I had the privilege Friday evening to spend a short but glorious evening at the pub located in the basement of the British Embassy in Seoul. It’s closed to the public, but if you know someone you can get your name on the list. It’s only open on Fridays unless there’s a British holiday on a Friday, where it’s moved to Thursday. Embassy staff man the bar. I hear that the diplomats themselves sometimes pour the pints back there.

Inside is a who’s who of the Seoul community. I got to see some folks that I only see at big functions. I also got to meet a couple of people who are legends in my mind, particularly Tom Coyner, author of Mastering Business in Korea.

I subscribe to Tom’s email list, the Korea Economic Reader. He’s almost always dead on with his analyses of North Korea and Korean politics.

Back to the pub.

It was certainly my kind of atmosphere. Dark, not too loud but great conversation. Great selection of beers, ales and spirits. The pub grub changes each week. That night it was meat pies and sausages from Gavin’s. The crusts were firm but perfectly matched my Guinness. Filled up on those before heading home.