The Booth (Gyeonglidan)

The Booth helped kick-start Korea's craft beer scene alongside Magpie in the early 2010s, and this Gyeongnidan-dong taproom, tucked into a narrow Itaewon alley covered in street art, is where the story began. Founders Sunghoo Yang, Heeyoon Kim and Daniel Tudor, then a journalist for The Economist, opened a small, casual pizza pub here in 2013, pouring Bill's Pale Ale, their first beer, with a short pizza menu. The business grew into The Booth Brewing Co., with its own production brewery in Pangyo, and this branch is now the brand's flagship Seoul outpost after its Cheonggyecheon branch shut down.

Inside it is unapologetically dive-bar: exposed pipework, neon signs, colourful murals and illustrations, a drinks fridge doubling as a bottle shop, and chalkboard menus scrawled with the day's taps. The draught and bottle list changes with the seasons. Expect a rotating line-up of The Booth's own IPAs, pale ales and lagers, often with a collaboration beer on, and look out for Kukmin IPA, the brewery's flagship, which was named Best Craft Beer at the 2017 Korea Wine and Spirits Awards.

Pizza is still the food to order. The pies are large and good value, with the Monster pizza a reviewer favourite, and takeaway boxes come with hot sauce and parmesan sachets. A sausage platter is also on the menu for anyone not in the mood for pizza.

The taproom is on Noksapyeong-daero in Yongsan-gu, in the Gyeongnidan area of Itaewon. It is a laid-back, no-frills spot that trades on personality rather than polish, and a fixture of the Itaewon craft scene since well before the neighbourhood's newer wave of taprooms arrived. Reviewers note that service can be slow at busy times and English is limited, so off-peak visits are the easiest. It suits anyone interested in where Korean craft beer started, and groups after cheap pizza and a few pints.