Costumer’s Reviews
In March 2010, a food website, Seoul Eats, wrote a review about one of Hong Seok-cheon’s famous cafés, My Chelsea.
In the review, the website said that ‘the restaurant has a very particular sense of style and cool’. The review also praised Hong Seok-cheon’s eye for ‘cool and unique interiors’ and ‘generally creative and fun menus’.
Even though they praised the interior, they also criticized a few things including the smell, saying that they were ‘offended by a bathroom smell mixed with bathroom fragrance.’ and concluded that it was kinda gross.
Regarding the food, the website also criticized it and wrote that the bread was ‘undercooked so it had a soft, dry, yeasty taste’ and tasted like ‘soft, crumbly beer’.
In the picture: Grilled Vegetable Salad (13,000)
They, however, praised the salad, for its ‘very nice and accented springy flavor, sesame leaf pesto dressing’ and even goes further by saying that they would gladly go back for the salad.
In the picture: Hot Chicken with Soy Rice (W 15,000)
But, they criticized other dishes, namely the ‘Hot Chicken with soy rice’ menu. Even though the presentation was excellent, they realized that the chicken was only a half slice that was coated in a red sauce with stir-fried garlic, soy sauce, and chilies on top of rice. For them, the dishes were not worth the price and hype.
But in conclusion, they wrote a pretty good review, saying: “My Chelsea is not really a place to eat, but a place to be seen. If you are a sleek, thin person that wants to maintain their attractiveness and look pretty while eating, then My Chelsea is your place. For me, if I want a real New York Style brunch, I’ll be heading elsewhere.”
Below is some other customers reviews about My Chelsea on Tripadvisor:
“This is one of my favorite places in Seoul. Don’t miss if you don’t want to stay in the middle of the Itaewon area, very close to many pubs to enjoy drinking until late at night. They make very good Italian style pizza, pasta and even that is not bad. The price is ok. Recommend it if you are looking for nothing special but in a very convenient location.”
“This place is the first of many opened by local actors. Very good pizza and prompt service. I would recommend. Back from the main street of Itaewon. Bars everywhere, just opposite the Copacabana Grill.”
Hmm… not a pretty bad review, right?
The Restaurant Has Closed Down
Unfortunately, in early December 2019, one of Hong Seok-cheon;s Itaewon restaurants which he had been operating for 14 years had to close due to the expensive rents, a sharp rise in the minimum wage for workers, and the changing landscape of the streets.
He posted a picture of the restaurant on his Instagram on December 6th, 2019, writing in his caption that the restaurant only stayed open until December 9th, 2019, before it would be shut down forever. He wrote a heartbreaking caption, “My heart is breaking. This is a place I created one small piece at a time…”
He continued, stating: “Rather than people spending money here, I want to thank everyone who has come through this space. I have many things to say but I’ll tell you later when I’m feeling better. In a little while, I’ll come back… I feel lonely but I’ll try to bear it. My restaurant used to be called a gathering of wonderful foods around the world but now it’s just a common street stall. How neighborhoods change.”
Hong Seok-cheon, who has been in the restaurant business for quite a long time, has complained that the situation in Itaewon has been difficult since last year, and it’s now the time to say bye-bye for one of his beloved restaurants.
In March 2020, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak hit South Korea pretty badly. The impact of that outbreak is the closing of a few businesses, including Hong Seok-cheon’s restaurants. Hong Seok-cheon shared this sad news on March 16th, 2020, along with some photos of his empty restaurant on Instagram and a statement about pausing the business.
He wrote on the caption, “It’s been about 12 years since My Chelsea opened in Itaewon and it’s a store that I’ve run without resting for a single day. It’s temporarily shut down since last week due to COVID-19. I’m tearing up. The monthly rent alone is 9.35 million won (approximately $7,600). I’m taking this time to rest and it gave me a thought. If there is anyone who wants to use this space, is overflowing with passion, and makes good content, please contact me. I think we could have fun together, whether it be food, a flea market, filming for YouTube, or distributing specialty products in connection with the local government [laughter]. It can also be content that I’m planning to share online.”
He continued, “I’ll pay the rent. Please contact me if you have a pop-up store in the main area of Itaewon in Seoul and have items you want to introduce to customers. You can contact me via direct message. When the economy is poor like this, I think the answer is to gather ideas and passion to help each other. Let’s have a new start. I will not sit still and be destroyed by COVID-19. Let’s try to gain strength. Good luck to the city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. To those who are self-employed, please gain strength. Small businesses, I hope all of you will gain strength. Everyone working to stop the outbreak, please hang in there. Let’s keep our chin up, South Korea.”
Find strength, Hong.
Now, those are all the information and updates that you need to know regarding Hong Seok-cheon’s restaurant business! Do you have any thoughts? Share them with us in the comment section below!
