Judies 9 Brau

Seomyeon.

On a mission to try a new restaurant, for the purpose of documenting the experience, we visited Judie's 9 Brau. Iam a Wisconsin native, therefore my ears perk up when I hear microbrew. In Wisconsin, microbrew could mean a once-in-a-lifetime home brewed case of beer that is truly unique and delicious. It could also mean a memorable night at The Great Dane, a Madison-WI favorite, or Hinterland, a Green Bay-WI beer staple. At these establishments and others you can enjoy a complicated Trippel or a meal enhancing India Pale Ale. I'm learning that in Korea it's a different situation. I'm also learning that a Korean microbrew experience can be OK if I can just shake all the good memories from home.

Judie's offered a microbrewed Hefe Wiezen and Dunkel. Being a weekday night we missed any live music action but put in our orders for two 330cc, one of each of the house specialities, at 3,500won a pop. Both beers were served at their appropriate temps, a cold Hefe Wiezen and a cooled Dunkel. The Wiezen gave me the sweet and tangy wheat flavor I had half-heartedly hoped for. The Dunkel was lighter than what I tried not to imagine. I thought the Cass Stout trumped it but my foodie counterpart, Kent, thought that was absurd. As is usual, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Side dishes ranged from 17,000-30,000won and the set meals

were 35,000-120,000won. The menu was easy to figure out and between the mood lighting and the comfy chairs; we were starting to get cozy when the side dish we just ordered 5 minutes ago, the Chili Seafood Udon, came out and redirected our attention. The spice was robust, reminiscent of... what is that familiar flavor... yes... definitely... bottled Sweet Chili sauce! Pretty unoriginal. I thought it was pretty good cafeteria food and Kent thought it was a waste of compost space... again, truth is in the between ground.

Overall, there's a good chance we won't retrace those steps, unless we hear the music scene is worth the trip, but I'm glad we gave it a go. You can find out for yourself if you head out of Exit 2 at the Seomyeon subway station and go straight for 3 city blocks and it will be on the left, in the Judies Taehwa indoor shopping mall, on the 9th floor.

by: bear Gastric Canvas