If you follow the Gyeongridan-gil road up the hill towards the Grand Hyatt hotel, there is a large set of stairs leading down a smaller street. At the bottom of the stairs, on your left is a two storey red brick building with a lush green garden out the front.
If you follow a path, made of old train tracks, through the garden, there is a sign guiding you to the entrance to the building. This building houses the Savage Garden café as well as the Lazy Farmers Restaurant.
Savage Garden is a vegan cafe that had a very unique concept; a museum exhibition crossed between a botanical garden or zoo. There were two floors to the cafe and both floors had different takes on the theme.
The first floor was like a tropical rainforest exhibit. There were moss covered vines hanging from the ceiling and pools of water with metal walk ways over the tops. Some of the tables in the area were large fish tanks full of fish and aquatic plants. There was even a large tree covered with moss and its branches overhanging into some of the pools of water. Since it was humid on this floor, it really felt like a tropical themed display at a zoo.
Here the walls were mainly exposed brick and the floors were concrete. The colour overall was quite dark and there were a lot of industrial type elements. This simplicity helped highlight the natural elements of the space.
For decoration, the walls also had dried leaves and plants on displayed like old botanical drawings. Since there were a lot of browns in the space and it felt very warm and comforting.
The second floor of the café was more like a botanical museum. This floor also seemed to have a division between it. One part had a vintage feel to it. While there was the same concrete and brick used on the first floor, wood was a key feature. The floors were wood and wooden wall features were also used in the space.
The other part of this floor was like a modern laboratory. Still carrying through the concrete and brick, this part had a lot more white and silver. The floors here were white tiles and some walls were also white. Plant specimens were also on display here, but they were displayed on shiny metal shelves in glass bottles. There was also a display that genuinely looked like a scientists lab, covered in test tubes and beakers.
On both the floors there was large variety of seating in the café that made it suited to every kind of need. There were tables made out of fish tanks with high bar stools for fours, normal tables for twos, benches which cushions and built in tables, longer tables for larger groups and even low lounge like tables and chairs.
Since the space had so many different areas, it was fun to explore the space. Each of the areas was also well executed. With this, it gave the space a versatility for social meetings, working and relaxing.
For the menu, my friend got an americano, I got the relax tea and we shared a berry scone. My friend said the coffee was just so so and nothing special. The tea on the other hand was a house blended chamomile and rooibos mix and had a lovely delicate flavour. It also came presented in a unique way; in a test tube and beaker style cup. The scone was a vegan scone and it was ok but didn’t have a lot of flavour. Even though the scone had a lot of dried fruit in it, it was quite savory. So it wasn't the best vegan baking I've had.
Savage Garden, rather than be a garden seems to be more like plant museum with the added bonus of a café. In dead beats terms, this is a café with unique theme that is well executed. Not only is it a versatile space in terms of interior, it is also can be used for various reasons. While the menu wasn’t a great example of vegan food, it did show that there are other options available and nods towards a new future in food trends.
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