Restaurant Review: So Blue Cafe

By Gabriel Ward

Feeling like a taste of home, I went to So Blue, a sandwich café downtown, a couple of times during the last month. Upon walking into the café for the first time, I was immediately impressed by its atmosphere.

Concrete walls, dimmed lighting, wooden tables and chairs, and framed photos of anonymous street scenes give the place a nice vibe. This trendy cafe/bar even plays western music.

There are four main sandwich options, printed on paper menus already at the tables: a BLT, club sandwich, chicken sandwich, and a veg/tofu sandwich, ranging in price from 6,500 to 8,5000 won. There are also sides you can get such as fries, salads, and extra eggs.

As far as beverages go, So Blue has a decent range of teas, and an absurd number of espresso variations. In particular, though, it is the availability of alcohol that makes the place a bona fide café/evening chill-out venue one might go to with a few friends for a couple of drinks.

The first time I went, I called the waiter over, who came and took my order in a quiet, shy voice. I ordered a BLT sandwich, but kept my expectations in check, despite the fabulous vibe, as the waiter didn’t inspire confidence. Also, I’ve found that often in Korea, restaurants will serve Korean interpretations of western food. I was slightly disappointed to find the sandwich was made with white bread from the supermarket, though I felt vindicated for remaining a little wary of harboring high expectations.

The sandwich itself tasted pretty good with lettuce, bacon, egg, tomato, cheddar cheese, and thousand island dressing. These ingredients were almost certainly from the supermarket, as well.

I felt myself thinking that it was a decent sandwich by Korean standards, but certainly wouldn’t fly in a top notch café in the western world.

Wanting to enjoy the atmosphere, we ordered tea and stayed another hour or so. I left the café satisfied with the food, feeling a little ho-hum about the service and well impressed with its ambiance.

The second occasion I was at So Blue was essentially like the first, so it gets good marks for consistency. The ambiance, service (from the same guy), and the food were all to the same standard.

There was one disappointment, in that the chicken sandwich I ordered was supposed to come with rye bread. However, there was failure to communicate that he’d run out of rye bread,  so he brought my sandwich out with the same supermarket white bread as my first visit. I was not too disappointed or surprised at this mishap and just enjoyed my sandwich.

Both times I dined at So Blue there was just one staff member working there. He was just sitting behind the bar, and there were only a couple of other patrons there.

Again, I enjoyed just chatting over a cup of tea with the friend I was with, in what is a great place to have a relaxing time. Don’t expect to be blown away by the sandwiches, but they hit the spot nonetheless. I plan to go back there again for a couple of casual drinks sometime, as I think it’s a great place just to chill out.

A version of this article appeared in the Gwangju News print December 2011.

Update (June 2012):
To get to So Blue Cafe, start at the downtown YMCA. Walk left down the street that passes Starbucks and the book store. Pass Speakeasy and German Bar, and continue to the intersection near Mix with a convenience store on the corner. Turn left. So Blue Cafe is on the right-hand side of the street on the second floor.