Gilpost · Mapo-gu, Donggyo-dong
Bar
Kaerolking
캐롤킹 The name reads as 'Carol King', the Korean spelling of the singer Carole King's name; one blogger joked that it makes the bar a natural stop on Christmas Eve.
Compiled from 11 blog posts read in fullSources →
A small basement jazz bar on Hongik-ro 6-gil, close to Exit 9 of Hongik University Station, playing jazz and pouring cocktails and whisky. Two posts put a cocktail at 8,000 to 10,000 won, and several describe ceiling and walls covered in 1,000-won and foreign banknotes with guests' wishes written on them. We read 13 posts from October 2024 to June 2026, all of them first-hand visits, with no sign of a move or a price change in that span.
Data as of · Published ·
Location & hours
- Address서울특별시 마포구 홍익로6길 18, B1동 (동교동)18 Hongik-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
- Phone02-322-2295
- Typical spend₩8,000 – ₩15,000
- From the station1 posts say it is walkable from the station.
- Floor areaFloor area 49 m² · Status In business
What sets it apart
- Drinks come with a free snack; three posts mention shrimp crackers or old-style sweets. One post thought there was no complimentary snack.
- Four posts call it easy on the wallet: 8,000 to 10,000 won a glass. Itemised prices are a Godfather at 9,000 won (December 2025) and, in April 2025, a piña colada at 8,000, Green Ice at 9,000 and a ham-and-cheese plate at 15,000.
- Three posts found plenty of foreign customers there. In one, when seats ran short, the owner asked a group of foreign guests to give up a table so a party of four could sit together.
- Seven posts went with friends, several as a second stop after dinner; one writer went alone, drawn in by the jazz from the alley, for a single piña colada.
1 more
- One post says requests are taken, but only between 10 and 11 pm. That comes from a single post.
What 11 bloggers said
gatpadeo
Sweet
We read all 11 in full. The most common claims are “Sweet” (4) and “Not expensive” (4).
What they liked
What they struggled with
Things you can check on site
- In a basement 4 of 11 posts
- Complimentary starter 3 of 11 posts
- Foreign customers in the room 3 of 11 posts
- Reachable by transit 1 of 11 posts
- Request a song and they play it 1 of 11 posts
These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.
Who came, and with whom
- With a friend 7 of 11 posts
- Solo visit 1 of 11 posts
Where it is
From the station
1 posts say it is walkable from the station.
Getting inside
| In a basement | 4 of 11 posts |
|---|---|
| Toilet inside | yes 0 · no 1 (of 11 posts read) |
It is underground; four posts say so, one warning to take the stairs down carefully and another calling it a jazz bar in a basement dungeon.
No post says anything about a step at the door or wheelchair or stroller access; one mentions going down stairs, none mentions a lift. We don't know.
The only word on toilets is one post saying they are outside the bar; nobody says whether they are separated by gender.
No one mentioned: Second floor · Lift to the floor · Ramp at the door · Step at the entrance · Step-free access · Accessible toilet · Separate restrooms. That is not the same as there being none — it means we could not confirm it. Worth calling ahead, and do tell us: we will put it here.
How to read these posts
- Posts saying they paid themselves1 of 11 posts
- Posts saying nothing either way10 of 11 posts
When the posts appeared
Month by month
| Month | Posts |
|---|---|
| 2025-01 | 1 |
| 2025-02 | 1 |
| 2025-04 | 1 |
| 2025-05 | 1 |
| 2025-07 | 1 |
| 2025-12 | 2 |
| 2026-02 | 2 |
| 2026-03 | 1 |
| 2026-04 | 1 |
What we do not know
- Speed is split one to one: one post found the fruit plate slow, another said the drinks came faster than expected.
- One post says it is almost right outside Exit 9 of Hongik University Station; another lists a 108 m distance in an info block, which we did not count. Nobody mentions buses.
- No post reports waiting. One found it packed on a Friday night, another not crowded even on Christmas Eve; a friend's claim of getting in on the fourth try is hearsay and not counted. That is not evidence of no queue, only that nobody wrote about waiting.
- Opening hours come only from one post's copied block, daily 6 pm to 2 am; no second post confirms them.
- The phone number 02-322-2295 and the note that seats can't be reserved both come from a single post's copied block; no one wrote about booking by phone.
Sources (11)
Every number above was counted from the posts below.
- 재즈바 캐롤킹ㅣ서울 홍대 감성 칵테일바 2026-04-30 · 고망채의 얼렁뚱랑 블로그 · via Daum
- 당신도 같은 취향을 가졌더라면 2026-03-21 · 블로그명을 입력하시오 · via Daum
- 새해복 많이받으세용가리 2026-02-23 · my story · via Daum
- 홍대 재즈바 캐롤킹 분위기좋은 홍대술집 2026-02-01 · 소윤이의 일상 · via Daum
- 크리스마스 낋여왔어요. | 에겐력 폭발 걸스나잇 2025-12-26 · The Youngest Day · via Daum
- 홍대 데이트 칵테일바 추천! 재즈바 캐롤킹 갓파더 후기 2025-12-20 · 식도락 여행일기 · via Daum
- 25.07月 (1) - 근데 왜 뚝딱대? 빌려온 고양이가 되. 2025-07-12 · LMP · via Daum
- 서울여행 일상인듯 아닌듯 2 2025-05-25 · __ · via Daum
- ☀️4월19일 (티앙팡, 더 키친 아시아, 재즈바 캐롤킹) 2025-04-20 · * ੈ♡‧₊˚* · ✧₊♡* ੈ✧‧₊˚ · via Daum
- やすみ 2025-02-17 · 사랑, 행복, 평화 · via Daum
- 서울 홍대 가성비 좋은 칵테일바 재즈바 캐롤킹 2025-01-11 · 삶을 여행하는 송희망 · via Daum
We opened all 151 candidate posts and kept 11 as evidence.