Travelling to Seoul? Get to know South Korea in 7 iconic local dishes – and where to try them

Until recently, I’ve been immune to the charms of South Korea. For years I had obsessed over North Korea’s dynastic totalitarian regime as other Singaporeans traipsed about Gyeongbokgung in hanbok.

When I finally caught on to its charms, my induction to Hallyu was relatively painless. All of a sudden, I realised there is an endless supply of K-drama on Netflix, K-grocery stores exist in heartland malls, and a surprising number of my girlfriends are BTS fans.

In Seoul for the first time with my spouse, Lotte World was not on the cards even though we were with two young children. Instead, we went to the War Memorial of Korea, sought out restaurants near our Airbnb flat, and explored the National Museum of Contemporary History, opting to get to know Seoul through its food and history.

Everything was foreign yet familiar at the same time – the common Confucian values in East Asian culture, pronunciations, and Hanja. I relished the opportunity to try food I had only seen online. Every meal, also foreign yet familiar, was a multi-sensorial experience to connect the dots of expectations with reality.

1. TTEOKBOKKI

When you are still peckish after dinner – but not quite hungry enough for ramyeon, the siren song of standing-room-only snack food carts outside the subway station exit beckons. A small plate of chewy rice cakes drenched in bright-red sweet-spicy sauce should do the trick, paired with a stick of wavy eomuk (fish cake) or two.

Tteokbokki in spicy red sauce is credited to a Ma Bok-rim who first started selling it in the streets of Sindang-dong in eastern Seoul in 1953. Last year, North Korea banned the sale of tteokbokki purportedly because of its South Korean origins. 

Roadside carts are Korean communal snacking at its best, especially on a cold day as strangers huddle in the relative warmth of a tent, sipping bottomless paper cups of free peppery eomuk soup. Don’t be intimidated as a tourist. It’s self-service for eomuk, point and order for the rest, and you settle your bill just before you go. 

If you are feeling adventurous, there are soondae (blood sausage) and pig's lungs. My only regret: I wish I’d spoken Korean to swap stories with the street food vendor.

2. DWAEJI GUKBAP

A cluster of eateries outside Tapgol Park where old men gather for cheap gukbap or “soup rice”? I’m down. In a country known for its fiercely-competitive food and beverage industry, gukbap might actually be Korea's first fast food and delivery food, inexpensive and widely available since the late Joseon dynasty. 

Tapgol Park is Seoul’s first modern park recently seen in the second season of Squid Game, but more importantly, it is the birthplace of the March First Movement in 1919, a pivotal series of demonstrations against Japanese colonial rule calling for Korean independence. Don’t miss one of South Korea’s national treasures in the park, the 10-storey marble Wongaksa Pagoda built in 1467.

Hapcheon Dwaejigukbap was relatively packed even after lunch hour but service was fast. Dwaeji gukbap (pork and rice soup) was born out of the Korean War in Busan when food was scarce and North Korean refugees used pork bones discarded by American soldiers to fashion a simple meal. 

The nourishing soup, generously garnished with chives and served hot in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot) makes a good break from all the sweet-spicy Korean dishes. Mix in the rice and season it as you like with saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp), kimchi, and gochujang (red chilli paste).

At 7,000 won (S$6.38), this hearty meal is also a lifesaver for the elderly living on the margins of society, collecting cardboard scraps or playing janggi (Korean chess) outside the park – a side of South Korea tourists seldom see. South Korea has the highest elderly poverty rate among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, says a 2021 OECD report.

3. MUL NAENGMYEON

Realistically, not many people would get the chance (or want) to visit North Korea. North Korean watchers might head to Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries, just 50 km away from Seoul, although authorities have disallowed foreigners from joining the Panmunjom tour since 2023 when a US Army soldier crossed into North Korea during a tour.

The closest for most people is to get mul naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), Pyongyang style. In the depths of a negative double-digit winter, I craved Pyongyang-style naengmyeon and was glad I was not the only one. It was bustling at Pyeongyang Myeonok, among the oldest Pyongyang-style naengmyeon restaurants in Seoul.

When I told a Korean friend how the broth tasted mild, he wasn’t surprised. According to him, aficionados appreciated the blandness and would slurp their buckwheat noodles unseasoned. Once hooked, one can't go back to eating other variations of naengmyeon. 

Pyeongyang Myeonok is a short walk from Zaha Hadid's futuristic beast Dongdaemun Design Plaza but what you really shouldn’t miss are gems by two of contemporary Korea's most prominent first-generation modern architects along the way: Dr Seo's Women's Clinic, now Arium office building, by Kim Chung-up, the only Korean architect who had worked with Le Corbusier; and Kim Swoo-geun's 1981 Brutalist masterpiece across the road from Pyeongyang Myeonok, Kyungdong Presbyterian Church.

As the father of Korean architecture, Kim Swoo-geun is also responsible for Seun Sangga and the Space Group of Korea building which now houses Arario Museum in Space (unmissable maze-like contemporary art museum but note no children under 10 years old).

4. KALGUKSU 

Kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) wasn’t on my list of food to try in Seoul, maybe because it seemed too much like ban mian. Yet, as we were looking for a lunch spot after visiting Gyeongbokgung that won’t take us too far away from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul where we were planning to head to after lunch, Hwangsaengga Kalguksu was the obvious choice.

I was hesitant about going to a touristy restaurant with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Even for late lunch, there was a queue but it moved quickly and the staff, welcoming and playful with kids.

Remarkably, the noodles came in a light, flavourful broth and had the perfect bite. Whole leaves of baechu kimchi one had to snip into more manageable slivers at the table was also delightful.

After lunch, don't leave without checking out chic Korean fragrance brand Non Fiction and Baekmidang's cozy hanok-style cafe just down the street. Be sure to grab silky smooth soft serve ice cream and window seats before heading to the MMCA for a few free exhibitions.

It’s well worth your time to observe the meticulous design of the museum complex, seamlessly incorporating Joseon structures, a Japanese colonial era army building that eventually housed the Defense Security Command, and contemporary architecture.

5. JJAJANGMYEON

After my first bowl of jjajangmyeon in a crowded food court at the National Museum of Korea, I’ve learnt that one does not need to look too hard for delicious jjajangmyeon. Like chicken rice, you are more likely to be disappointed going to Instagram-famous restaurants.

The Chinese form the largest group of foreigners in South Korea today, with migratory waves from the late 19th century. Jjajangmyeon, as we know it, is a Chinese-style Korean noodle dish, adapted from zhajiangmian, a specialty of Shandong province where many early Chinese migrants hailed from. 

Enthusiasts can take a side trip to the Jjajangmyeon Museum in Incheon’s Chinatown. The museum is located in the building which once housed Gonghwachun, the restaurant credited with inventing the noodles.

Jjajangmyeon became cheaper and more widely available after the Korean War when the South Korean government started promoting the consumption of wheat flour-based food like noodles during a rice shortage after receiving surplus wheat flour from the US as food aid.

I stumbled upon Ssingpu after going to the mogyoktang, one of the many no-frills public baths that are fast disappearing in Seoul. This one I go to isn’t much to write home about unlike trendy sprawling jjimjilbang but the homely vibe, shuffling grandmas, and seshin (Korean body scrub) more than made up for it. 

The eatery was empty save for a few lone diners but I had an inkling it would be good when I heard the frantic wok clanging and it was – chewy wheat noodles coated in a savoury-sweet black bean sauce thickened to just the right consistency. 

Jjajangmyeon doesn't need to be exquisite, it just has to be satisfying in the way only unfussy food for the masses can be. Think Cha Eun-woo's viral jjajangmyeon-eating scene in the K-drama Wonderful World.

Walk off your meal with a stroll along Seongbukcheon, right outside the restaurant. Lesser known than Cheonggyecheon and thus attracting fewer tourists, it is another prime example of Seoul's urban revitalisation, transforming streams into accessible green corridors.

6. CHUEOTANG

The lady boss gestured to me to scoop more ground chopi (Japanese prickly ash) into my chueotang (loach soup) and so I did. We were in Olbareun Sikdang, a small mom-and-pop eatery in a sleepy residential neighbourhood after a hike at Inwangsan. 

Of all the Korean soups people usually rave about, chueotang is a name that seldom comes up, not even among locals. A local delicacy that is stuck in the middle, not as extreme as ganjang gejang (soy-marinated raw crabs) or hongeo-hoe (fermented skate) but also not a crowd-pleaser like samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly).

A thick soup of ground or sieved boiled fish, it is an invigorating soup that is nutritious and energy-boosting, especially in the summer, perfect for the elderly or those who feel exhausted. In Joseon-period Seoul, licensed panhandlers were the only ones who could sell chueotang.

In Seoul-style chueotang, or chutang, the fish is served whole in the soup because in the past, customers wanted to be sure loach was used. Seoul's third oldest restaurant Yonggeumok has been selling chueotang since 1932, a rare feat through the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. North Korean Prime Minister Yon Hyong-muk dined at Yonggeumok for two consecutive days when he visited Seoul in 1990 for inter-Korean talks.

At Olbareun Sikdang, the chueotang was earthy but not fishy, the ideal post-hike pick-me-up. I'd highly recommend the Inwangsan hike. You don't even have to travel out of the city for this baby hike. It's manageable in under two hours, comes with views – and a small shrine that is one of Seoul's most important Shamanic sites. We were lucky enough to overhear a ritual in progress at Guksadang as we walked past! 

For history buffs interested in Korea's patriotic past, Seodaemun Prison History Hall is nearby. The prison was in use from 1908 to 1987, first by the Japanese colonial government to imprison Korean independence activists and later by postwar authoritarian regimes to repress democracy activists.

7. GOPCHANG, MAKCHANG, DAECHANG

I admit I have a strange relationship with mukbang (eating broadcast). I usually can’t stand the sound of people chewing loudly yet I can't stop watching mukbang. It has taught me about the delectable holy trinity of beef offal – gopchang (beef small intestines), makchang (beef reed tripe), and daechang (beef large intestines). I'd imagined I would enjoy juicy, fatty daechang the most, paired with crunchy chives.

At Daesung Gopchang, the servers put on quite a show of grilling the offal. I soon learnt that it is best enjoyed with sips of smooth soju.

If you have time to spare, explore Yeonnam-dong, a vibrant neighbourhood popular with college students before heading to the restaurant. Walk aimlessly or head to places like Coffee Nap Roasters and Gyeongui Line Forest Park, built along an old railway track. Independent bookstore Your-Mind is further out but boasts an interesting curation of art books and zines even for those of us who don't read Korean.

While offal might not be for everyone, what is undeniable is long before the West's obsession with nose-to-tail eating, offal has pervaded Korean cuisine as a valuable source of nutrients, showcasing resourcefulness in times of scarcity and openness to textures and flavours.

Speaking of gopchang, there is a retro dive bar near Hongik University named after gopchang hot pot and where Freddie’s dance scene in 2022 bittersweet film Return To Seoul was filmed at.

Gopchang Jeongol has an extensive vinyl collection of Korean rock and pop music from the 60s to the 90s but the best part has to be its local clientele, strangers and friends alike, who would sing and dance without inhibitions, bringing infectious energy to everyone into the small hours.