Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.
I never thought that I’d be spending the first night of my third trip to Seoul dressing up in Slytherin robes at a Harry Potter cafe, but recently life has been taking me to some interesting places. 943 King’s Cross Cafe is located in the Hongdae district and features magical concoctions, beautiful Hogwarts-inspired interior decor, and costumes you can borrow and dress up in. Immediately I was seduced by the Dragon’s Blood and eyeball cocktail upon entering (fortunately no advanced reservations were required). After my long flight, sipping on some vodka and relaxing at this 5 floor cafe seemed like the perfect way to relax.
I have been to the Harry Potter cafes in both Tokyo and Singapore before, but Seoul’s by far was the most extravagant. I appreciated the long boarding school-like tables they had on one floor, but they also had couches and tables for small groups on other floors. Each floor had a unique theme and the top floor even had a Christmas tree since I came here during the winter. Many paintings were hung on the walls mimicking the Hogwarts portraits. Although they couldn’t talk, under the fluorescent lighting they almost looked like they could! A dementor was hidden in one of the stairwells and gave me a great surprise. Luckily I didn’t stare it in the eyes, or else my trip would have ended there.
The menu had a lot of desserts that you could order individually, but unfortunately the food menu was designed for large groups (like many restaurants are in Seoul). Fortunately I wasn’t bothered by this because cocktails and desserts were all I wanted anyway! The main draw of this cafe is the free robes that you can borrow on the 5th floor. I had so much fun taking pictures and all of the people around me were genuinely thrilled to be here. There’s also a gift shop with some very cute Slytherin earrings that I almost bought (but I decided to look at the night market instead).
Experiencing childhood memories in a foreign country is truly something special. I would recommend coming here if you are a fan of the series because it is truly something magical.
Singapore is not only home to the courageous Merlion, but is also a reputably safe country to go drinking in. Like many big cities in Asia, Singapore has no shortage of unique night life places to explore until the early hours of the morning. The plus is that almost everyone in this country speaks English among other languages and are generally helpful and willing to talk to you. Most bars and clubs usually stay open until 1am-4am depending on the day. Essentially whatever you’re in the mood for you’ll probably find here!
A lot of people enjoy drinking in the upscale Clarke Quay district near the heart of the city, but I did my best to venture off the beaten path and into the bars with unique themes and original cocktails. Here are my top picks:
When I was researching bars online, the name and theme of this one caught my attention right away. Who doesn’t love a Nintendo-themed bar?! Not only that, but they also have a number of Midway Arcade machines available to play, a worthy collection of cartridges displayed on the wall, and an original hand-drawn menu (my favorite was the shooters page). There are also DJs that frequently play a handful of genres depending on the event. I came during oldies night which wasn’t really my taste, but I still enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar. Seeing “It’s on like Donkey Kong” written in the Sega font IRL in a foreign country was surreal.
The downside was the crowd was mostly drunken expats, and the music was loud so it was difficult to hear anyone. Nineteen80 is definitely a “get up and dance” bar when they have weekend parties, so be sure to come here when you have properly pre-gamed (fortunately I had). The cover fee was around 18 SD, but that included one drink so it wasn’t bad. If the music was more my type, I’m sure I would have stayed here a lot longer.
This bar is situated near Chinatown, and is also in the gay district so there are a lot of interesting bars nearby. I would recommend getting here before your main destination on your barhopping journey.
The deer seats add an interesting aesthetic to this Harry Potter cafe.
As someone who’s been a Harry Potter fan for more than half of their life, I could not pass up the opportunity to go to this magically themed cafe. They not only brew magical potions filled with booze, but also have a full food menu with delicately crafted desserts. I had previously gone to the Wizarding Worlds Cafe in Tokyo and had a great experience, so I wanted to see how this place measured up. Platform 1904 has a more extensive menu and less of a wait time since it’s a permanent establishment (as compared to the pop-up cafe that I went to). I enjoyed ordering a golden snitch cake and the Flaming Brew Cocktail because the presentation was very elaborate:
In addition to the golden snitch cake, there are many other colorful pastries for sale that all beautifully capture the Harry Potter theme:
The only downside of this cafe was the price. I could buy a lot more food for a cheaper price at most restaurants around this area, but I came here once again for the experience. One dish and one dessert are pretty filling, plus I mastered the art of potions class and took some neat photos in the process!
This restaurant is located Serangoon Road where many of the hostels are, so I was able to walk here.
First of all, I love the name of this restaurant–it truly stands out for being a Korean bistro. Second of all, I love the shochu cocktails here. They are absolutely gigantic and craftily tipped into a glass of margarita mix to create a wonderful flavor. Though I’ve been to Korea twice, I’ve never seen a cocktail like this before:
What happens in Singapore stays in Singapore.
In addition to this crazy concoction, they also have a ton of westernized Korean food available. The kimchi fries caught my eye, but the downside of this bar was that all of the portion sizes were too huge for one person to finish. Though I very much enjoyed my shochu cocktail, I was only able to get through half of it. I looked around and nobody else at the bar was able to finish it either! Though in this case it was worth the money, I wish they sold their food and drinks in smaller portion sizes so it wouldn’t get wasted.
This bar is located near Chinatown not far from Nineteen80. I recommend getting only one drink here, else you will easily get full.
Overall I was extremely happy with my bar choices, because I had the chance to try so many crazy things that I’ll always remember. I hope that those traveling through Singapore find my experiences helpful!
When I first started teaching in Japan 3 years ago, I was very surprised at how popular Harry Potter was here! Thanks to the Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios Japan, the world of Hogwarts has captured the hearts of many people. I’ve loved the series since I was young, but I never imagined that I’d be going to a themed café in Shinjuku collaborating with HP and the new Fantastic Beasts movie that just came out!
Though the cafe space was actually quite small because it was located on the 5th floor of the Shinjuku MYLORD department store, it definitely had a magical atmosphere you wouldn’t find elsewhere in Tokyo!
My friend and I waited 2 hours in line to enter on a Sunday afternoon in early December because there was no online reservation system (unlike many other temporary theme cafés here), but we thought it was well worth the wait. Perhaps if you are just here on vacation you might think it’s a waste of time, but we’ve both lived in Tokyo for a while and are used to the long waits.
The cafe included a display case with autographs of Dumbledore’s Army, and also had Dan Folger (who plays Jacob from Fantastic Beasts) on the wall with the text WHO WILL CHANGE THE FUTURE?
A very charming message indeed! My friend and I decided to try some of the desserts out. Me, being the flashy one, decided to order the Dumbledore Profiteroles with a chibi character print, a syringe filled with chocolate, and a pot of water to pour on the ice to produce a spell-like effect:
Maybe it wasn’t as cool as the Sorting Hat, but the creampuffs and fruits were delicious and I definitely felt like I was at the Hogwarts dining table!
Next, we ordered the Newt’s Pancakes that we’re topped with cotton candy and delicious maple syrup!
I have tried a number of fluffy pancakes in Japan before, but this was my first time trying them topped with cotton candy!
As for drinks, I ordered the Slytherin green tea one with whipped cream (even though I’m Gryffindor, I enjoy this flavor more) and my friend ordered the Chupacabra Calpico Milk. These drinks were better than average because they were blended and some of them even contained fruit!
You can see the fill food and drink menu listed below. Since my friend and I both don’t eat meat, we skipped the main dishes but I was very satisfied with both desserts we tried (that cost around 1200 yen).
The themed drinks were all 800 yen, but I think they were worth it! I would have ordered more if I wasn’t induced by a sugar overload!
This Café is available from November 9th 2018 – January 31st 2019. What makes me curious is the food item silhouettes on the first menu that say “Coming Soon”… Perhaps I will have to venture into this Wizarding World once again to see what they are!! This experience is highly recommended.
