeong, after all, not Itaewon.) As a result, the menu is a bit more experimental, since it isn't tied down by the restraint of catering to expats craving an exact replica of the food from home.

There are fried strands of spaghetti on the table to nibble on (see picture below). The burger is not exactly a standard burger. Rather, the texture is more than of cream-chipped beef on toast. Imagine a toasted cheese sandwich, with a sizeable amount of especially juicy ground beef and rich, darkly colored lettuce added to it. On the whole, I would describe this burger as smooth, like a “melt.”

And objectively delicious.

For quality atmosphere, fine beers, and extremely high quality bar food, you can't miss at Diner Pub.

Directions: Go out Sinsa Station Exit 8 and walk straight. Turn at the third left. This is the main Garosu-gil street (shown in yellow and running north-south on the map below). At the first opportunity, head left to cross over one block, to the next street that runs parallel to Garosu-gil. Walk up this parallel street and Diner Pub will be on your left. See the map below:

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