It’s now rainy season in Seoul~ Same like me, feeling lazy to go out for outdoor activities cause you gonna need to bring that umbrella wherever you go? While finding some worth-going indoor spots, I found out this hidden gem – Arc N Book. It is actually a book store where it does more than selling just book! Find out more about it with me.
ARC N BOOK
Arc N Book is a uniquely designed cultural space, shared by a bookstore and a lifestyle shop, which aimed to promote the reading culture. Just as a structural arch connects spaces together, Arc N Book also hopes to create a space where people can simply communicate and connect together through their love of books. Besides, they also set goals to have people expand their knowledge and explore different kinds of genres that are throughout the store. Unlike the normal book store, Arc N Book is a curated bookstore separated into 4 themed sections: Daily, Weekend, Style, and Inspiration. Aside from selling books, they also sell some cute stationery and goods to take home. I personally feel that the goods here are much more refined.
What’s So Special about ARC N BOOK?
To be honest, I went there without much expectation at first and just thinking of taking a picture and spend some time there while waiting for the rain to stop. However, it turned out to be a super worth visiting place and I gonna said that it was one of the best book stores that I have visited in South Korea. Unlike the other book stores in Korea, it provides some seats for you to just sit down and read. I felt so relax here. It made me want to slow down my steps and just grab a book to read.
The magical book corridor in ARC N BOOK
The most stunning feature of the store though has to be its corridor with an archway of books that goes right up to the ceiling. This is the spot that the main that attracted me to visit the store.
Warm ambiance and vintage architecture
I really like the atmosphere here where it feels warm and comfortable. The entire space is so well designed and separated. Although there are cafe and restaurants in between the book store, the noise from the dining area are isolated. You can enjoy your quiet leisure time in the reading area and the bookshelf area!
Harry Potter-like atmosphere
From the vintage vibes entrance deco to the British colonial style cashier counter and its wooden frames, this bookstore just gives magical vibes. They even have their book searching computer in the red telephone booth! The styling of this store is such an aesthetic dream, where any spot can be photogenic spots!
A variety of book collections
There are surprisingly quite many English books here. Recently, book-themed cafes or cafe-like bookstores have become trendy in Korea. However, in many of these places, you can hardly find any English book. So, this might be the place that you want to visit if you are finding some English books to read!
โForeign-language books take up 7 percent of our books, while it is usually around 2 percent at other bookstores,โ said Kim Ji-in, a representative from OTD Corp., which operates Arc N Book.
My friend and I grabbed some South Korea traveling guide book~ We wanted to find some places to hang out during the summer vacation. Look at these messy ‘planning notes’ haha (The writing aka drawing boards are provided there at the bookshelf, they are free of charge!)
Cafes and Restaurants around
After reading books for a while, we – the food lovers get hungry~ So, we decided to try finding a nearby ‘matjib’ (๋ง์ง) which means delicious places in Korean. It turned out that the dining places that we were finding is inside the same building as the Arc N Book! Many people recommended it, so we decided to try it out although it was kind of pricey.
The restaurant name is called “MuwolSiktak” (๋ฌด์์ํ). Its interior design is quite simple and has a Korean traditional vibe. My friend ordered the “Byeolgyo Cockle Bibimbap” whereas I ordered the ‘Spicy Octopus and Pork Belly with Rice”. The prices are around 12,000 won. It was a little pricey but it worth the price!!
Look at the visual~ It was officially listed in my BEST TOP 3 dishes I had in Korea. From the ever first bite, you will feel the difference. It offered a mildly sweet-spicy taste with a hint of smoky flavor. Soooo delicious~!!
I’ll leave the details of the restaurant below. Believe me, you need to try it if you came around to the Eulji-ro area.
- Address: 29, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (Zip Code) 04523
- Contact Number: 02-772-9280
- Opening Hours: 11:00 – 22:00
- Break time: 15:30-17:00 / Last order: 21:00
How to Get There?
The one that I have visited was the Eulji-ro branch. Coming out from the exit 1-1 of Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station. You will see the Arc N Book signboard. You’ll need to take the staircase, and go down. Then, you will see the pretty entrance of it~
TMI: You might be not familiar with the Euliji-ro area. How about Myeongdong? this book store is actually located just 5 minutes away from the busy shopping district of Myeongdong. Go ahead and copy the address below and paste it on the KakaoMap to find out the exact route to this amazing book store~
- Official website: https://www.instagram.com/arc.n.book_official
- Address: 04523ย ย B1F, 29 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
- Subway: Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station (subway line 2) exit 1-1
- Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00
- Contact: 070-8822-6489
While you’ve probably heard of the famous Starfield Library, this is another Instagrammable hidden gem that deserves a spot on your bucket list of must-visit place in Seoul! Remember to pay a visit here when you’re in Seoul. And, feel free to tag me at Instagram and share with me about how do you feel about this marvelous book store~ I’ll be happy to hear out your stories as well^^
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
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