12 Foods You Must Try in Seoul

Isaac Toast, Palsaik BBQ, egg bread, chicken stew, black noodles, fried chicken... What do these have in common? They can all be found in Dongdaemun, Seoul, South Korea.

Dongdaemun is the "Let's Eat Alley". There you can find a variety of Korea food as seen in Korean dramas. Read on to see what food we've ate during our first trip to Seoul...

1. Palsaik Korean BBQ 

Our favourite place in Dongdaemun is Palsaik Samgyeopsal - we absolutely love this place!

Our table was crowded with food soon after we placed our order at 7 a.m. (!):

Marinated pork belly, salad, fresh Korean herbs, perilla leaves, spicy tofu stew, hot sauce…

 Hello cholesterol, goodbye health. What NOT to eat for breakfast.

Essentially, "Palsaik" means 8 colors. We were served 8 different flavors of pork belly, including ginseng, red wine, pine leaves, garlic, herb, curry, miso paste and hot sauce. We absolutely love the complementary Korean perilla leaves, which were used to wrap the barbecued meat. Yum.

Environment was nice, not smoky at all

Our table by the window. 

The restaurant owner was really nice. He tried to recommend places for us to visit from a Seoul travel guide.



Palsaek Samgyeopsal (팔색삼겹살)
Address: 30, Eulji-ro 43-gil, Jung-gu | Mijin Bldg. 2F, Seoul
Recommended Dishes: Palsaek Samgyeopsal set (8 different flavors of pork belly)
Website (In Korean)

2.  Isaac Toast

Isaac Toast is the place to go to satisfy your breakfast needs and grilled sandwich cravings. When you placed an order at the street stall, a Korean woman would pan fry the bread in butter, grill the ham patties (depending on what you've ordered), squeeze in a generous amount of their "secret sauce", top it off with shredded cabbage and it's done.

Bulgogi MVP is one of the popular options. It has eggs, corn, cheese, pickles, cabbage and beef. Tasty!

Bulgogi MVP Sandwich. Goes well with banana milk or coffee

3. Korean Black Noodles (Jajangmyeon)

More of a Korean-Chinese dish. The noodles were topped with black bean paste, diced pork, onion and vegetables. We were impressed by this dish.

4. Korean Egg Bread (Gyeranppang)

Commonly found in the street stalls. It is steamy sweet egg muffin. 

5. Banana Milk

Remember to stop Family Mart by to purchase some banana milk. This is also known as the "national drink of Korea". Even the low sugar one was very sweet...

6. Crispy Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong)

Made popular by Korean drama My Love From the Star, it is a snack that can be consumed at the middle of the night with beer (oops). Believe me, you'll want to eat this every night in Seoul!

7. Seasoned Raw Beef (Yukhoe)

Steak tartare, which can be made into bibimpap. It is mixed rice with grilled seaweed, spinach, kimichi, soybean sprouts, shredded lettuce seasoned with sesame oil and red pepper paste.

Taste good? You bet.

8.  Pig Trotters (Jokbal)

Cooked in soy sauce and spices, the trotters are deboned and cut into thick slices. Koreans would wrap the meat in lettuce with other vegetable. Goes well with Korean milky rice wine (Makgeolli) and seafood pancake (Haemul Pajeon).

A great way of socializing with Koreans.

9. Korean Blood Sausage (Sundae)

Not your typical sundae with scoops of ice-cream, chocolate syrup and a strawberry on top. In Korea, it is steamed cow or pig intestines stuffed with cellophane noodles. Found among street stalls at night, it is generally mixed with liver. A great to-go snack after your Korean traditional massage experience...

10. Korean Army Stew (Budaejjigae) 

Budae jjigae is a dish that originated during the Korean War, where food were scarce. Hence Koreans use leftover ingredients by the US Army to cook a stew. They would add Spam, cheese, sausage, baked beans, instant noodles and available ingredients into a pot of traditional spicy soup.

For the best budaejjigae in Seoul and way to enjoy it, see my other post...

11. Korean Whole Chicken Stew (Dakgomtang)

Normally I would recommend Ginseng chicken soup (Samgyetang), but this one is more versatile. You can add extra rice cake, vegetables, noodles, chicken meat to customize this dish. When you order rice at the end, the leftover stock would become savory chicken congee...

12. Ox Bone Broth (Selloeongtang)

Post Korean spa or hangover food. Open 24 hours a day!