Your ULTIMATE INSIDER'S GUIDE 🇰🇷 To Foods In Seoul, Korea from a Korean friend!

Hi everyone. I am in Seoul. I'm so excited and I'm even more excited to share my insider's tips on where I think you should go to eat delicious Korean foods. So keep on watching. Now you can sit back and relax and enjoy the Seoul vlog because all the map links of the places and restaurants will be listed in the description box below along with recipes that you could try at home. Okay full disclosure this is not a sponsored Seoul vlog nor do I have any business relationships with any of the restaurants and places that I showcase here today. All right before we get started let's just get the general basic lay of the land when it comes to Seoul. Seoul is slightly smaller than New York City coming in about 230 square miles. Now the easiest way to understand Seoul is by using the Han river as your reference. Han is the name. Gang means river. So anything above the Han river is called Bukgang. Buk means north and anything below the river is called Namgang. Nam means south. Now Seoul like any big city in the world is very congested. It is highly populated and the best way to get around is using their subway system. It is so clean as you can see and there is no funky odor smell when it comes to the Korean subways. And unlike the New York subways, Korean subways are quiet rides and occasionally you'll see one or two people talking really loud on their speakerphone and usually they're tourists. So please don't be that tourist. And buying tickets is super easy. You just use this kiosk in your English, Chinese or Japanese and the only thing is you need to use cash. It does not accept credit cards. It has multiple exit numbers so that you could exit the subway platform that is the closest to your destination. Now when it comes to driving around Seoul, in addition to the morning traffic, 2 p.m to 8 p.m is the worst time to drive. It is terrible. Now to get around anywhere in Korea, you need to download Naver map or Kakao map apps because Google maps has limited function so it is completely useless in Korea. So when it comes to food in Seoul, no matter where you go, you'll always find food. There's restaurants and casual food vendors everywhere you go in Seoul, literally. The first place I recommend is in Gangnam. Oakwood Premier Hotel at COEX is my go-to. It is a full service hotel and every room has a mini kitchenette and a laundry machine, which I think is a plus plus when you're traveling. But most importantly is for its convenience and location. Literally to the left of the hotel is the Incheon limousine bus shuttle station and directly below is the COEX mall, which I'm going to talk about a little bit later, which is a ginormous mall that you must visit. And as a reference point, to the right of the hotel is Lucky 7 casino. I'm not condoning gambling, but just as a reference point. And literally when you walk out of the hotel main entrance, walk across the street and you will be in the food alley. In Korean, 먹자 골목. And basically a radius of three to four blocks from this alley, you will find endless restaurants of all the Korean cuisines that you are craving, including casual bars that you could hit up for some casual fun. And if you continue walking down the alley, you will now be in 삼성동. And 삼성동 was a bit more neighborhood-y and more quiet and I really enjoyed that. And there were also lots of non-Korean restaurants nearby that you could walk and grab food and bring home, which I loved, which my kids loved, including tacos. And this hole-in-the-wall noodle shop, 칼국수 전문집, was my find in 삼성동. It is small, but it gets packed. And I literally ate everything on the menu. It is so clean tasting and just so yummy. If you want to learn how to make 칼국수 at home, I have a recipe on how to make the noodles and also the noodle soup. And the video recipe will be linked below. One dish that was extra extra special was 들깨옹심이. This is very regional to Gangwon province, where I grew up. Consists of round chewy potato balls that just like melt in your mouth in this thick perilla seed paste. Perilla seeds are different from sesame seeds, but it kind of has a similar taste. And it is oh, I can't even describe. It was just divine. So if you're in the neighborhood, you need to go check this place out. And you'll also love their budget-friendly prices. Make sure to check out my other travel vlog on Jeju Island, Korea's Hawaii. Now I go on a three-day food crawl to 정주, which is the birthplace of 비빔밥. And to 여수, known for its famous marinated crabs. And to 부산, the famous beach town called 해운대. Vlog on Seoul's must-see tourist sites. Insider shopping tips in Seoul. And my hometown, 속초. The famous beach town that everyone flocks to. All these vlogs are coming up next, so make sure to hit that subscribe button. Another place that I highly recommend is eating at the COEX mall. This is unlike your mall food here in the states. Not the same, completely different. COEX is an underground mall that is ginormous. There are so many restaurants, but one that I highly recommend, especially if you love 비빔밥, is 고궁. This restaurant is the satellite restaurant of the famous 고궁 비빔밥 restaurant in 전주. And 전주 is the birthplace of 비빔밥. Now make sure to order 전주 전통 비빔밥. That is the 전주 traditional 비빔밥, which has extra toppings and fixings. It's different from your ordinary 비빔밥, so you must try it. Now when you go to restaurants in Korea, you're always gonna be wondering, why aren't they bringing me my utensils? Well it's because it's always self-serve, and usually there's a drawer under the table that you're sitting that has all the utensils ready for you. In addition to so many Korean restaurants that you could pick and choose from at COEX, you can also enjoy non-Korean foods, especially if you're traveling with kids and they're like, mom we need a break from Korean food. You need to go here. Now another place at COEX that I recommend for casual food is walking over to Hyundai Department Store. The food at Hyundai Department Store is unlike your mall food here in the States. As you can see, you can pick and choose whatever you like, and I apologize in advance for making you drool. And in addition to these food booths, you could also order your dishes from the and it's made to order, and it's legit good. It's nothing again like the mall food that we're used to here in the States. Totally so, so good. And you could order non-Korean foods here too. And this was one of my favorite, favorite meals at Hyundai Food Court. Rice pot, sotbap with chicken, chestnuts, and jujube. Oh so, so good. Mix this sucker up with some seasoned spicy soy sauce and make yourself a big spoonful. Make sure to blow on it and don't do what I just did because it was so hot. Well in Korean cuisine, we eat so many different variations of bibimbap, and this is one of them. And my other favorite that I always ate or brought back home every time I went to the food court was dumplings, mandu. Beef dumplings. Oh it was juicy and just melts in your mouth. And these suckers were so big and I tried to be ladylike and take small bites, but at the end I decided to keep it real and just inhale it. And oh of course, kimchi mandu. It's so addictive. You can't have one. And then here, the guy across from me is watching me tape myself eating and he started giggling, so I started giggling back. Oh and this meat stuffed shrimp dumplings, saeu mandu. Oh this was gourmet. Oh my god, it was juicy, sweet, and just so lovely. And once you're done feasting, you could also move on to having desserts. It was tough making choices of which dessert to have every day. It was really tough. Now here's an insider's tip. Every department store in Seoul, whether it's Hyundai, Lotte, Shinsegae, or Galleria, they all have their food courts. You know, my favorite is Hyundai department store and Galleria. All of these food courts, if you want to go up a notch and have a sit-down service, you just need to take the elevator and it's on the top floor. And you could have your selection of whatever cuisine you're craving for a sit-down service. And it is amazingly delicious too. And also inside Hyundai food court is a sit-down conveyor belt sushi sashimi made to order. And you could also go shopping, which makes Whole Foods look like a second tier supermarket. And there's also a curated wine shop with spirits, so you'll never go thirsty. Galleria department store is my favorite for many reasons, but the food there is a bit more gourmet. It's a bit smaller than Hyundai department store food court, but it's worth the visit. Now we have to talk about Gwangjang Market, Gwangjang Sijang, famous for its casual food stalls. And it became even more popular with Netflix special on Gwangjang Market documentary. So now even more tourists go there. If you have the time, absolutely go visit Gwangjang Market. Every neighborhood in Korea has their own market. And when you go to these markets, they sell the same kinds of food that you would find at Gwangjang Market. And of course, Gwangjang Market, you're going to have a lot more vendors to choose from, but more or less, you're going to have the same kinds of food without paying the heavy-duty tourist sticker price. Support your local neighborhood market, go there, eat your snacks, and enjoy and be merry, and not pay your tourist sticker price. Okay, this restaurant was one of my favorite sit-down restaurants in Seoul called Gwangpyeong specializes in black pork, and black pork meat is farmed in Jeju Island. And I actually have a vlog on Jeju, but to be 100% honest, the black pork meat was tastier at this restaurant in Gangnam than in Jeju Island. Oh my god, I'm so sorry to say that this place was better. This is samgyeopsal, pork belly, that the staff cooked to perfection for us. And you want to take your piece of pork belly and dip it in this hot, bubbling, salty condiment, and then you eat it together. The pork literally just melts in your mouth, and it tasted so clean. I have to make a confession, here in the States, pork belly, I would have a max of one or two because I just don't like that greasy, heavy taste. But Korean pork belly, it was different. It was light, delicious, and I ate like six to eight pieces, and my kids were so mad at me that I was eating their food. And here's another piece of pork belly that you just lightly tap on salt and have it together alone. And this was marinated pork. Oh, it was marinated like galbi, bulgogi style, but it was just lightly marinated, so you could still taste the sweetness from the pork meat, and it was juicy, and it was so good that I ate too many pieces that my kids were mad at me. And you know what I said to them? You snooze, you lose, my friend. You like it that much, then don't wait for others to eat it all, because I ate it all. And of course, you have to end your Korean barbecue with naengmyeon, cold noodles. And here's the mul naengmyeon, and here's the spicy bibim naengmyeon. The noodles were Pyongyang naengmyeon, which is a North Korean style noodles. For me, I love hamheung naengmyeon, which is different kind of noodles. It's more chewy, and it's more gray in color, and it's what I grew up eating. And I showcased hamheung naengmyeon for you in my Sokcho vlog, which is coming in about two weeks. The best, the best, only the best. Oh, wow. Now, if you want to learn how to make Korean pork barbecue and naengmyeon, make sure to check the description box below, because I'll have those recipes for you, so you could try them at home. And my favorite side dish was this extra fermented kimchi that they rinsed, so that you're just left with the fermented napa cabbage leaves. We call that mugung kimchi. And if you make your kimchi right and proper, the juicy firmness of the napa cabbage leaves will remain even after a year or two. I ate this dish so fast that I asked for seconds and thirds, and my family was totally embarrassed of me, but it was so good. This restaurant, Gwangpyeong, is so famous that even the Seoul locals go there on special occasions. Here is another sit-down restaurant for my friends that love bulgogi. Yeokjeon Hoegan has been in business for almost 100 years. Yes, 100 years. Their specialty is basak bulgogi. Basically, it's bulgogi that's charbroiled at super, super high heat and formed into a shape of a round pancake. Yes, if you could imagine it, it's bulgogi pancake. OMG, it was delicious. Now, you could order the regular bulgogi or the spicy one. And I have to warn you, the spicy one was, ooh, that was a kick. And even for my kids who could like eat so much spicy food, they were like, wow, this is really spicy. The bulgogi marinade was light and tasty and just juicy. Oh, and because Yeokjeon Hoegan is such a legendary place, you might be bumping elbows with Korean celebrities. Yeah, a lot of them go here, and including Tom Cruise made a trip to Yeokjeon Hoegan. But this place was special, especially if you like bulgogi. Now, if you want to learn how to make bulgogi at home, check out my Korean barbecue recipe playlist, and it will be linked in the description box below. Here are quick overviews of Korean bakeries, chicken and beer culture, coffee culture, and Korean convenience store snacks that you must try. Now, when it comes to pastries and baked goods, Paris Baguette is the biggest franchise bakery in Korea. But what I want to recommend, when you're in Seoul especially, go to the non-Paris Baguette bakeries because they have different kinds of baked goods and pastries that are so, so delicious. And here is one of my favorite finds, Hermann Bakery, which is in Hanok Village in Bukchon. And oh, wow, it was one of those experiences where I want to buy everything and eat all of it right now. So good. Now, when it comes to chicken and beer, Koreans, we have a special word for it. It's called Chimaek, abbreviation of chicken and beer. And you could get chicken just fried with no sauce or with all different kinds of sauces. And for Koreans, we love beer and fried chicken so much that we just call it a light snack. We say, hey, let's go have a light snack, fried chicken and beer. To say that Koreans love coffee would be an understatement. Especially in Seoul, you will see a coffee shop right next to each other or on top of each other or maybe every other block in worst case scenario. There's budget-friendly coffee that's around 1,500 won to fancy version that's around 20,000 won. My favorite coffees were from the small mom and pop boutique coffee shops. They really serve the best beans and I really enjoyed it. There's no such thing as iced coffee in Korea. It's all iced Americano and it's always served black. So if you like it with cream or milk, you have to ask for it. And especially during the summer months, you want to go to a nicer cafe because they will always serve bingsu, which is your summer dessert, shaved ice with all different kinds of toppings. Oh, bingsu is a must eat if you're visiting Korea during the summer months. And if you want to make bingsu at home, I have a buying an ice shaving machine and the recipe will be linked below. When it comes to convenience stores, there's two chains that you'll see everywhere in Korea. GS25 and Nice to See You. And then occasionally, you might see a sprinkler of 7-Eleven. The drink selection at these convenience stores was, I thought, quite unique because in addition to the bottle drinks, they had these drink pouches and you just grab one of these ice cups and pour your concentrated drink pouches into the ice cup. And even my kids thought that this was pretty cool. Here are some of my favorite OG ice treats that are older than me or as old as me. And for savory snacks, Pringles, only available in Korea flavors. Oh, it was pretty darn good. And shrimp chips, saewookkang with black truffle flavors. OMG, I inhaled the bag. Now, for many of you that cannot travel to Korea, I'm going to encourage you to google your nearest Korea town. New York City's Korea town on 32nd Street and of course Los Angeles and many more places in the U.S. has Korea towns where you are going to eat authentic Korean food and feel as though you are in Korea. Now, don't forget to check out my three-day food crawl outside of Seoul, insider's tips to shopping in Seoul, must-see tourist sites in Seoul, my visit to Jeju Island, Korea's Hawaii, and visit to my hometown, Sokcho, the beach island that everyone flocks to. All these vlogs are coming up next, so make sure to hit that subscribe button. I want to thank you for watching and make sure to go to youtube.com slash modern pepper so you can check out my authentic Korean recipes that you can make at home for your friends and family. So, I will see you there. Make sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell so that you'll be notified when I upload those vlogs.