Namdaemun Market

Expansive wholesale & retail market with stalls offering hundreds of types of fish & seafood. Come here to order fish fresh and pick any of the restaurants to prepare Mae-un Tang, a spicy fish soup, as well as San nak-ji, just-killed and still wriggling octopus that’s full of flavor and texture.

Bukchon comfort-food spot tucked in an alley near Anguk Station, specializing in delicate Chodang-style soft tofu stews from mild chodang sundubu to spicy seafood.

A 45-year-old Myeongdong alley spot perfecting garlic-heavy tteokbokki - chewy rice cakes in a glossy red sauce loaded with minced garlic - alongside sundae, mandu, and odeng.

Seoul's oldest Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurant, operating since 1946 and a Michelin Bib Gourmand, famed for cold buckwheat noodles in beef broth and tableside bulgogi using only Korean beef.