Sssshhhhh! Don’t tell a s(e)oul, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret we discovered during a recent trip. In Seoul, hidden behind not one, but two doors, lies a secret speakeasy. I’m not kidding, this feels like an honest to goodness speakeasy in downtown Seoul!
As with any speakeasy, it is difficult to find. The location is a secret. The name of the bar and location does not appear on any map in the hotel. To find it, one must ask. They lead you to a door in a marble wall – the only indication of something beyond is a door handle. Once inside, you walk up to the counter to meet an attractive young woman behind the desk. She asks for your room number, checks her computer and then lets you in another door.
Once inside, you’re transported back to the 1920s. An Art Deco ceiling, gold screens, stunning bar and comfy chairs adorn the room. You really feel as if you’re in a 1920s Prohibition Era Speakeasy bar where New York meets Shanghai.
The bar pays homage to Charles H. Baker Jr. (1895 – 1987) who was an intrepid traveller and famous cocktailer. The menu itself states that the speakeasy is meant to be a “love letter to history’s greatest bon vivant expat (who was known as the “Patron Saint of Good Living”)”. The menu is a celebration of beautiful bites and special cocktails concocted under the tutalege of famed mixologist Chris Lowder. Cocktails are broken into sections based on Charles’ travels: Manila, Havana, New Orleans and New York.
The attention to detail in the bar is astounding. Rooms are separated by gold screens. There is a long table with travel memorabilia which transports you to another time – old fashioned typewriters and record players. As fitting, jazz (the good stuff, from the 1920s, not the horrid experimental stuff from the 1970s) plays, setting the mood.
If you are a group and want a even more privacy, there is yet another secret room, tucked away behind a discreet door.
Speakeasies came to be after 1919 when America passed the Volstead Act, nearly killing “The Craft Cocktail”. Bartenders-Adventurers left to continue their craft in other corners of the globe, mixing the ingredients they could find to create new cocktails.
The bar’s cocktail list, as can be imagined, pays tribute to craft cocktails from the 1920s to the 1950s, the period that Charles H was traveling the globe. With all this choice, what to drink? Pete ordered the Flight of Manhattans and I had the Daisy de Santiago.
What a spectacular room and a very fun evening. In memory of this, and with thanks to the bartender at the Charles H, I present the Daisy de Santiago.
Daisy de Santiago
What you need:
- 1 1/2 oz Cuban Rum 1
- 1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
- 1 lime, juiced
- Soda water
- Simple syrup (optional)
- Mint
What you do:
- Fill a goblet glas with ice (if you can use shaved ice)
- In a large glass or the bottom of a cocktails shaker, add the rum
- Add the strained juice of 1 green lime, (optional – 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of Simple syrup)
- Stir well and pour onto the ice,
- Stir again
- Garnish with green mint
- Float on top the yellow Chartreuse.
- Add a splash of sofa water
- Sip, and think of the gentle breezes of Cuba
According to Maxim “The Daisy De Santiago was made famous by the pioneer food and drink writer Charles H. Baker, Jr. in the 1940s. In his 1946 book, Jigger, Beaker & Glass: Drinking Around the World, he proclaimed the Daisy to be the best BACARDI drink on record, along with the daiquiri”
If you find yourself in Seoul, head over to the Four Seasons and find this hidden gem of a bar. Salute!
Where: Four Season Hotel, Seoul, South Korea 97, Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea
Nice information on the Speakeasy! Been to a couple in NYC but this one seems to be on a whole different level ;).
Thanks Celeste! The place was gorgeous and had an extremely cool vibe. If you get to Seoul, go check it out.
very cool looking – the bar area reminds me of the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station…. probably due to the vaulted ceilings.
Thanks Sean! I will have to check out the Oyster Bar next time I’m in NYC!
Amazing! Looks like it was a terrific discovery.
Thanks! It was like something out of a movie. Very fun spot!
I can’t wait to go when I’m in Seoul next month! When you say the pretty lady asks for a room number, does that mean I need to be staying at the Four Seasons to gain entry?
So excited you are going to Seoul! I think you can go to the speakeasy even if you aren’t staying at the hotel, but if it’s crowded, hotel guests get preferred entrance.