Back again near Itaewon, just up from the main Gyeongridan-gil street, surrounded by homes and opposite a community centre, is Bo Market. This is one of two branches, the other being close by in Hannamdong.
Bo Market seems like an interesting name for what appears like just a restaurant and café. However, the name fits the space well as it is not only a restaurant and café, but also a goods store, bakery and deli. There are three areas to the space. The first is the restaurant, the second is the goods store, and the third is a small bakery.
When you enter the café, you are in the main area that is the restaurant. To the left there is a corridor to the other parts of the space. One the left wall of this main space is a small deli and home section.
There is a refrigerator full of fresh herbs, cheese and cured meat. Beyond that is a selection of wines. Also opposite this is a selection of sustainable products like eco carrier bags, toothbrushes and other miscellaneous items like soap, pens and glasses.
At the rear of the room is the ordering desk and kitchen. The rest of the space is taken up by the restaurant seating. The restaurant sells a mix of western and Korean style home foods like tteokboki and fried rice, as well as sandwiches and soup.
The bakery area is the smallest, and is in the walkway between the restaurant and larger goods shop. The bakery has a nice selection of sweet cakes, tarts and breads.
The last part of the space is the store with offers a selection of homewares such as crockery, posters and even stationery.
The whole space had an interesting colour scheme of sage green and orange. All the walls throughout the space were green, with even the shelving painted green. There were other finishes of wood and aluminium seen in storage and some of the counters.
The place made use of windows well with half of the building covered with floor length windows. These let in a lovely amount of light into each area of the place. The most beautiful window of all however was an orange tinted one with text over the top of it. There were also other windows with large orange polka dots covering the glass. The space also played well with shapes, with features of arches throughout the different areas.
The main area for seating was in the restaurant part, however there were also outside seats. Some seats were on the wooden deck, while others were on a paved area out the front of the building.
I have been here very often, however it’s always so busy and difficult to walk around, let alone get a seat. Due to this I’ve only ever gotten take out drinks.
I usually get their chai tea latte, and my friends have had the americano. The chai tea latte is always tasty, with a nice sweetness and relatively strong spice flavour. The coffee is also a nice unoffensive brew, according to my friend.
To put it simply, this space is a very western style café and eatery, with the added bonus of a store. In dead beat terms, for this space to tick all the boxes is an understatement. Whether you want a bite to eat, a coffee, some herbs or some new plates Bo Market has got what you need. If you can get a set, it’s worth sitting in, especially as the weather gets warmer. But if you can’t not to worry, it’s worth getting take out and perusing the goods on sale.
댓글