Going in April, looking for any food recs…street to fancy. Just best of best.
thanks!
bump
I went in October. Loved it and ate very well. Here were some if my favorites.
Jjukkumi (spicy octopus) at Na Jeong-sun Halmae Jjukkumi. This is an amazing place if you like spicy food. There’s no menu; only one octopus dish. Here’s a picture of it: https://media.timeout.com/images/103173744/1024/576/image.jpg
To me this place is a must. I have been searching in vain for an equivalent in LA. In fact I cant even find the dish.
Spicy cold noodles at yookssam naengmyeon.
Korean BBQ at Doma Hongdae
Fried chicken at Kyochon and Hanchu. I actually had never been to the Kyochon in the states. Loved what I had in Seoul, but liked Hanchu better. One observation is, I was pretty stunned by the fried chicken/beer Chimaek culture in Seoul. It is not an overstatement to say there are literally thousands of these places. The popularity of fried chicken and beer in Korea is vastly underrepresented in K-town. It far surpasses even chicken tikka masala in London. It is a national food/experience. Sitting outside one night at 1 am in Hongdae having great fried chicken, beer, and soju is one of my favorite memories of the trip.
Jinmi Shikdang for raw crab cured in soy sauce.
Noryangjin seafood market likewise is great. You point to what you want from a tank, and then they bring it to a restaurant that prepares it for you. It’s not cheap. But we chose these huge crabs that they cooked in several ways, including crab legs and fantastic crab fried rice.
We also loved eating at the various markets. Gwangjang market was incredible for food during the day. Dongdaemun has good food at night. Tons of rice cakes, noodles, dumplings, other various things. To me Myeongdong is basically a tourist version of street food but still need to do it once.
Hope this is helpful.
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+1 esp. given tourist restrictions at Tsukiji fish market (same policy at Toyosu?). Variety can be somewhat repetitive and not as extensive as in Japan, but definitely worth a visit.
Check out the food halls [and no its not comparable to the crappy exaggerated definition of glorified food courts being liberally employed by Eater writers 
. This stupid trend of theirs needs to stop. Sorry for my pet peeve rant ] which are similar to Japan’s depachikas - I recollect being most impressed with Shinsegae’s. Hit the kimchi counters with pictures of the respective Halmonis the products were sourced. They are happy to dole out samples.
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The kimchi samples at Gwangjang are fantastic.
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