While many yangsik (Western food) restaurants are tucked away in Itaewon, it is possible to find good yangsik in other corners of Seoul. When I first returned to Seoul, I accidentally stumbled upon Little Cuba in an alleyway of Sinchon nearly three years ago. I was incredibly saddened when I learned that they closed their doors in April of this year.

When I returned to Korea in 2014, I lived in Sinchon. While I was on my way to a chimaek (chicken and beer) dinner, I saw a blue and red sign in English advertising Little Cuba. I was intrigued, and I made it a priority to return. I was glad that I did.

Each time I went, I ordered the Cuban sandwich with fries. The side dishes were on point, and their cocktail menu was quite respectable. The employees all spoke impeccable English, Spanish, and Korean.

In 2016, I moved to the Yangcheon Hyanggyo area of Gangseo-gu. (In reality, I lived at the intersection of Magok-dong, Deungchon-dong, and Gayang-dong.) It was slightly farther from Sinchon, but I still made the trip. When friends would visit Seoul, I always told them it was worth a visit.

Earlier this year, I moved to Dangsan-dong. With only two subway stops between my riverside apartment and Sinchon, I looked forward to being able to eat there more frequently. I tried three or four times to go, but each time I found the restaurant closed. This is when I did my research and I found out the truth: they were closed.

On their Facebook page, the following message was posted in Spanish and Korean:

Hola a todos los amigos y clientes de nuestro bar ,por razones personales y de confort estamos serrando las puertas por un tiempo. Han sido más de tres años de trabajo duro y si pausa llenos de alegrías y tristezas,pero llenos de muy buenos momentos. Contentos con nuestros clientes y amigos los cuales a devenido en una gran familia .

En futuro no muy lejano volveremos a abrir (quizás en otro sitio por cuestiones de logística) y hasta ese entonces les deseamos a todos mucha salud y prosperidad en sus vidas y proyectos futuros.

El agradecimiento por su apoyo ,tiempo y paciencia para con nosotros es eterno . Que la música llene sus corazones,el buen sentido sus actos y que la vida les sonría siempre. A todos muchas gracias .

Nos vemos 그동안 리틀쿠바를 사랑해주신 여러분께 감사의 말씀드립니다.

Augusto Cesar Calzadilla, Angela Heeju Chang

Friend of the blog Ms. G translated the Spanish to English; Ms. R translated the Korean:

Hello to all the friends and clients of our bar, for personal and comfort reasons we are closing the doors for a while. It has been more than three years of hard work and, if pause, full of joys and sorrows but full of very good times. We are content with our clients and friends who’ve become a great family.

In the not too distant future, we will open again (perhaps in another place for logistical reasons) and until then we wish everyone a lot of health and prosperity in their lives and future projects.

Our appreciation for your support, time, and patience with us is eternal. May music fill your hearts, good sense fill your actions, and life always smile to you. To all thank you very much.

See you later, see you later. Thank you to the patrons of Little Cuba.

Augusto Cesar Calzadilla, Angela Heeju Chang

To be clear, this is not a normal review. I don’t have numerous pictures of food porn, nor was I able to gather the necessary information like I usually do. I am genuinely sad that I was unable to review this masjib in time.

My best wishes go out to the excellent staff of Little Cuba in all of their future endeavors. The restaurant will surely be missed.