Seoul — Places to eat
Palace walls by day, open kitchens at 2am.
- Geumdwaeji Sikdang (Sindang) — Thick pork belly on a briquette-fired iron grill; expect a queue
- Gwangjang Market food alley (Buchon Yukhoe, Sunhee-ne Bindaetteok) — Mung bean pancakes sizzling, then a plate of raw beef
- Myeongdong Kyoja (main branch) — Thick chicken-broth kalguksu with garlic-bomb kimchi
- Tosokchon Samgyetang — Thick, nutty samgyetang eaten in a hanok
- Euljiro Nogari Alley (Manseon Hof) — Plastic stools in a print-shop alley, dried pollock and draft beer
- Pildong Myeonok — Clear Pyongyang naengmyeon with chili flakes, subtle and clean
- Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari — A whole chicken in a basin-sized pot, finished with noodles
- Ojang-dong Hamheung Naengmyeon — Chewy starch noodles under fiery raw-fish topping, a Hamheung classic
- Okdongsik (Hapjeong) — One bowl of clear pork soup at a tiny counter
- Gyeyeolsa (Buam-dong) — Crackly old-school fried chicken and draft beer up in Buam-dong
- Jayeondo Salt Bread (Ikseon-dong) — Buttery salt rolls sold four at a time in a hanok lane
- Daelim Changgo Gallery (Seongsu) — The red-brick warehouse café that kicked off Seongsu
- Onion Anguk — Snow-dusted pandoro on a hanok wooden floor
- London Bagel Museum Anguk — A London-style bakery in Bukchon with chewy bagels worth the queue
- Dongbinggo (Ichon-dong) — Old-school patbingsu heaped with house-cooked red beans
- Woo Lae Oak — A long-running Pyongyang-naengmyeon house.
- Born and Bred Seoul — Majang-dong hanwoo with different dining formats by floor
- Mingles — Korean tasting menus shaped by fermentation and season.
- Eatanic Garden — Contemporary Korean courses with a 36th-floor view.
- Hadongkwan — Gomtang at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Nampo Myeonok — Pyeongyang cold buckwheat noodles at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Jinmi Pyeongyang Naengmyeon — Pyeongyang cold buckwheat noodles at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Gaeseong Mandu Koong — Gaeseong-style mandu at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Mapo Ok — Seolleongtang at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Hwangsaengga Kalguksu — Kalguksu at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Gwanghwamun Gukbap — Clear black-pork soup in the Jeong-dong lanes
- Imun Seolnongtang — Seolleongtang at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Neungdong Minari Yongsan — Hanwoo soup topped with minari near Sinyongsan
- Limbyungjoo Sandong Kalguksu — Clam kalguksu at a Seoul Korean meal.
- Fritz Wonseo — Roasted coffee at a Seoul coffee or dessert stop.
- Terarosa Gwanghwamun — Specialty coffee at a Seoul coffee or dessert stop.
- Taegeukdang Jangchung — Monaka ice cream at a Seoul coffee or dessert stop.
- Cheongsudang Ikseon — Souffle castella at a Seoul coffee or dessert stop.
- Cafe Layered Anguk — Scones at a Seoul coffee or dessert stop.
- Charles H. — Signature cocktails at a Seoul cocktail stop.
- Joseonok — Beef ribs over charcoal briquettes, 80 years running
- Andongjang — Chinese kitchen since 1948, birthplace of oyster jjamppong
- Pyeongnaeok — Northern-style naengmyeon since 1950, chicken salad arrives first
- Gwanghwamunjip — Pork kimchi stew under a weathered signboard
- Samcheongdong Sujebi — Anchovy-broth sujebi on the Samcheong-dong road
- Hannam Jakeopsil — A Hannam café serving on makers' tableware
- Camel Coffee Seongsu — The Seongsu shop where Camel Coffee first opened
- Andeok — Grandma-style northern mandu soup, deep in a Seochon alley
- Seoryeong — Pure-buckwheat Pyongyang noodles by Sungnyemun
- Myeon Seoul — House-made wheat, mung bean and soy noodles
- 3dae Samgye Jangin — Samgyetang with pine nut, mung bean or mugwort
- Gosari Express — Vegan bracken-oil noodles under a red awning
- Yonggeumok — Seoul-style loach stew, simmering since 1932
- Jaha Son Mandu — Hand-folded dumpling soup with an Inwangsan view, since 1993
- Fritz Dohwa — A Mapo roastery where the line forms when the bread lands
- Blue Bottle Seongsu — Korea's first Blue Bottle, first stop on a Seongsu walk
- Cafe Layered Yeonnam — English-style scones and cake behind a brick facade
- Eulmildae Main Branch — A Mapo naengmyeon veteran where soju joins the bowl
- Euljimyeonok — An Euljiro naengmyeon name, reopened in Nakwon-dong
- Ojangdong Heungnamjip Main — Hamheung noodles since 1953, in Ojang-dong
- Gwanghwamun Mijin Main — Since 1954, cold soba on two trays
- Jinjujip — Thick soy-milk noodles in a Yeouido basement
- Chebudong Janchijip — A 5,000-won noodle bowl in an old Seochon lane
- Bakgane Bindaetteok Main — Third-generation pancakes in Gwangjang Market
- Mabokrim Halmeoni Tteokbokki — Sindang-dong tabletop tteokbokki since 1953
- Seorin Nakji — Octopus stir-fried on a hot plate, third generation running
- Hanilgwan Apgujeong — Old-school Korean in Apgujeong: gol-dongban and Seoul naengmyeon
- Cheongjinok — Nearly 90 years of ox-blood hangover soup, open from 6am
- Pyeongando Jokbal — Jangchung-dong trotters with dongchimi and cold noodles
- Choedaepo Main Branch No.1 — Mapo salt-grilled pork, on the fire since 1952
- Samwon Garden — Hanwoo rib house with a garden and charcoal-grilled marinated ribs
- Bongpiyang Bangi — Charcoal pork ribs first, cold noodles to close
- Yangmiok Namdaemun — Charcoal-grilled tripe and intestine by Namdaemun
- La Yeon — Michelin two-star Korean with Namsan below
- Taj Palace — Tandoori and curry upstairs in Itaewon
- Soi Yeonnam — A Yeonnam-dong Thai noodle house where you pick the noodle
- Onion Seongsu — Seongsu’s best-known bakery cafe, in an old factory
- Centralsite Yeonnam — Pour-over at the bar, tiramisu on the side, in Yeonnam
- Coffee Hanyakbang — An Euljiro cafe under an old herbal-pharmacy sign
- Eulji Dabang — Ssanghwa tea in a 40-year-old tea room
- Haeon Traditional Teahouse — Tea and red-bean porridge in a Samcheong hanok garden