This will be the first in a new series here at LTG called “Dart Bars of Itaewon”. I plan to carry my camera on Monday nights and give you a flavor of league venues.
Last night we opened at Blue Frog and I’ve already reported the pitiful results. Now let’s talk about the bar.
The bar is located in “Nigerian Alley”, one block down from “Hooker Hill”. This is the entrance sign you can look for.
The bar itself is located in the basement. It is usually dark and dank. The walls are painted black which heightens the “atmosphere”. There also is sometimes a “seepage” problem which has rendered the back room uninhabitable.
Two of the three boards available for play. That’s Jin warming up for our match.
At one time Blue Frog was the premier venue for darts in Itaewon. I played my first tournament here. The Frog used to host a very well-attended tourney each Saturday night, but the owner for some reason ended that practice a couple of years ago. Coincidently or not, that coincided with the departure of Jay Woody and Tom Cassidy, fervent darters are regular denizens of Blue Frog. There are still a few regulars from the league that call Blue Frog home, but it is a mere shadow of its former self. Chris Burslie recently moved his “A” Division team from Blue Frog to the newest bar in town, Sam Ryan’s.
To be honest, it is not a great venue for darts. Not the worst by far (that would be Friends Bar IMHO), but the Frog is showing its age. And its basement location makes it uncomfortable at times, especially cold in winter. To be fair, owner Eun Suk did a pretty nice job refurbishing the back room but the aforementioned seeping sewage situation made a mess of that.
The bar itself sits only 5 and when the servers are busy it creates a lot of traffic. At times this makes the play on board 1 a little challenging.
The staff is pretty good. Eun Suk is nice and my pal Wan Jun is quick with a beer and always happy to chuck some darts when business is slow. There used to be a crew of sweet and attractive waitresses but they have pretty much all moved on to other things these days. I did notice a new waitress last night, and service is generally good.
So, in conclusion I would have to say that while Blue Frog is still a sentimental favorite, other than for league matches I only visit once or twice a month. All things considered, I rate this bar a solid C for darts.
Why is it called Blue Frog and not Green Frog? Since the sign shows a green frog!!!
Duke, you would know better than me. You and Eun Suk were such close friends…
Hell, maybe she’s color blind…
Ok. You rang my reminiscence bell, so here’s another kinda long one from Dennis.
Yeah, I’ve often wondered the origins of such names too.
A reminiscence might fit here – when I was assigned to Clark Air Base in the mid 70’s…..true story, that long ago….. I very briefly found myself with ownership of ‘the rights’ to a bar on Fields Avenue by the name of The Blue Goldfish. Origins of that name, though I tried semi-valiantly to learn what they were, were never discovered or if anyone knew, they were never revealed. As it turned out, the BGF had a semi-dedicated group of guys who liked to drink there for some reason so for the short time I was involved I didn’t mess with the name.
Yeah, wow. So, how did I come into possession? Well, an NCO I knew quite well (I was a 1st Lieutenant at the time) was in dire need of some cash and against all rules etc of association and ‘so-called fraternization’, etc, (gag me with a spoon, here) I loaned it to him. It didn’t surprise me when he couldn’t pay it back, given all the irons he had in the fire, so he gave me/signed over the rights to the bar, which I subsequently sold to another guy within a couple months, and at a fair profit as I remember.
Your LTG readers may not know, and even more likely, could probably care less, but in the Philippines foreigners, including Americans, can’t own controlling interest in any business enterprise, which, aside from the disgusting double-standard the Phil government gets away with, of course makes these business-minded foreigners ideal targets for every sort of rip-off imaginable from supposed earnest Filipino business partners, who start off with all sorts of promises then pull the rug out from under the foreigner, usually within not too long a time after it gets up and running. I never heard of one that came out well. So in reality I didn’t own anything but the ‘rights’ to the business being conducted in the building and even that was probably technically not kosher either, most likely, but it seemed to work ok because the so-called rights were confined solely to what went on in the bar. Potentially worthy of note here, is that many businesses in the PI in which Americans or other foreigners are involved are conducted in this way. Sooner or later though, the Filipino building owner either wants a cut of the proceeds or raises his rent to the point that the American/Foreigner is forced out of business or if caves in from the extortion. Many foreigners attempt to get around all of these hazards by having a Filipino wife.
Interestingly, during the all too brief time I was assigned to Clark I also had a Sari-Sari store, which is a small hut-type, usually corner grocery hut – to even call it a store would be too strong a word for it, and a tailor shop for awhile too. My profit from the Sari-Sari store was confined solely to free San Miguel, a case at a time, probably a case a week, I’d guess (the profit margins weren’t high and the rest went to a good Filipino friend who ran the store) and from the tailor shop, free custom made clothes – on rare occasion – and I was usually surprised when they were given to me. But only that, nothing more. If nothing else, it made for some good and perhaps interesting memories.
So, in reminiscing, I kinda find myself wondering if the same guy who named the Blue Goldfish named the Blue Frog? Hey, don’t scoff, stranger things have happened.
I also find myself wondering why the owner of the Blue Frog there in Itaewon xhit-canned the Saturday nite dart league, which would seem to be a good source of customers and bar-sales, but then, what do I know?
In any case, John, I applaud your endeavor to inform your readers of the dart league haunts you frequent. Great idea and quite interesting. Thanks for that.
I didn’t know they had dancing at Blue Frog. I’m going to get in there and cut a rug this weekend.
Scott, I’d PAY to see that. The only dancing I ever saw was when the bounce out hit that guy in the sandals on the foot.
Dennis, interesting reminicinces as usual. I always thought there were sari sari stores because everytime I tried to get my brand all all got was “sorry, sorry, no have”
Great idea John,
looking forward to more reviews (And hopefully more success in the league for you).
I am really missing Korea at the moment and will definetly be back in a couple of months for a week of beer and darts!!
Cheers
Thirsty
I owe you a beer when I see you Neil!
I saw the ‘Dancing’ on the marque, too, Von.
Who woulda thought?
Not sure why you owe me a beer…..but who am i to argue!!
Well, I owe you cause you blew out of town without a proper goodbye drink from me…
Awesome idea John.