Hongdae is a neighborhood in Seoul that is known for its cool cafes, trendy stores and music venues. These venues are famous for featuring up-and-coming indie artists, so it's a must-visit part of Seoul for music lovers. And you might discover a future star playing at one of the venues. It's the neighborhood where CNBLUE got their start.

This month, the IT place to go is the Hongdae Fest, which features a number of excellent indie artists. Check out Eat Your Kimchi's latest episodes and you can see Simon and Martina visit venues such as Soundholic, Gogos 2 and Club FF. The EYK site also features a few of the indie artists performing this month.

But Hongdae is not just a music lovers' destination. It also frequently serves as a set for K-Dramas. The neighborhood served as a fictional home for "Coffee Prince", "Mary Stayed Out All Night", "A Gentleman's Dignity", "Flower Boy Ramen Shop", and "Love Rain".

A good place to start exploring the neighborhood is the Hongdae Playground, also known as Hongik Children's Park. The playground is located between Wausan-ro and Wausan-ro 21-gil opposite Hongik University. On weekends there is a flea market featuring works by local artists and sometimes indie bands perform there. The park is where Jang Keun Suk busked during "Mary Stayed Out All Night".

The "Coffee Prince" scene where Gong Yoo buys a hat for his childhood crush Chae Jung An was also filmed at the flea market in the playground. And the original actual "Coffee Prince" café was located in that neighborhood.

When a newly returned to Korea Jung Il Woo meets his friends in "Flower Boy Ramen Shop," the cafe they visit is also based in Hongdae.

And Hongik University was featured in the "Love Rain" episode where Yoona looks for a room to rent. Jang Keun Suk's photo studio and the coffee shop they frequent happen to be in Hongdae.

Some fun facts about the neighborhood can be found in a National Geographic Hallyu doccumentary called "Seoul's Got Seoul."

Getting there is easy. Take subway line 2 to Hongik University, and take exit 6.

To see the Eat Your Kimchi Hongdae episodes, visit https://www.eatyourkimchi.com/category/k-crunch-indie/