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.
