Guide · 10 places
Best Korean Food for First-Time Visitors
Ten dishes that define Korean food, each at a place that does it properly.
Skip the tourist menus. These are the dishes Koreans actually go out for — grilled pork belly, gukbap, tteokbokki, samgyetang, cold noodles — and one well-loved place for each, all within easy reach of Myeongdong and Jongno. Most need no reservation; a few need a second person.
- 1
The benchmark. Staff grill the thick-cut belly for you, so you do not need to know how.
Order: For two: one belly + one collar, then kimchi stew and rice to finish.
Yaksu Station (Line 3/6), Exit 2
Menu, prices & directions - 2
A clear, gentle pork gukbap that shows why Koreans eat soup with every meal. Easy solo.
Order: Solo: one gukbap. For two: two gukbap and a small plate of boiled pork.
Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5), Exit 6
Menu, prices & directions - 3
The original Sindang-dong pan, boiled at your table. Save room for the fried rice.
Order: For two: the two-person set, then fried rice (볶음밥) at the end.
Sindang Station (Line 2/6), Exit 8
Menu, prices & directions - 4
A whole ginseng chicken in a thick, nutty broth. Not spicy, and next to Gyeongbokgung.
Order: Solo: one samgyetang. For two: two samgyetang, or one each plus a rotisserie chicken to share.
Gyeongbokgung Station (Line 3), Exit 2
Menu, prices & directions - 5
Pyongyang-style buckwheat noodles in a dining room unchanged since the 1940s.
Order: For two: one bulgogi to start, then one naengmyeon each.
Euljiro 4-ga Station (Line 2/5), Exit 4
Menu, prices & directions - 6
A chicken pot that cooks at your table, with noodles to finish. Open until 1 a.m.
Order: For two or three: one dakhanmari, then one portion of kalguksu noodles at the end.
Dongdaemun Station (Line 1/4), Exit 9
Menu, prices & directions - 7
Point, sit, eat: crisp mung-bean pancakes fried in front of you in Gwangjang Market.
Order: For two: one bindaetteok, one meatball plate, one bottle of makgeolli.
Jongno 5-ga Station (Line 1), Exit 8
Menu, prices & directions - 8
The everyday Korean lunch: sour, spicy kimchi stew in a tiny house office workers queue for.
Order: For two: kimchi stew for two and a rolled omelette.
Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5), Exit 8
Menu, prices & directions - 9
Five-spice braised pork trotters to share over a beer, by City Hall.
Order: For two or three: one medium five-spice jokbal.
City Hall Station (Line 1/2), Exit 8
Menu, prices & directions - 10
Raw-beef bibimbap in Gwangjang Market — the cheapest way to try yukhoe.
Order: Solo: yukhoe bibimbap. For two: one bibimbap and one yukhoe to share.
Jongno 5-ga Station (Line 1), Exit 8
Menu, prices & directions
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