Taste the Best of Seoul: A Food Lover's Journey Through the City
Seoul, the lively metropolis of South Korea, is a whirlwind for the senses.
Once you arrive in this city, its restaurants and street food will hug you with open arms. If you ever have the amazing chance to stroll past a traditional market or eat at one of its many swoony restaurants, you’ll know the food in Seoul is forever great and that it tops “the best cuisines of the world” list. If you’ve ever wondered about how to enjoy Seoul’s food offerings, the best way is to go on a Seoul food tour because you will find all the hidden nooks and crannies with the tastiest morsels!
The Heart of Seoul’s Culinary Scene
Many often think of Korean food as barbecue and kimchi, and while Seoul has its fair share of both, its menu is way more than just that. Get to know the city through its food by taking culinary trips around town. It’s more than just fried food at a pub; it’s food for the people.
A Symphony of Flavors
No other place is a better introduction to the city and its food than a visit to its markets. For a good start, go to Gwangjang Market, one of the city’s most popular areas. A vibrant hub of flavors and textures, you’ll find kimchi and chewy mung bean pancakes. Stop in for breakfast and try some bindaetteok in some of the best restaurants in Seoul, with some traditional makgeolli. Wash down your rice wine with some pancakes, and be ready to eat until you’re done. This is the comfort food that fills you.
Take steps to explore the Myeongdong Market. Maybe you can try some Tteok-bokki, rice cakes swimming in a sauce that’s sweet and spicy, Hotteok, a fried pancake with gooey brown sugar and nut filling, and other foods. Spicy rice cakes here, fried brown sugar there, grilled meat here, hot pot there—the flavors of the city interweave.
Seoul’s Traditional Dishes: A Tasty Tradition
There’s no better way to experience authentic Korean food and culture than by sitting down to a meal of time-honored dishes. In Seoul, you’re invited to discover a tasty selection of those dishes. It’s likely you’ll bite into juicy galbi, succulent beef short ribs that are soaked in an umami-packed sauce and grilled to flaky perfection. Or you’ll sip a spoonful of piping-hot jjigae, a savory star-studded stew of tofu, veggies, and spicy broth.
As you make your way around Seoul and eat, don’t skip the Korean BBQ. What can be more satisfying than huddling around a table with a grill in its center and a variety of banchan (small side dishes) decorating its surface, preparing your own meat to perfection, then tearing into the resulting array of sizzling griddled meats, crispy veggies, and sour-sweet sauces?
Sweet Seoul: Desserts That Delight
Don’t forget to round out your delicious meal with some of Seoul’s sweet cuisine. The city is alive with artisanal dessert cafes serving all the sugary fare a person can handle. Your palate needs to give bingsu a go. Known as shaved ice 2.0, this dessert features fluffy ice layered with red bean paste, fruit, and condensed milk. It’s like eating snow during a heat wave.
Cold but sweet and crispy, hotteok is another local food that’s most often eaten in the winter and can be picked up for a quick snack on the go. That means you can eat it while walking. As you travel through the streets of Seoul, it’s obvious the people have a thing for taking old-school desserts and giving them a 21st-century makeover with exotic ingredients like matcha and even cheese.
Hidden Gems and Local Secrets
Most travelers want to eat at the best restaurants in Seoul when they visit. This is much easier said than done because the city is so big, and you can’t rely on standard review-based websites to find the hidden gems. So why not leave that element of discovery to the specialists? After all, the best food is not necessarily served in the most beautiful establishments.
The city has an expanding culture of cafes. Seoul is bursting with cute cafes that offer world-class coffee, delicious desserts, and light meals, and some places even offer traditional Korean teas and snacks. Don’t forget to take a break from your food exploration and enjoy the sit-and-sip on an idle afternoon in Seoul.
A Food Lover’s Paradise
As your food tour experience comes to an end, you will have walked away with more than merely a meal. You will have created an experience to remember and a special connection to the city and its people. Each item you sample has an interesting history and an impactful meaning. Whether it’s soup noodles in the small cafes or pork on the stick from a food vendor at the corner, your journey through Seoul’s food scene will awaken your senses.
A Tasty Adventure Awaits
There is no place like Seoul where you can feel adventurous and fall in love with old and new cuisines. The city brings feasts, from the classic to the millennial. Join a Seoul food tour and let the excitement and tastes reel you in. It’s a tour that will make you come alive at every stop.
