Editor Pick
Bar Rouge
Below the front lobby at the JW Marriott you will find several restaurants and the entrance to Bar Rouge. You are led upstairs by a hostess and into the red light and colored forward room and bar of Bar Rouge, one of Seoul’s hottest wine bars. It is by all means a very relaxing place to unwind for a few hours, and was a great place to meet people while listening to a live jazz group playing.
Bar Rouge showcases around 200 different quality wines, mostly red, that are all said to be highly rated, as well as an ever-changing selection of promotional wines to taste. These are stored along the back wall in a unique wine shelf, and throughout the bar itself. They also offer beers (Korean, US, and Japanese) and cocktails. There is a menu of tapas as well, and we of course went for the chicken wings, which were pretty good.
The place tends to fill up on different nights of the week, and always on the weekend. On the odd night, when there is no crowd, it is a great place to hang out and just listen to the band playing. The crowd tends to be more local types, both business and friends, and is usually a very friendly place. Bar Rouge does have special wine tasting and winery launches on its calendar as well.
The areas to the back of the bar are cut off from view by large wine racks, but do hold larger parties of people in the four VIP rooms. We found some of the staff to be a bit uppity and unfriendly when we tried to go and see what the rooms looked like.
The prices for drinks can run pretty high, and it starts at US$9 for a Korean beer, and a bit steeper for a glass of red wine.
Open daily from 6pm to 1am (Mon.-Fri.) and 6pm to 2am (Fri. & Sat.). Phone: 822 6282 6763.
From journal Seoul for a few days