Probably the biggest dive in Itaewon and the closest thing to an old fashion Southern honkytonk you’ll ever find in Asia is the Grand Ole Opry bar. Dirty, dingy, and half way up Hooker Hill. Great place to go for country dancin’. At midnight they play Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood, and folks stand and sing along with lighters held aloft. This is followed by The Star Spangled Banner. And then it is back to dancing with Skynard’s Sweet Home Alabama.
I didn’t frequent the place too much. But if I was ever feeling a tad homesick, this is where I’d go for a taste of deep fried Americana.
La Plancha is in the “International Food Street” area biehnd the Hamilton Hotel. It’s on the same corner as Le Saint Ex, My Thai China, Mignon and Zelen. To get there, you can take Line 6 to Itaewon Station walk out of Exit 1 and go straight ahead, turn right up the little alley by KFC, at the end of that little alley, turn left, then walk straight until the end. There there’s a cluster of great restaurants. The old “Urban” should be dead ahead – I guess quite literaly dead now. La Plancha is just to the left of that.