Craftworks Taphouse just had their grand opening of their new location smack in the middle of Itaewon! They moved from their old Kyunglidan location into this Itaewon spot which now marks their 4th location open in Korea! The other 3 being in downtown, Namsan and Pangyo.
Craftworks is known for having great locally brewed beers, and each of them are named after a favourite famous area of Korea. They have 7 of these ranging from your preference of light to dark, as well as 9 other craft beers from other brewers.
To promote their new location, the owners are promoting a MONTH OF MARCH special for everyone!
*MARCH SPECIAL* Get a FREE BEER PADDLE SAMPLER with the purchase of any main meal entree! See below for some main meal items.
Get the "Sample Paddle" - 12 000won, which includes all 7 of the local draft beers to taste. Baekdusan Hefeweizen, Jirsan Moon Bear IPA, Bukhansan Pale Ale, Geumgangsan Mountain Dark Ale, Namsan Pure Pilsner, Halla Mountain Golden Ale and Seorak Mountain Stout.
My favourite is the Hallla Mountain Golden Ale - it tastes sort of like a Honey Lager. It's creamy with slight caramel tones. The sampler is a great option if you're not sure what kind of beer you like and want to taste them all. If you know your beer preferences already, ask for a suggestion from the server as they will be able to direct you to a great light, dark or bitter beer choice!
I also like some of the other featured craft beers they had on draft. These are guest brews, and are on a separate stand-up menu on the table. I am not a beer expert - I just like it with certain kinds of food (usually fried), so come and check out all the different craft brews for yourself!
We tasted all of them, but the ones that stood out to me were the COFFEE AND VANILLA STOUT (top left) - "Light bodied for easy drinking using Columbia coffee whole beans and whole vanilla beans". If you like vanilla coffee in the AM, this is the beer for you in the PM! So creamy and smooth - it literally tastes like a nice dark coffee with sweet vanilla tones!
and the SNOW WHITE ALE (top second to the left). - "Tastes of "yuzu primary, vanilla, spice and sour secondary with a densely packed white head."
I liked this one the best, so ordered a regular size of it. It tasted sort of citrusy like a Hoegaarden.
It came in a customised beer glass and coaster! As a sucker for nice glasses/matching things, I would order each one of the beers just to see what kind of glass and coaster each beer would represent! Can't wait to see what all the other ones look like too! Love it!
A close up of WHAT'S ON TAP and the GUEST BREW BEERS!
If beers don't tickle your fancy, Fredik is your man! He can make one of the SIGNATURE COCKTAILS that are on the menu for you, or even whip up a custom made one for you! This one pictured is an off-menu drink, but if you ask for a BLUE TATOO (we named it inspired by Fredik's tatoos!). It is very sweet, sour and has a nice punch to it if you are looking for a refreshing tropical kind of drink!
BEER FOOD!
What goes better with beer than hot and crispy beer battered fried goodness!
The best BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP (16 000won) I have ever had - "Beer-Battered Shrimp with Remoulade".
Crispy batter on a fat and juicy shrimp that almost tasted like a king prawn! If those weren't good enough, the bed of deep-fried onions with chopped green onions were to die for! This is the ultimate dish to order if you like deep fried foods. It also is paired with a spicy tartar "remoulade" which is like a flavourful, spicy chipotle sauce that is also addicting!
We actually ordered another one because the first one got polished off real quick! Highly recommended!
A close-up of the spicy "remoulade" which is a condiment invented in France. It is a aioli or mayonnaise based sauce similar to tartar, but it is more reddish and contains chopped pickles, shallots, paprika and other flavour bombs!
SIDEWINDERS (13 000won) - "Beer-battered Fries topped with Halla Cheddar Sauce, Seasoned Beef and Tomato Bacon Jam.
I'm convinced. Whatever is beer-battered has the ultimate crispiness to it and these are no exception. The fried chicken I recently enjoyed at Devil's Door was beer battered too (yes, despite the controversy of that place, I still think the interior is nice and their fried chicken is excellent. Good fried chicken will always bring me back wherever)....I love the crunchiness of beer-battered fried things! For these fries, think of a cross between spicy curly fries and wedges. These are a thick cut seasoned and twisted fry topped with just the right amount of toppings but not too much so the fries get soggy.
These are the best speciality fries I've had ever! The tomato bacon jam is a topping that you want to scoop up with every bite and we definitely had to ask for more! These were so good and I would definitely order them every time along with the BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP!
BURGERS AND SALAD
BUFFALO CHICKEN (13 000won) - "Battered chicken breast tossed in Buffalo Sauce on a Ciabatta Bun with blue cheese vinaigrette, lettuce and tomato.
If you like Buffalo chicken wings, you will love this chicken burger. Generous piece of chicken meat and the sauce tastes just like a deliciously spicy buffalo chicken wing! Went great with the Ciabatta bread to soak up the sauce. There wasn't anything special about these fries, but make sure to order the SIDEWINDERS!
LAMB BURGER (16 000won) - "Spiced lamb patty, red onion, cucumber, sour cream and Sriracha on a ciabatta bun with chipotle mayo, lettuce and tomato.
If you like stronger flavours, this is the burger for you! The lamb was flavourful without being gamey, and the combination of the toppings were the perfect creamy and cool combination with a slight kick. I would've preferred this burger on a regular burger bun.
COBB SALAD (14 000won) - "Fresh romaine, smoked chicken, bacon, blue cheese, tomato and a boiled egg tossed in a blue cheese vinaigrette."
The green smears are avocado puree! Not quite the presentation I'm used to for a cobb salad, but once you toss the salad and get all the ingredients mixed up, it tasted great especially when you got a chunk of blue cheese as a flavour burst. If you like blue cheese, you'll like this if you are looking for something more fresh and not deep fried! I would love to try the CRAFTWORKS CAESAR next time too!
GARLIC SHRIMP LINGUINE (16 000won) - "Sauteed shrimp and linguine with capers in garlic lemon olive oil.
This dish is flavourful as well, but wasn't my favourite dish - but we did order it at the end and maybe I was too stuffed at this point to fully enjoy it! If you are looking for something more hearty and filling, this is tasty and will definitely fill you up though! I picked out the shrimp and the sauce was good to soak up with the crispy flat baguette.
DESSERT
The dessert menu comes on a separate menu, but we tried the BROWNIE WITH PISTACHIO CREAM and vanilla ice-cream with a chocolate drizzle. Beautiful presentation and a nice sweet treat to finish off our feast. The brownie is not as chocolatey and rich as some, but it worked nicely with the pistachio cream and of course what brownie doesn't go well with ice-cream a la mode!
They also have mini cheesecakes on their menu but didn't get a chance to take a snap of that!
Click for a close-up of their food menu!
Fantastic location of their newest 4th location! On the same block as Cheil Building - right above the Bread Show and below Richard Copycat and Thai Orchid. Look for a staircase going up and it's on the 2nd floor!
It's right next door to the new location of MOI - excellent Korean cuisine at a place you should check out sometime too!
*EVENT ALERT!* If you love craft beer, check out Korea's 1st Craft Beer Festival in Gapyeong!!!
Friday, April 17 - Saturday, April 28th. NOON-10pm. Click the picture below for more information on their FB page!
https://www.facebook.com/events/362448233959894/
What? Craftworks Taphouse Itaewon. Newest 4th location of their local craft beer pub with great bar food and entrees - and craft beers of course!
See their website for their other 3 locations: http://www.craftworkstaphouse.com
Who? For the beers, anyone of age. For the food, any age - there is something on the menu for everyone! If you like fried and flavourful things - get the Beer-Battered Shrimp and Sidewinders!
When? Itaewon location: 7 days a week, 4pm-1am for now. They will be opening for lunch later on this month so look out for that!
Parking? Street Parking
Cards Accepted? Yes
Where? Itaewon location: 서울시 용산구 한남동 736-9 2층. 736-9 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Call: 02-749-2649
Directions: Exit out of Itaewon (Line 6), Exit #3. Keep walking straight for about 150 metres. Pass Dunkin Donuts, pass the fire station, pass Softree and keep going until you pass the clothing store A-land. Look to your right and it's on the 2nd floor right about the Bread Show and below Thai Orchid. It' right next to MOI - a great Korean food joint to check out as well!
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