Seoul eats around the clock, and it eats everywhere: in century-old covered markets, in tent bars that appear at dusk, in alleys given over entirely to one dish. For the visitor, this is the most accessible great food city in Asia — cheap, fast, fiercely proud, and organised so that the best things cost the least.

Key facts

  • Getting there: Incheon International Airport, about an hour from central Seoul by express train
  • Best season: April–May and September–October, when the weather is mild and dry
  • Budget: a serious market feast rarely exceeds the price of a London sandwich
  • Payment: cards are widely accepted, but market stalls prefer cash

Gwangjang Market: the essential first stop

Founded in 1905, Gwangjang Market in Jongno district is Seoul's oldest continuously running market and its most celebrated eating hall. Come at lunchtime, find a stool at any busy stall, and start with the two signatures.

First, bindaetteok — mung-bean pancakes ground fresh in stone mills, fried in shallow oil until the edges shatter. They arrive golden, dense and lacy, with a soy-vinegar dip. Second, mayak gimbap, the small seaweed rice rolls whose nickname means addictive — the mustard dipping sauce explains it. The market is also famous for its yukhoe alley, where a cluster of long-established specialists serves Korean beef tartare with pear and raw egg yolk; the well-known houses display their history proudly, and queues tell you which they are.

Myeongdong after dark

At sunset, the shopping district of Myeongdong turns into an open-air food theatre as carts line the pedestrian streets. Quality varies and prices run higher than in the markets, but the spectacle is worth one evening: grilled cheese lobster, tornado potatoes, hotteok pancakes filled with brown sugar and nuts, and eggy bread called gyeranppang. Nearby, Myeongdong Kyoja has served essentially one dish — kalguksu, knife-cut noodles in a rich chicken broth with dumplings — for decades, and remains one of the city's great cheap meals. The kimchi here is notoriously garlicky; consider your evening plans.

Tongin Market and the lunchbox game

West of Gyeongbokgung Palace, small Tongin Market runs a beloved lunchbox programme: exchange money for brass coins, take an empty tray, and spend the coins stall by stall on tteokbokki, fried chicken, pancakes and namul vegetables. It is aimed at visitors, cheerfully so, and it is a painless way to sample a dozen banchan-style dishes in one sitting. Typically it operates at lunchtime only — check before you go.

The samgyetang pilgrimage

Near the palace's western wall, Tosokchon Samgyetang is the most famous address in Seoul for ginseng chicken soup: a whole young bird stuffed with rice, garlic, jujube and ginseng, simmered until it collapses at the touch of a spoon. Koreans traditionally eat it on the hottest days of summer, on the fire-with-fire principle, but the queue outside the hanok-style building runs year-round.

Late, later, latest

Finish at least one night in a pojangmacha — the orange tent bars that materialise near stations and side streets after dark — with soju, tteokbokki and grilled skewers, elbow-to-elbow with office workers postponing tomorrow. This is Seoul's true dining room.

Tip: Markets peak between noon and early evening; many stalls wind down surprisingly early, and some rest on Sundays. Go hungry at lunch, graze rather than commit, and share everything — portions are built for it.