Today I visited Hoya's family restaurant, which is located a bit outside of Seoul. By subway, take Line 1 to Incheon and get off at 부평역, which ends up being the most confusing shopping mall ever. There are 31 exits, so try to follow the signs for exit 21 (it's best to ask people!). Once you come out of the exit, keep walking straight for less than a minute and make an immediate right at the next street. Then the restaurant is directly on the left, on the second floor!vThis restaurant used to be 돈까스타 (Tonkatsutar) the tonkatsu restaurant, but they changed it to 돈수백 (Donsubaek).
To enter, walk up the stairs located just below the 노래 sign and go through the glass doors! Inside are several tables, a television playing Music Bank (too bad Infinite just ended their "Last Romeo" promotions), and little areas dedicated to Hoya and Infinite!
This restaurant now serves pork soup, which my Korean Inspirit friend said is common in Hoya's hometown, Busan.
The food was delicious! Kimchi and radish are on the side, so you use tongs to refill yourself, and other banchan was provided, such as seasoned green onions and two sauce jars. We weren't sure how to eat our dishes (we just ordered the first dish, Pork Soup with Rice), so Hoya's dad came over and told us to pour one spoonful of each sauce into our soup. (There was also another older woman there who called this man "Hoya's father," which is how we figured out these were Hoya's parents)!
And now onto the designated Hoya areas. Once entering the restaurant, directly to the left is a signed, framed poster of Hoya from Second Invasion Evolution, with some photos of Hoya from
Destiny.
Then next to this was the cashier counter. In front was a "Last Romeo" pin and a purple birthday bear for Hoya.
Behind the counter, on the right, was some fanart of Hoya and Hoya's "Last Romeo" photocard. Also the laptop was on an Infinite fanpage (maybe fan cafe?)! When I went to pay, Hoya's dad was very reserved and hardly spoke, so I sadly was too discouraged to say that I'm Hoya's fan and came all the way from the US! Directly after leaving the restaurant, I really regretted it...I definitely won't make this mistake at any of Infinite's other restaurants!
Nearby was also a wall with the restaurant's name in Chinese and English (which is also the website).
Directly across from the counter was a Hoya shrine. Firstly, there was a clock from
Destiny era, and a plate with Infinite's autographs!
Next to that was a storage container, then an old plate from their previous restaurant with a
First Invasion baseball cap!
And past this was a very narrow hallway with gorgeous display of Hoya's photos and some notes from international Hoya fans and fansites (I saw ones from Japan and Taiwan). The walls are filled with posters and concert goods.
Here is a load of my photos. This is a beach towel from Second Invasion Evolution, signed by the members! You can see Sungyeol's old and new signatures between this towel and that plate.
And here is some greasy Hoya throwing hearts!
And some beautiful canvases of Hoya performing, along with a Reply 1997 photo.
And here is a long table full of small fan photos, fan notes (the post-it message board isn't here anymore), Hoya's photocards and concert goods. It's so long that I took three photos to capture everything.
And here's the middle section.
And the final section.
And lastly, there is a cutout of Hoya tucked into the corner. He seems so shy hiding behind the plant!
Also here's the business card if you want more information.
My experience at Hoya's restaurant was amazing, and I was so starstruck just being in the presence of his parents! My only regret is not talking to his parents...but the memories I made here will definitely remain forever.
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