Look up the highest-rated bars in Seoul, and you will find many of them clustered in Cheongdam, an affluent neighbourhood near Apgujeong and Gangnam in the South Korean capital.
Venues such as Zest, Alice and Le Chamber – all ranked highly in the annual Asia’s 50 Best Bars list – are peppered along Dosan-daero street, making easy work for barflies eager to tick each one off their bucket list in one boozy evening.
Hidden among them is the lesser-known – at least for now – Kiez, a discreet underground cocktail den opened in January 2025 by 33-year-old Dongyeol Shin, an up-and-coming talent on the drinking scene.
