Castle Praha

Great Czech beer in an awesome building in downtown Seoul. Modest selection of Czech beers. Worth a trip

There's more than one Castle Praha in Seoul and the one in Hapjeong has a dramatic Prague'esque' style facade which really stands out in the street. Inside you feel like you could be in Prague. Very nice indeed.

Atmosphere, is so so. It's always half empty and feels ever so slightly too upmarket for a beer drinking establishment.

Service, just like everywhere else in Korea is on the cold side.

The beer selection is pan European and pretty darn good (for Korea). There are six homebrews to choose from and most are okay. The Weizen is fantastic actually but the English pale ale leaves a lot to be desired. It's still drinkable though. There's a comprehensive looking wine selection but only puffs drink wine in pubs, right?

A large pint-sized beer costs ₩11 - ₩12,000. Too damned expensive and the reason why I'll probably never go there again. Probably also the reason why it was half empty on a Saturday night.

Another good place to check out when in Gangnam (which has the only decent micro-beer in the length and breadth of Korea at this point) they are infatuated with their Czech beers and they do them with flair. I was especially impressed by the atmosphere. Long tables that were shared (not a big thing in Korea) in a dark inviting basement. The brew kettles were prominently displayed and were something of a centerpiece to the space. The beers were quite good, even if they were not all that adventurous. I would love to see them take a few more risks and move into some new territory (unlikely considering the Korean mentality), but the food somewhat made up for that as it was quite different from almost all food I have experienced in the country. Check it out if you are in Gangnam.