Seoul Travel Guide
The Seoul Food Guide
What to eat in Seoul and where — Gwangjang's pancakes, Korean barbecue, fried chicken and beer, street-food carts, noodle soups, convenience-store culture and the etiquette that makes a Korean meal go right.
Seoul is one of the great food cities of the world, and one of the best value. You can eat superbly for a few thousand won at a market counter, feast on barbecue with friends, or book a Michelin-starred tasting menu that reinterprets royal court cuisine. The common thread is bold, layered flavor — fermented pastes, garlic, chili, sesame — and the communal way Koreans eat, with shared dishes and endless small side plates. Here is how to eat your way through the city.
Start at a market. Gwangjang Market in Jongno is the essential first stop. Sit at a counter in the food alleys and order bindaetteok, the crisp mung-bean pancake fried in front of you; mayak gimbap, small rice rolls with mustard dip; and yukhoe, seasoned raw beef with egg yolk and pear, from the dedicated alley. Add hand-cut kalguksu noodles or dumplings and a bottle of makgeolli rice wine. Check posted prices before ordering. Mangwon Market, near Hongdae, is more local, with fried chicken, croquettes and tteokbokki, and Namdaemun, near Myeongdong, has its own alleys of noodles and stuffed pancakes.
Korean barbecue. Grilling meat at your table is the social heart of Seoul dining. Samgyeopsal, thick slices of pork belly, is the classic; galbi, marinated beef or pork short ribs, the treat; and daegopchang, grilled intestines, the adventurous order. Staff often cook for you or show you how. Wrap the meat in lettuce or perilla leaves with garlic, ssamjang paste and kimchi, and eat it in one bite. Most barbecue restaurants have a two-portion minimum per order, so they work best for two or more; solo diners can look for places that welcome single portions. End with naengmyeon, cold buckwheat noodles, or a bowl of doenjang stew.
Fried chicken and beer. Korea's fried chicken — light, ultra-crisp, double-fried and served plain, glazed in sweet-spicy yangnyeom sauce or tossed in soy and garlic — is a national obsession, and chimaek, chicken with beer, is the ritual. Chicken restaurants are everywhere, and delivery reaches even the Han River parks, where eating chicken on a picnic mat at sunset is a classic Seoul evening.
Street food. Myeongdong's evening food carts are the most famous and the most tourist-oriented, with everything from tteokbokki and egg bread to grilled lobster with cheese and tanghulu candied fruit. Prices are higher than in markets but portions are small, so graze. In winter, look for hotteok, sweet pancakes filled with brown-sugar syrup, and bungeoppang, fish-shaped pastries filled with red bean, sold from street stalls across the city.
Soups and stews for every hour. Koreans eat soup at any time of day. Seolleongtang, milky ox-bone soup, and gukbap, rice in broth, are cheap, restorative breakfasts; samgyetang, a whole young chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng, is eaten in midsummer to beat the heat; budae jjigae, the army stew with sausages and noodles, is comfort food for a crowd; and haejangguk, the hangover soup, is exactly what it sounds like. Look for restaurants with a long line of office workers at lunch.
Royal and temple cuisine. For something more refined, Seoul has a thriving fine-dining scene, much of it rooted in Korean tradition: royal court cuisine with many small courses, temple food made without meat, garlic or onions, and modern tasting menus built on fermented sauces and seasonal ingredients. Hotel restaurants such as La Yeon at The Shilla and Bicena at Signiel are among the most celebrated; book well ahead.
Convenience stores and cafes. Seoul's convenience stores deserve their fame: triangle gimbap, instant ramyeon cooked in machines at the counter, banana milk, soju and snacks, all open around the clock. Cafe culture is equally intense, with themed, design-led and rooftop cafes in Seongsu, Ikseon-dong, Yeonnam-dong and Samcheong-dong, and bakeries that queue around the block. In summer, try bingsu, the shaved-ice dessert piled with fruit or red beans.
Drinking. Soju is the national spirit, drunk in shots and often mixed with beer as somaek. Makgeolli, the milky rice wine, pairs perfectly with pancakes on a rainy day. Pojangmacha, the orange tent bars that pop up at night on the streets of Jongno and elsewhere, serve snacks and soju to late crowds. Craft beer, natural wine and cocktail bars thrive in Itaewon, Hongdae and Seongsu.
Etiquette at the table. Side dishes, banchan, are free and usually refillable — ask politely. Let elders start eating first, pour drinks for others and accept with two hands, and turn your head slightly away when drinking in front of an older person. Do not leave chopsticks standing upright in rice, which evokes funeral rites. Many restaurants have a call button on the table to summon staff. There is no tipping. And note that many traditional restaurants serve set dishes for two or more, so solo travelers may do better at markets, noodle shops and gukbap restaurants.
Vegetarians and dietary needs. Korean cooking uses meat, fish sauce and seafood broths widely, even in vegetable dishes, so vegetarians should look for temple-food restaurants, dedicated vegan places, and learn the words for no meat and no fish. Translation apps help a great deal. Spice levels can be high; ask for mild if you are unsure.