Mikkeller Bar Seoul

Modern, chic, divey and posh are some adjectives used to described bars, but “cute?” Can you ever describe a bar as being “cute?” It was definitely not an adjective I would have used before going to the new Mikkeller Bar in Garosugil. Known for ”gypsy brewing,” a kind of outsourcing that results in low overhead and experimental, one-off brews, the originally Danish brand “Mikkeller” has a reputation that precedes them. Founded by high school teacher Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and journalist Kristian Klarup Keller in 2006, they wanted to “challenge beer friends with intense new tastes.” Some of that is reflected in their colorful chalkboard menu that changes every day and a menu that dozens of fans (many of them visitors to the first Asian Mikkeller branch in Bangkok or just beer fanatics) lined up for on opening day this past June 27. When you hear the names of the beers that people are drinking, it might make you chuckle. Beers here are served in wine glasses and have witty titles like “Henry Jagger,” “Orange Yuzu Glad Said I Was Porter” and “Taedonggang,” a reference to something former Economist writer Daniel Tudor once said about North Korean beer: “[South] Korean beer isn’t tasty… and the North’s Taedonggang Beer … tastes surprisingly good.” Mikkeller’s Taedonggang, which plans to stick around for a while, is a classic pale ale with a light and fresh finish. Be on the lookout for the “Spontan” series if the hard-to-find sour is your flavor and fear not if you don’t even know what you like to drink. The changing nature of the beers has even the most pretentious beer snobs asking questions. Weeknights are surprisingly popular. The staff understands English and oh, the hat-wearing cactus out front, the colorful illustrations and the low hanging lights? They’re all incredibly “cute.”