I've already written a guide on where to go in Seoul the last time I visited, this time I'll be sharing some places to eat around the city. Korean cuisine is not just kimchi and BBQ, there's so much more than that. Here are some restaurants/cafe in Seoul you should try:
Piggy Bank Hot Stone BBQ
A trip to Korea will not be complete without a Korean BBQ meal. This was one of my favourite meals in Seoul! Located in the Hongdae area, this restaurant serves grilled meat on black stones over charcoal fire. It can get very packed especially during peak dinner hours. The shop is small and doesn't have a lot of tables so if you don't plan on going early, do expect the long waiting time.
There are many other KBBQ restaurants around the area and the restaurant next to this is also another famous piggy themed BBQ restaurant so make sure you don't get them mixed up!
Most restaurants in Korea have a minimum one portion per pax policy, including Piggy Bank BBQ. We ordered three different kinds of meat, salted grilled pork meat, grilled pork belly and grilled pork ribs, each KRW12,000 for one portion.
We were served with many side dishes, the usual kimchi, fresh lettuce, my favourite bean paste sauce and many more. They helped us with the cooking at first, I guess was to demonstrate to us how we should do it, then we were left to cook the meat on our own.
The food was so good, I've never had a meal this satisfying for a long time. If I had the time I would definitely come back again!
홍대 돼지저금통
331-1 Seokyo-Dong,
Mapo-gu, Seoul
Opens 3PM - 2AM daily
Sulbing (설빙) Korean Dessert Cafe
You can see this cafe almost everywhere in South Korea. Serving mainly bingsu a.k.a. Korean shaved ice, they have more than 490 shops around the country! This is one of the must-eats when you're in Korea and I had it twice during both of my trips there.
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| Strawberry Matcha & Chocolate Brownie |
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| Injeolmi, Blueberry Cheese & Green Tea Chocolate |
I'm not too sure about some of their names but they're almost there. I think the strawberry matcha flavour is a special flavour since it's not on their menu and we couldn't get it in the Busan branches. They were so generous with the strawberries and the matcha ice cream! The chocolate brownie one has brownies in them, with a mix of dark and white chocolate cubes and oreo bits, the perfect bowl for chocolate lovers. The injeolmi bingsu was something that I've been missing since my earlier visit in 2016 and it still tasted so good even after so long. It's topped with soy bean powder and they have small bits of chewy mochi inside too. Just like the strawberry flavour, they were also very generous with the blueberries and cheesecake for the blueberry cheese bingsu. Lastly, the green tea chocolate flavour bingsu comes with two large scoops of matcha ice creams, a layer of chocolate powder, bits of chocolate biscuits and chocolate cubes. They also serve it with a small cup of matcha sauce.The price for our dessert was around KRW7000 to KRW9500 for each bowl and I think it's quite reasonable for such a big bowl of goodness!
You'll find the nearest branch by just searching up the Korean name of the cafe (설빙) in your map/GPS.
Bukchon Son Mandu
The name translates to Bukchon handmade dumplings and they have branches all around Seoul. We went to the one in Insadong, a neighbourhood popular for its traditional culture. The restaurant is small and it's constantly packed with locals and tourists.
Their menu is simple and they don't sell too many different kinds of food. This shop is famous for their steamed and fried dumplings, but they also sell soup and noodles. We ordered their assorted dumplings which has steamed, fried and ball dumplings, 3 of each on a plate for KRW9,000. We also ordered the dumplings soup for KRW6500.
The fried dumplings were really good, the skin was crispy and the fillings had a fair proportion of pork and vegetables. The steamed and ball dumplings were not too bad too, they were soft and flavourful, even better when you eat it with the soy sauce. The soup was kind of flavourless for me but the dumplings in the soup were tasty. Overall it was a good meal with reasonable pricing.
This is one of the best places for mandu in Seoul so be sure to stop by and try it out. Other than Insadong, they also have branches in Bukchon, Sinchon and Dongdaemun.
북촌손만두
153-1 Insa-dong,
Jongno-gu, Seoul
Opens 11AM - 8PM daily
James Cheese Back Ribs
This restaurant also has a few branches around Seoul. We went to the one in Myeongdong for dinner after shopping. Their menu is pretty simple, just cheese back ribs with the choice of normal cheese (KRW14,000), more cheese (KRW16,000) or extra more cheese (KRW18,000). You can choose the level of spiciness and we went with the least spicy. They also serve other sides such as fried rice and steamed eggs.
The servers cooked and cut the ribs for us, then taught us how to roll it in the cheese before eating. The sauce of the ribs tasted something like a BBQ sauce, it was sweet and flavourful. It's even more delicious when it's wrapped in that stretchy mozzarella cheese. They also added jalapenos and corns in the cheese.
I think this it's worth trying out while you're in Seoul since the food is good and the price is pretty affordable.
제임스치즈등갈비
11 Myeongdong 10-gil, Myeongdong 2(i)-ga,
Jung-gu, Seoul
Opens 11AM - 11PM daily
Oppa Dak Chicken Restaurant
This restaurant is known for serving Korean fried chicken and beer. We decided to buy some fried chicken back to our Airbnb for supper since we were still full from dinner. They offer chickens that are oven-baked instead of deep fried. One box of original fried chicken is KRW15,900 and flavoured ones are KRW16,900 each, both have 12 pieces inside. We ordered one of the original one and another mixed flavour one for KRW18,000 which has 2 different flavours in a box. We thought it would be nice to try out different flavours so we ordered sweet chilli and garlic. Other flavours include teriyaki, honey, black pepper and many more. Besides fried chicken, they also serve roasted chicken which seems really good too.
Their fried chicken was so delicious! It wasn't too oily and the skin was crispy. I liked the garlic one the most. The sauce was sweet and really tasty. They even gave us free drinks and some packed side dishes. We also bought some beer from the convenient story to drink with the chicken since it's cheaper there.
오븐에빠진닭
21, Myeongdong 7-gil, Euljiro 2(i)-ga,
Jung-gu, Seoul
Opens 12.30PM - 1.00AM daily
Toshokchon Samgyetang
Located near Gyeongbokgung Palace, this restaurant is one of the most popular places for ginseng chicken soup. I came here two years ago when I visited and I was so excited to come back for it again. The queue may seem super long during peak lunch hours but they move very fast because of how big the place is.
Normally they require one person to order a minimum of one portion of food but because we went in a large group they allowed us to share with a minimum order. We ordered the normal samgyetang for KRW16,000 and a green onion pancake with seafood. In a bowl of samgyetang they've got a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, garlics, jujube, black sesame and more. They also served us ginseng wine for free.
This is one of my favourite foods in Seoul. The soup was sooo delicious and they were generous with the ginseng. The chicken was really soft, even the rice stuffed in it was very tasty.
토속촌 삼계탕
5, Jahamun-ro 5-gil,
Jongno-gu, Seoul
Opens 10AM - 10PM daily
Gam Namu Jib
This is a drivers' restaurant that opens 24 hours, which is meant to cater cab drivers but anyone is welcomed. They serve simple Korean food and everything is under KRW9,000.
Their menu is pretty basic, they have grilled fish, pork and beef, squid in a spicy sauce (not sure what it's called since their menu is in Korean), spicy soft tofu stew and a few more of others. My favourite was the grilled pork and the tofu stew. The squid wasn't too bad too but it was too spicy for me. The dishes come with white rice and a bunch of Korean sides (fried eggs, kimchi, noodles, soup etc). Overall it was a very satisfying meal and the price is reasonable for the amount of food we had.
감나무집기사식당
515-9 Yeonnam-dong,
Mapo-gu, Seoul
Opens 24 hours
Songganae Gamjatang
Gamjatang is a spicy pork and potato stew which is also another Korean dish. The soup is made from pork bones, usually the spine or the ribs. My friends didn't like the soup because of the taste of the perilla leaves but I liked it. It is deeply flavoured and the level of spiciness is just right for me.
Other than gamjatang, they also serve bossam aka boiled pork belly which I loved more than the stew. It's so soft and tasty, even better when you eat with their sauce, wrapped in lettuce.
송가네 감자탕
258-3 Yeonnam-dong,
Mapo-gu, Seoul
Opens 24 hours
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