Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Restaurant Review / Nightlife: Traveler's Bar

CLOSED: 12/26/2016 (It didn't close on this day I'm just updating the blog on this day)
(UPDATED: April 8th, 2014)    
     I've been to Traveler's Bar many times since their arrival in Daegu and know that the bar is great, but I always arrived rather late and was unable to order any of the food that I had heard so much about. I finally had a chance to get there early and grab some dinner with friends. So did the food live up to the hype? Yes, and no.






     The space that Traveler's bar occupies is great. It's large enough to where you never feel cramped walking around and it has plenty of tables and seats at the bar. They've recently done some remodeling and I think the place has improved a lot, they really get the most out of their space. The pool table is in a separate game room and the dart board isn't in the way of anything, unlike some other bars I could name (cough.. Bombay Lounge.. cough... cough...). A small stage has also been set up for open mic nights. This place is comfy. The music isn't too loud but there are still some "Huh?" moments depending on the song and your seat in relation to the speakers. They usually play a decent mix of new and old popular songs, so if you don't like what's on then just wait ten minutes.
 
     As you can see from the board, there's almost always something going on at Traveler's. They are active on Facebook, so if you want the latest, then stop by their Facebook page. As for the booze, they have several draft beers that you won't find at many other bars, good cocktails, and all at reasonable prices. But, what about the food? Traveler's has updated their website with the menu posted on it. Some aspects of the website still seem rather dated and it was hard to find a lot of the information that I wanted. Again, head over to their Facebook page for more current info. I found what I was looking for on their Facebook "about" page and by shooting them a message. What was this information I was trying to get? What time the kitchen closes. The answer is that it closes at 12:00 and you should have final orders in by 11:45. Anyway on the the food.

Hot Wings
      I love hot wings, who doesn't? These wings are probably the best that I've had in Korea so far. They are the closest I've had to American style wings, If anyone knows of better, please leave a comment, but for now these are my personal favorite wings in Korea that I didn't make myself. That said, Traveler's has several different sauces available and I asked for "hot." Maybe I've built up a tolerance while living in Korea, but while the wings were delightfully spicy, they weren't at my personal "hot" level, I guess next time I'll have to go for the "crazy" wings. I would love to order about 50 of these guys and just have wings and beer, but that would be very costly. Thankfully Traveler's has 2 for 1 wings night on Tuesdays. It's impossible for me to come downtown on a Tuesday, but if I ever someday do, then you'll know where to find me. Or dare I dream? A weekend wings night? Someone let me know if this ever happens.
Chili Cheese Fries
      The chili cheese fries were enormous. The whole table couldn't finish them after our other entree's and the wings. They were good, but the chili was a little too sweet for some the people at our table. The fries were cooked perfectly though.
Chicken Parmesan
      My friend has eaten at Traveler's several times and said that this was the best thing that he's had so far. The worst thing that he said he had was the fish and chips. I tried neither, but I'm passing on the information. I've actually had a few people tell me not to get the fish and chips. So... this was good though. (I got off track)

The BC Burger
     This burger was awesome. I really enjoyed it. The fries were perfect as well. I was completely happy with my purchase. I had heard that the burgers were a bit "meatloafy" but I thought that it was fantastic, you just can't compare it to a fast food burger at all. That said, I can compare it to Burger and Pasta's burger, which is also excellent. The BC Burger(Traveler's) cost 13,000 won while the Original (Burger and Pasta) costs 9,900 won. While the BC Burger is good, I don't see how it is 3,100 won more expensive than the Original. Call me a penny pincher if you want, but that's a 500cc price difference.
The Tex-Mex Burger
     I also recently tried the Tex-Mex burger, and won't be getting it again. It's not that the burger was bad, it just wasn't even nearly close to the BC Burger. I found the Tex-Mex Burger to be a little dry and there were maybe five jalapeno's  placed under the cheese, taste unnoticeable. The the sour cream on the side just overwhelmed the taste of the burger, without relieving the dryness. The menu says that they use "special seasoning" but I think they forgot to put it on mine, or it was just unnoticeable under the sour cream. Maybe if they went for a more of a taco meat taste, maybe with salsa as well as sour cream, then this burger would stand out a lot more.


     Ok, so the food was good, if a bit pricey. I'll pay for it, just not as often as I would like. I thought that service was great for the most part, too. The food arrived promptly and dishes were quickly cleared away. Perhaps the single greatest improvement Traveler's has made though, is the smoking room. Customers are no longer forced into the stairwell to grab a quick smoke and can now just head out to a seperated area and take their drink with them. If I had to find a fault then I'd guess it would be that there is only one window in the smoking room and if you ever see it busy, the one window is not enough to vent all of the smoke quickly. Perhaps convert another window into one that can open, and get some crossbreeze action? Or maybe a simple exhaust fan next to the current window would be a big step up.

Breakdown:
+ Food is awesome
+Booze is cheap
+Great events
+Lots of seating
+Smoking in a separate room
=Music can be a touch too loud at times (other times I've been it was at the perfect level)
=Food is pricey


Final Review: 5/5     I'll be sure I don't arrive here after 11:45 ever again.

Location: Traveler's Bar is located downtown near cell phone street. It's on the fourth floor of the same building that Long Life is in. Here's a map.

View Dumb in Daegu in a larger map

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete