I hadn’t seen Gina in forever, at least not since our trip to Ulleungdo where we ran into each other by chance. I didn’t want the year to end without seeing her again so we tried to work around our schedules and make plans to catch up. The original plan was to meet at a dog friendly cafe in Seoul and get a chance to meet her cute dog Honey. But the dog friendly cafes we found either didn’t allow outside dogs or had closed, so she had to leave her cute puppy at home and meet me in Myeongdong for essentially a photo shoot at Urban Space.
There are two Urban Space… cafes? bars? One is quite big and the other one is very very small. Gina actually went to both within the span of about a week, if you want to see them both here’s her weekly vlog on it. (There are at least two moments where I don’t realize she’s filming so please ignore my face I swear I was having fun)
The one we went to was the smaller of the two. I’m also not sure if I’d really call it a cafe. It’s more of a photo op. The one in Myeongdong offers two cute photo locations. Colorful swing sets—where you can’t do too much swinging because they’re right next to the wall—and a pink tiled pool filled with pink and white balls to make a kid or adult friendly ball pit. There are a couple of blow up pool toys and teddy bears that also call the ball pit home.
The drinks are also mostly alcoholic with a couple non-alcoholic options. They also do make food but the food is….too expensive, especially in Myeongdong which is known for its cheap street food. (Unless you want the lobster tail, that’s not cheap)
For a cutesy photo shoot space I expected music that would reflect the atmosphere and it just didn’t. It was more like club music which is a little jarring for an empty space where you’re trying to just take cute photos, videos or catch up with a friend over aesthetically pleasing drinks.
Gina ordered the Cart Rider which was a drink made of orange juice and Malibu served in a plastic bag they placed in a tiny movable shopping cart (If you want to recreate it at home I’ve seen mini shopping carts for sale at some Artboxes in Korea) that she had almost more fun playing with than drinking. (13,000 won) I ordered the sangria which came in a cute clear tea pot.
Another popular drink is the bird cage drink which… comes in a bird cage, and at least one other that comes with a sparkler. The drink prices can go up to about 18,000 won, but you’ll probably have to order something if you want to stick around and take pictures.
While I did read online that this is supposed to be a child-free zone since it’s more of a bar than a cafe, when we went there was a child running around having the time of their life diving around in the ball pit. Since it wasn’t too busy or crowded I don’t think this would be a big problem. Especially since it’s probably nice for the parents to just sit and enjoy a weak cocktail while their kid enjoys the ball pit or the swings.
I do however have a couple notes. This is pretty much an Instagram bar/cafe. The whole point is really to take photos of yourself or with a friend in the ball pit, or on the swings or of the cute drinks. And if that’s not really your thing or you don’t have a desire to awaken your inner child to jump into a pink and white ball pit than this probably isn’t the place for you. I’d also say if you’re a person who likes to know things are clean and maybe have an aversion to strangers hair then avoid the ball pit at all costs. You have to take your shoes off before jumping in and while that keeps the ball pit somewhat clean, since there is a ton of static electricity which it meant that the balls were more often than not covered in strangers hair. That really put a huge damper on how long I was willing to stay in there. Even with Gina and her awesome photography skills. I’m unsure about the other location which is in Seongsu. From what I’ve seen in Gina’s video and on Instagram and online it looks like instead of pink and white balls that it’s blow up hearts instead. But since it’s still plastic I’m sure there’s a similar problem.
So if you’re an Instagram person or just want cute pics with decent drinks then this is the place for you.
This Urban Space can be found on the 5th floor in Myeongdong. There is an elevator so don’t worry, you’ll be able to make your way up a little easier. They’re open from 2pm until 11pm.