Romantic Day Trip to Bonjour Restaurant & Cafe

Bonjour Restaurant & Cafe, pronounced as "bong-joo-roo" in Korean (봉주르), is made of multiple buildings. You have more than enough options to choose where you want to hangout with friends and loved ones. There are designated locations for eating, drinking and firing up your marshmallows!

Located approximately 20 miles east from central Seoul, the 90-minute drive is worth to take your date on a day trip. On the way to the restaurant, you'll get a view of the Han River and pass by a wall covered by written confessions of love.

I recommend driving to Bonjour before sunset so you can get a clear view of the mountains and river. After the sun sets sit around the campfire and get toasty. Gather your friends, tell stories and laugh your butt off. Or share some smooches with your significant other.

I've been told Bonjour is more known for its ambiance than food. I agree the venue outshines the food. Regardless what my friends and I ordered was edible. Their Mung Bean Pancake (녹두빈대떡/nok-du-bin-dae-tteok) was simple and standard. It had a light crisp. Yummy in a bland sort of way. Cost: 15,000 won.

The Earthen Bowl of Yukgaejang (뚝배기 육개장/ttukbaegi yukgaejang) was slightly spicy. Bonjour's looked more bold than its taste. FYI: Yukgaejang is a soup simmered for many hours with beef, scallions, chili peppers and other ingredients. Cost: 8,000 won.

Their Pot of Sujebi (항아리 수제비/hangari sujebi) contained clams, zucchini and its usual hand-torn pieces of dough. It came with a little plate of chopped chili peppers. I poured in all the chili and ended up with a very spicy yet refreshing sujebi. It turned out to be even spicier than the yukgaejang! Cost: 8,000 won.

After dinner my friends and I changed location within Bonjour. We went inside the cafe building. We ordered and payed our drinks first then brought them over to the shoeless seating area. It was a Thursday night so it wasn't too packed. In fact it was only us and a couple sharing the whole room.

Another view of one of the cafe areas. There is another seating option on the other side of this same building! You wear shoes on the other side.

Wherever you go within Bonjour, the lights are made of straw hats.

Bonjour Restuarant & Cafe
Address (in Korean): 조안면 능내리 산68-3, 남양주시, 경기도
Address (in English): Jo-ahn-myeon neung-nae-ri san 68-3, Nam-yang-ju-shi, Gyeonggido
Phone: +82 31-576-7711

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Poop Cafe in Korea

My bestie and I get our digestion on at Ddo-Ong Cafe (또옹카페). We called it the Poop Cafe. It's located on the 4th floor of the Ssamziegil building on Insadong-Gil. Come for a chill conversation with friends or if you need a place to study.

We were hoping the cafe would be super brown and cartoony. To our dismay the interior was pleasant and tame. Fortunately there were old-school squat toilets placed on the wooden floor. That made me feel more excited about life.

The Poop Cafe used to sell 3D doodoo-shaped bread. But they stopped serving them. There's a vendor outside that sells 2D poop-shaped bread though. One for 1,000 won. It tastes like booguh-bbang.

The cafe sells cute dolls. They are the cross between an animal and a snail with spiraled poop shell. The doll on the right (above) at first appears to be Santa Claus, however flip him upside-down and you'll see a pig's butt with round tail.

The Poop Cafe tree is decorated with plungers.

Chamomile tea and chocolate latte~ Nothing quite like enjoying hotties on a winter day.

Another interior shot. Looking towards the entrance door.

More dolls. This one may be ideal for couples.

The sun sets early during the winter. By the time we got out of the cafe it was dark. We head back home before too many troublemakers come out to play. Actually my bestie and I are troublemakers ourselves, but are kind enough to make space for others to have fun ;)

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10-Course Vegan Meal at Baru

While there aren't too many vegan restaurants in Korea, Baru Gongyang--also known as "Balwoo"--is a heaven for vegetarians of Seoul. Baru offers various courses of temple cuisine, ranging from 10 to 17 dishes. Check out the menu here: page 1, page 2/3 and page 4.

My friend and I ordered the 10-dish course Paramita (10 바라밀상). It was more than enough food.

Three Colored Pancakes with Seasonal Vegetables (삼색전 = Samsaek Jeon).

Three Combinations Dumpling, Tofu with salt-pickled herbs and rice wrapped with wild herbs (계정혜삼합 = Gye-jeonghye Samhap).

Mushrooms and Vegetables with Korean chili paste sauce (버섯강정 = Buseot-Gangjeong).

Rainbow of banchan (sidedishes).

Soup made of Temple's Homemade Bean Paste with seasonal veggies.

Rice Porridge topped off with Sliced Dried Jujube.

Wild "deodeok" root mixed with seasonal vegetables and pine nut dressing (더덕샐러드 = Deodeok Salad).

Rice of Cirsium Setidens (곤드레밥 = Gondeurae Bap).

Assorted Wild Veggies and Fruit Chips. Comes with either shikhye or sujeonggwa.

Perilla Seeds Soup with tofu and wild greens topping (들깨탕 = Deul Kkae Tang).

Important things to know:

• Reservations are highly recommended as there is limited space.
• Baru serves lunch until 3pm and open again for dinner at 6pm.
• Everyone sharing a table must order the same course.

Located on the 5th floor of Temple Stay Information Center, across the street from the Jogyesa Temple.

Baru Gongyang
Phone: 02-2031-2081
Address (in English): 5층 71 Gyeonji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-170 110-170
Address (In Korean): 서울시 종로구 견지동 71번지 템플스테

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