DrinkedIn Trends

Party All Night at Belo Horizonte!

For some reason, there is something about South America that is extra charming.  No wonder I love checking out different cities there every time I go out for a vacation.  Sure, Las Vegas is loads of fun and Florida does have a great amount of sunshine but there is something about the Southern part of America that makes you want to go back and check out the new things that it has to offer.  So I have tried Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  This time, I decided to go for Belo Horizonte.  After all, is it not the bar capital of Brazil?

Of course, as much as I would like to go to a bar and party first thing in the morning, that just is not possible.  And so I decided to make the most of my time and check out the morning attractions that Belo Horizonte has to offer.  Surprisingly, there were a lot and it sure is hard to get bored of the place!  And so I decided to really be the tourist that I am and check out all the tourist spots in the place that I can see considering my limited time there.

After visiting the beaches that Brazil is known for, it is time to finally get to the highlight of my vacation – the parties, the bars, the drinks and the dancing.  There is no way on earth that I am going to miss out on that.  So when the sun was setting, I put on my best party attire that will surely make heads turn.  I am in Belo Horizonte, after all and I am sure that it did not earn the title “A Town Where all the World is a Bar” for nothing. 

So I decided to do some bar hopping.  My first stop was in Café com Letras.  There is nothing like it.  Great crowd, great beer.  What more can a tourist ask for?  Next stop was Bar do Antonio.  You feel the party spirit from the moment that you enter the place.  But the night is still young and I had no intention of turning in early.  There’s so much to do, so much wine and beer to taste and so little time!

A vida noturna é uma das coisas que definem uma cidade como um lugar bom de morar ou não. Uma cidade com bons pubs, bares, restaurantes e outros estabelecimentos do tipo é um lugar melhor de viver do que cidades que tenham uma carência de estabelecimentos boêmios.

Encontrar os melhores bares nas grandes cidades brasileiras é uma tarefa que pode ser difícil, se você for novo na cidade ou não estiver acostumado a sair à noite.

O Rio de Janeiro é um exemplo de cidade que tem ótimos estabelecimentos para se sair à noite, porém se você não conhecer a cidade, ficará perdido em relação às diversas opções que a cidade proporciona. Um dos lugares mais tradicionais da cidade é o pub Irlandês Shenanigan's. Pubs irlandeses mantêm a tradição de serem bons lugares para sair, e este pub não é diferente.

São Paulo é outra grande capital brasileira que têm alguns lugares que são clássicos. Mas a cidade é uma das maiores do mundo. Por isso, encontrar o melhor bar, pub ou restaurante na cidade é um desafio para aqueles que ainda não conhecem SP.

O bar ASTERIX é um dos lugares mais badalados de São Paulo. O bar têm mais de 200 tipos de cervejas diferentes, sendo um prato cheio para os apreciadores de uma cerveja diferenciada. Além disso, o lugar também tem uma cozinha com alguns pratos deliciosos e ótimos aperitivos. Quando você visitar, não esqueça de comer a linguiça de Javali.

For a country rooted in its rich history and culture, Brazil has always made food and drink a significant part of the quality of life there. On your next visit, choose from a variety of settings—intimate, beachside, traditional and more—and be sure to hit one of its many hard-to-miss restaurants for a meal you’ll never forget. Located in Rio de Janeiro, the nation’s most-visited city, these three dining options are sure to satisfy your cravings. Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself!

Bar do Arnaudo

Rua Almirante Alexandrino, 316-B

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Known for its rich history and welcoming culture, Brazil boasts some of the best restaurants, bars and clubs in the world. Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself. Take your next vacation to Rio de Janeiro and hit these hard-to-miss hotspots for a Brazilian getaway you’ll never forget!

Allegro Bistrô Musical - Copacabana

R. Barata Ribeiro, 502 - D Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

Found inside Rio’s largest music store, Modern Sound, Allegro Bistro Musical is the perfect place for Rio’s hardworking hipsters to wind down with a tasty drink, light fare and live music. Known for its popular “bossa nova,” a 1960s-inspired Brazilian musical style that infuses samba and jazz, Allegro Bistro Musical gives guests the opportunity to enjoy classic culture at a reasonable price. With free performances starting at 5 p.m. daily, stop by after work for some tranquil tunes and take your pick from a menu of budget-friendly beverages, tasty sweets and interesting soups and salads.

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Amongst beautiful beaches, a vast landscape and rich history, there is one part of Brazilian culture that can’t be denied: its nightlife.  Rio de Janeiro, the nation’s most popular city, boasts an impressive range of hard-to-miss restaurants, bars and clubs for every traveler. Check out these options for just a small taste of what life in Rio is really all about:

Bar d'Hotel

696 Avenida Delfim Moreira Marina Hotel, Rio de Janeiro.

Located on the beautiful shores of Leblon Beach, in the Hotel Marina, the award-winning Bar d’Hotel is the perfect place to enjoy a hand-crafted cocktail and a breathtaking view. With colorful lighting, chic furniture and mirrors strategically-placed to create a 3-dimensional feel, this retro-modern hotel bar is a hotspot for celebrities, socialites and artists, alike. If a meal is what you’re seeking, Chef Felipe Bronze has a mouthwatering menu of mini lamb burgers, ginger-scented prawns and “Brigadeiro” Creme Brulee to accompany your glass of wine from their extensive wine list. Between the guests and the water, the view at Bar d’Hotel is hard to beat—so grab your friends and head to Hotel Marina for a night you’ll never forget.

Israelis don't need to head to big cities to find bars with a great selection of beers. The bars and pubs in Tel Aviv can be quite crowded and who needs to fight the traffic to get there.

In a small suburb of Haifa, there's a town called Zichron Yaakov which is really known for the wineries in the area. However, There's now a great microbrewery right in Zichron brewing a selection of quality beers. Pavo in Zichron Yaakov has a full selection including wheat beer, pilsner, stout, reddish lager and their own IPA. The brewery itself is located just about a hundred meters from the main Carmel Winery and parking is never a problem. And while you're there, you can find several other interesting bars in Zichron Yaakov such as the Irish Pub, The Hobbit or even Goote.

Just a bit east of Tel Aviv is the city of Petach Tikva and there you can find a fantastic microbrewery known as Jems Beer Factory. Jems has even a bit larger selection of its own beers and includes not only the wheat, pilsner, stout and lager (dark), but also and Amber Ale and a beer known as 8.8 (since it's 8.8% alcohol).

Both Pavo and Jems are also great places to eat. After all, the beer has to wash down sausages or other grilled meat - certainly the specialty at both of these Israeli microbreweries.

I certainly appreciate not having to search for bars or pubs in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or any of the larger cities - while these cities have great bars, sometimes I just want to get an area a bit quieter than the center of Tel Aviv.

Actually, the title is a bit deceiving. We're really talking about bars in a Brazilian jail (Rio de Janeiro to be specific). It seems that police report that 2600 cans of beer were delivered to a jail holding facility in the northern part of Rio.

Police inspector Waldyr Soares Filho said that alcohol isn't allowed behind these bars in Rio, but he wasn't able to explain the 2600 cans.

DrinkedIn is the perfect way to find the bars that serve the beer you want, even in Rio de Janeiro... but it seems that beer behind bars might not be what you want in Rio, eh?

You can ask anyone in the Fort Worth area what their preference is for a bar, and you will probably get the same answer...the hole-in-the-wall bars.  Most people like these Fort Worth pubs because they are more personable, and the staff remembers you everytime you come in.

Drinking halls such as these aren't advertised or spoken about as much as the big dollar bars in Fort Worth. The little places are found throughout local newspapers, social networking sites, and friends or family members. It can be a toss up between the little Fort Worth pubs and the bigger ones. The simple decision is between feeling involved and included but maybe paying a bit more for drinks, or getting great drink specials and possibly not feeling as welcome.

One exception to this rule is, of course my favorite Fort Worth pool hall, Rackdaddy's.  I can never get enough of this place. It's definitely a larger bar with dozens of pool tables and flat screen televisions, but the bartenders are the best around. Hands down! I love sports, a fun environment and Jack Daniels, so Rackdaddy's in Fort Worth is my #1!

One awesome honky tonk place to go is The Mule. It has been rumored that it was closing down, but The Mule in West Fort Worth is definitely still kicking! It's probably the smallest bar I've been to, but I had the best time! Great bartenders, great waitresses, and great entertainment make for a fantastic evening!

Going to New York can be a luxurious thing to do, because of the lifestyle that the city portrays. But if you are planning to go there and splurge, why not make your visit to the city worth it? There are a lot of good places to visit New York, but one of the best things to do when you are there is to visit the best bars in New York. There are actually a lot of pubs in New York City that one should visit. Some people think that going to bars is all about drinking beer and wine, but most of the bars in New York offer food and different types of drink that everyone will surely enjoy having. Usually the bars there have restaurant that is located on the first floor of the building, where people can eat food for dinner or lunch before having fun inside the bar which is usually located on the next floor. If you are thinking of going to Manhattan this weekend then this write-up will help you find the best bars in New York that you should not miss.

Majority of the population today are using devices that are Android or iPhone. These devices usually have GPS applications wherein it allows the user to find the nearest places that they want to visit. If you are in Manhattan, you can perfectly use your devices and locate the best bars in New York that you will surely love to visit. All you have to do is to type in the specific type of place that you are looking for, and the application will give you a list of bars in the city. This is how technology works in your generation today. Everything becomes much simpler and better. In fact, just check out the DrinkedIn Mobile App for Android and iPhone - it's free and will find you all the bars in New York you are looking for.

Manhattan is known to have the most luxurious bars today, and one of the bars here is the 40/40 Club. If you want to relax and grab a drink, then this luxurious bar is the one for you. The interiors are made out of marble floors that came from Italy, with chairs that swing while enjoying the alluring ceiling that the bar has. If you are looking for a private place where you can indulge in the best whiskey that they have, then renting one of their VIP rooms is a must. The VIP rooms are equipped with LCD television, a wide leather sofa, gaming consoles and pool tables. Usually these VIP rooms are good for groups that want to enjoy the lifestyle that New York City has to offer.

Another must see bars in New York are the Apotheke which is known to offer beer and wines that are incredibly delicious. But you should know that this bar is not that easy to find, and you will surely need your iPhone or Android devices to locate this astonishing bar. The pub offers different types of drink, from whiskey to their popular strawberry fennel concoction. Upon entering the bar, you will notice bottles and jars that have herbs, mortars and as well as pestles. Usually these bottles and jars are equipped with their elixirs which are their specialty.

These are just some of the best bars in New York. Now start planning your next night out alone or your next night out with your friends, and choose one of the best bars in New York City, that will make your visit worth it.

Bar Rafeli might be the most famous bar from Israel... ;) but we want to drink... we want bars and pubs serving a variety of beer, wine, whisky, vodka and more.

Tel Aviv - Bar Capital of the Middle East

In fact, except for the balmy weather, you hardly notice that you are in an area of the world where the bar to person ratio is probably the lowest in the world. Not so in Tel Aviv. Bars and Pubs are everywhere to be found ranging from Irish Pubs, Rock Bars, Wine Bars and all sorts of watering holes spread out between the beach and the center of the city.

Personally, I prefer pubs that are not too noisy and with a great selection of whisky and beer. I think that's why Irish Pubs are so popular - the Irish have invented the perfect hang-out place... joyful background music, the ambient hum of background conversations about the football games and the aroma of beer is what heaven must look like, eh?

Finding Bars & Pubs in Tel Aviv

Any finding the best bars in Tel Aviv couldn't be easier. It seems like every Israeli has more than one cellphone and I'm sure that at least one of them has the DrinkedIn mobile app on it. Standing in Deizengoff or near the beach, you'll be able to find close to 500 bars and pubs in the Tel Aviv and Jaffa area.

Let's take a quick look at some of the best bars in Tel Aviv. My personal favorite is Norma Jean's with probably the biggest whisky selection in the Middle East. Norma Jean's is almost always crowded - even getting a seat at the bar requires a reservation.

Trying to find places that are reasonably priced for the traveling visitor to the big city is sometime difficult. We…my sweetheart and I find it easier to plan out our trips to New York and so each year we pick places to visit. We look at things such as bars, lounges, pubs, and restaurants in New York City. Our first place we begin our search is on DrinkedIn. This is a great site that shows a variety of bars, lounges, pubs, taverns, and restaurants. DrinkedIn now has made it even easier for us to look into and search for our favorite places while we are on the go, with the new mobile applications, and other things such as chat, group, friend forums, and blogs to look at and get advice as to which places to go. So we decided to choose a few that not only appeal to the eye, but also will not have someone spending a small fortune just to relax and take in the atmosphere. DrinkedIn makes this easy for us because it allows us to view the location of each place, their website, their general information and menus and picture galleries.

The Landmark Tavern would be a great place to chill out in. It's an excellent Irish Pub and has a great open atmosphere. This looks to be a wonderful place to socialize and relax with friends or even colleagues. It has a very clean look to the place and the website is easy to get around and the menu is priced reasonably. This would be another stop for my sweetheart and I, while we do some shopping in New York for Christmas.

The Killarney Rose a traditional Irish pub, with upstairs lounge comfy sofas great friendly people good variety of domestic and imported beers and ciders, it looks like a place where if you were to go there frequently everyone would know everyone. I love pub food and just hanging out with friends and relax after a hard day at work or after doing some shopping. Usually we go and say we are only staying for one drink and end up being there for hours, because time just flies by while we are all catching up and chilling out. This is how we know that it’s a great place to be is when we forget the time and just enjoy our time there. My sweetheart only likes Magner’s, because he’s from Ireland/London/UK so we are constantly looking for this cider near us and the only place we seem to find them is at Traditional Irish Pubs. This Pub has a nice lunch and dinner menu that is simple, as well as, the bar snacks we all are familiar with.

Being from New Hampshire we expect the prices to be more expensive and of course we have different taxes, however these items are reasonably priced for a pub. We will definitely be visiting and taking in this harmonious atmosphere.

Then there is Foley’s Pub and Restaurant conveniently located across the street from the Empire State Building, this pub seems like it’s in a great spot. It’s a great tourist pub. It’s not too expensive and it’s in a location, which most individuals go to when they go to New York. My sweetheart and I like going to pubs, since he is an Irishman and I love pub foods we love going to see the atmosphere of each of the different pubs. And of course it has Magner’s which is the best Cider I have ever tasted. Then it seems that many celebrities come into Foley’s Pub and Restaurant as special guests, I would love to be there and someone I admire come into it. It’s a great sports bar, it has tons of memorabilia they even have a web site that you can go to and look at their menu so you can know what you want when you get there. We are so going to this pub the next time we are in New York.

Whether it's your first time in NYC or you're a native New Yorker, it's hard to find The Big Apple's best bars with 100s to choose from.   Here at DrinkedIn, we have over 150,000 bar listings worldwide – so we know a little about where best to go tonight!  From the finest Wall Street banker hangouts to the little-known and dimly-lit East Village hideaways, here are out top 5 favorites:

Doc Holliday's

A rough mural of an old gunslinger hangs outside - this is not your usual Manhattan bar. You'll find the TV on and the atmosphere loud and friendly. Don't be surprised if a waitress gets on the bar while the DJ blasts some classic rock and country. It's breath of fresh air in the East Village!

Deacon Brodie's

Can you name me 3 places in New York that serve an excellent Belhaven beer? Well, we can give you the number 1: Deacon Brodie's, of Hell's kitchen. As with all our top choices, it's relaxed and unpretentious, affordable and friendly. One of the finest jukeboxes around too.

The Burp Castle

Our second pick from the East Village and how could we miss this name? With an amazing selection of international beers and a no-noise policy (that's right!) this is the place for a quite night and an intimate conversation. If you can get a seat on the covered sidewalk, this is a heavenly pub to be in.

The Lansdowne Road

Only the rugby fans will be able to tell you why this bar is named so. Another favorite from Hell's kitchen and, whilst it is a sports bar, it's not your run-of-the-mill establishment. This pick is no surprise to those who know about watching sport in NYC. Famous for hot wings and the "1872 club" - membership involves drinking a lot of scotch!

A lapa é provavelmente um dos primeiros lugares que nos vem à cabeça quando pensamos em vida noturna e diversão na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Sem dúvida, é uma das opções fáceis da cidade. Com uma variedade de bares e estabelecimentos disponíveis, próximos uns dos outros, a Lapa é um lugar que merece estar no roteiro dos frequentadores de bares e apreciadores de bebidas, que moram ou estão apenas de passagem pelo Rio. Os casarões antigos, que abrigam os estabelecimentos e a paisagem tão característica da Lapa, principalmente com seu famoso “Aqueduto da Carioca” ou “Arcos da Lapa”, aliada à visão dos prédios do centro da cidade, remetem o visitante ou frequentador a um clima de pura carioquice. Em minha opinião este é um dos lugares no Rio que podemos sentir de forma mais intensa a cidade e o seumovimento noturno. Para complementar esta sensação de estar vivenciando uma experiência legitimamente carioca, uma boa parte dosbares e botequins da Lapa, proporcionam música típica ao vivo, promovendo as famosas rodas de samba, que acompanhadas com um belo Chopp gelado e um tira-gosto, tornam a noite uma ótima pedida.

Com a intensificação deste processo de revitalização, muitos empresários já estabelecidos em outras partes da cidade, buscaram um espaço na Lapa. O Grupo Matriz é um desses casos. Famoso por seus bares e casas noturnas em Botafogo, a primeira casa do Grupo foi o Teatro Odisséia, inaugurado em 2004, uma aposta acertada no crescimento da Lapa. A partir desta data, mais três casas do Grupo foram abertas. Uma delas, a Choperia Brazooka, que fica ao lado do Odisséia, que é considerada uma das maiores choperias da Lapa.

Portanto, felizmente a Lapa está numa ótima fase, mas não foi sempre assim. Lembro-me que há mais de uma década atrás, a Lapa apresentava um cenário diferente do que vemos agora. Nesta época, as opções no bairro não eram tão convidativas como hoje. Imperavam os “pé-sujos” e muitos bares estavam realmente decadentes. Foi a partir da adoção da música ao vivo, do chopinho nos cardápios e da revitalização de algumas casas e implantação de outras, que o local começou a ganhar vida nova e despontar novamente como uma boa opção, e porque não dizer, até familiar, no Rio de Janeiro. Eu sou um pouco suspeito, pois adoro a Lapa e pra mim este espaço é comparável a outros redutos urbanos famosos de outras grandes cidades do mundo. A Lapa está para o Rio, como “Soho” está para Londres! Torço pra que este reduto da vida noturna carioca possa manter-se sempre vivo e dinâmico, pois ele guarda uma parte fascinante da história da cidade e do País.

Se você gosta ou quer conhecer mais sobre os bares da lapa, vá até a procura de Bares DrinkedIn e encontre o seu Bar na Lapa. Já é possível encontrar muitas opções de Bares na Lapa, inclusive a Choperia Brazooca. Cada bar deve conter as informações de acesso, funcionamento, fotos e a sua localização. Baixe também os aplicativos para iPhone e Android. Localize os bares no seu celular! Boa diversão e vamos à Lapa!

Sheinne Rodrigues Ambassador DrinkedIn

Bars in New York, NY... there isn't anything at all like this city in the world. And talk about bars too. Just in the Big Apple itself, there are hundreds of great drinking holes. Let just start with Manhatten and look for some bars there - we can look at the other boroughs in a future article as I know we have many great bars in Brooklyn and elsewhere in New York. For example:

* Teqa is a great New York bar in the Murrey Hill district
* Rattle N Hum in Midtown - not far from the Empire State Building
* The Snug with excellent larger beer
* The 21 Club which was originally a speakeasy and a NY City institution

Of course, it doesn't stop with just bars in the city itself. Even if you find yourself a bit outside of New York seeking fine bars and pubs... let's say in White Plains, NY - you can find excellent bars in White Plains such as:
* Crave Bar & Grill - quite a trendy place
* Sams of Gedney Way - a traditional bars established in the 1930's
* O'Connors Public House - a  "purveyor of fine wines, spirits, stouts and ales" as they like to put it

How about the other side of New York a bit over the river in Jersey? The selection of excellent bars is not any weaker in Hoboken:
* Madison Bar & Grill - inspired by a 1940s style roadside inn and serves contemporary American cuisine
* McSwiggans Pub - a traditional Irish pub and lively sports bar
* The Turtle Club - The Turtle Club is both an upscale pub and a fine dining establishment.

How to best find these bars in New York and surrounding area? Well, it couldn't be easier with the DrinkedIn mobile apps. With an iPhone or Android in your hand wondering in The City or New York suburbs, you will have all the information you need to find these bars and more - and get directions to the bar of your choice.

In closing finding the best bar in New York or any city for that matter isn't hard when you make use of DrinkedIn - both mobile apps and directly from the website itself.

Caipirinha (Portuguese pronunciation: is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugar cane rum),  sugar (preferably white powdered sugar, or any other sugar, even honey) and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common  distilled alcoholic beverage (also known as Pinga or Caninha). Both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products. Specifically with cachaça, the alcohol results from the fermentation of sugarcane juice that is afterwards distilled. (from Wikipedia)

Tell me if you ever tried a Caipinha before!!

To make a nice and truly Brazilian caipirinha you first need to learn how to cut the lime properly[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNjYzMm8kWQ 100x100]!!!

I'm a bit stumped about how to approach this bar review. On one hand, this was really a restaurant for most of the locals (I can't pronounce the Chinese name for the place, but I'm told that it would be translated as "The Soup" - but because I don't have an address or anything that tells me more about the place itself, I can't create a DrinkedIn pub listing or pub review for it.

So I'll continue in this blog to do what I can't do in a structured way. The nice thing about this place, is that I remembered (before I got sloshed) to take some pictures and make sure that someone got drinks bought by DrinkedIn (in this case, a couple sitting at a table got their drinks courtesy of DrinkedIn - he is from Estonia and she is from Australia - what their names were, I can't remember offhand... then again, I lied about taking pictures BEFORE I got sloshed). In fact, these pictures were after everyone had something to drink (I'm sure you can tell because of the sharpness of this picture below...):

In the back of The Soup was the bar (mostly for tourists) - they had a decent selection of whisky (ok, they had a single bottle of Glenmorangie Original and that was good enough for me - as well as a bottle of Glenn Grant as you'll see a friend of mine named Michael holding onto that bottle since the Glenmorangie was already empty by the time this picture was taken - actually, you can see the empty Glenmorangie in the back - most left-hand bottle). Well everyone had a great time.

Oh, back to the pub review. Oh yes, as you might suspect - this was not the most elegant, single-malt only, full of knowledgeable drinkers type of bar. In fact, the people serving the drinks didn't really know the difference between whisky and vodka other than the color. But this definitely was a fun place (mostly due to the people having drinks) and a perfect place to spread the gospel of DrinkedIn.

As I stated in an earlier article on bar reviews, different people will have different criteria for their reviews - some people wouldn't step into a place like this. However, I'm very flexible in that I appreciate fine liquor and still love to have a great time in spite of less then "top shelf" liquor (although I'm not sure I could tolerate "no liquor"... ;))

This is about the bar review posted for Hell's Kitchen.

 

OK the description in the listing came from the taiwanfun.com website - I must give them a lot of credit...  it's accurate and then some. First of all, I felt like Alice in Wonderland stepping into another world. After walking the streets with hardly any spoken English and smells of "a unique cuisine" (I'm being nice here...), I immediately felt like I was in an Irish pub (ok, I was in an Irish pub - it's just that the shock was profound (or was this the drinks at the previous bar wearing off...)

 

Oh - did I mention that the vast variety of beers? I definitely need to write up a beer review (if I can remember what I actually drank, eh?) - I can't remember, but it was better than the Taiwan beer I had at dinner.

Well - given the jet lag and brief layover in Seoul (about 18 hours), I only had the opportunity to visit and give brief pub reviews for 3 bars in Seoul. I plan to make up for it in Taipei as I'll have about 3 days there to take a deeper look into the bars in Taiwan's capital.

Looking into taipeipubs.com, I do see many Western style bars with either a British or American flair. However, this time I will also keep a more open view of Taiwan's drinking culture and search for some specific drinks to review as well. For example, I do know that Japan makes some excellent single malts and I've yet to see if Taiwan offers a national drink (please comment if you do know of something specific).

taiwanfun.com does have a more exhaustive list of bars along AnHe Road in the SongShan district (must be Taipei's equivalent of Bourbon Street/French Quarter).

I am just wrapping up some visits to some bars in Seoul, South Korea during a overnight transit connection to Taipei. I was put up by the airline in the Hyatt Regency Incheon and then started my quest to fit in a few pub reviews of these establishments in Seoul.

The first bar was in the hotel itself. OK, I didn't have to travel far, but it was convenient and looked intriguing. This was the Vy Bar inside the Hyatt. This bar review was written before the other two that I managed to visit (more in the city than the first). This was a bar for a younger crowd than I would have thought - considering that this Hyatt is filled mostly with airline crews in between flights. I would have expected a bunch of pilots and flight attendants - instead, it was definitely a younger crowd.

After dropping off my stuff in the hotel, I went to the Itaewon district and found a couple of interesting places to write bar reviews for... the first was the B One Lounge which first made me think I was in a trendy Manhattan club. Well, the hint of New York quickly faded to Seoul, but the "trendiness" definitely stuck.

A third pub review is of a pub called Scrooge Pub. This was the bar (finally) that I felt comfortable in. Keep in mind that while variety (especially of whisky) is definitely an important criteria, I would have to saw that a familiar, comfortable feeling played a big role in giving a more positive bar review for Scrooge.

From here it's on to Taiwan!

It seems that all the hot bars are now in hotels or call themselves hotels or inns (see earlier posts). Maybe it’s a good thing to have beds in such proximity to drunkenness (or maybe not, insert your most awful one-night stand story here). Well, now we can add the Ace bar/hotel to the list, which was previously an SRO (a homeless housing program) in the old Breslin hotel and now home to the hot restaurant with the same name (more on that to come). Beers are tad pricey at $7-8. But the rooms are pretty inexpensive (for NYC) starting at $170. So finally, a hip hotel hip middle class people can afford -a noble cause no doubt, almost as noble as housing for the homeless. As for the bar, rather being the typical trendy uptight hotel bar trying really hard to seem laid-back, this one is the real thing, the crowd and staff are actually relaxed. Plus, there is free wifi for “guests”, a nice alternative to Starfucks.

read more at my bar blog:

iheartnycbars.com