서울 - my favorite restaurants
i was born in seoul, though i'm pretty amercanized i don't think many people would guess it. below are some of my favorite places to eat in order of how i would prioritize it for a random person reading this.
my absolute favorite eating experience in seoul. they give you the broth to drink and it's so flavorful. i get the 썩김 (+ 수육 +만두 are optional as well).
another essential part of this exact experience is getting a 꽈배기 from this woman in the market just across the street. it's the best version of the thing i've ever had. and walking around the neighborhood. i believe it's the place where a lot of paper and metal manufacturing would (and still does) happen. you can smell the paper in the air.
not a lot of places you can get intestine in the us. this is my favorite place because they make the leftovers into fried rice (typical and expected for korea) and they have the best soy-pickled perilla to go with it (atypical and special to this place).
i took my friend who says she "doesn't really like 돼지갈비" to this place and even she admitted that it was dope af.
a wild thing to say but these noodles are next level. we ordered 3 portions (between me, her, and a) and then EACH ordered another portion because they are just that good.
these first three were all my dad's recommendations. and I try to go to all three every time i'm in seoul. the last time i went, i introduced A to these and they are all A-approved establishments as well.
first went here at the recommendation of above friend. she used to live in this neighborhood so this and the next one are courtesy of her, a born and bred real-life seoul-ite. i'm also including this in honor of my sister, who really really loves this place.
it feels like a real and true 분식집. the things i always get are the 김치 볶음밥, 라면, & 고르곤졸라 피자. there are not that many other things on the menu anyway.
i honestly love that this place just doesn't change. it feels like it's just been this way forever.
the pizza has honey on it, so it's kind of sweet. the ramen is straight up shin ramen but they give you this nice spicy-ish bean sprout broth to cook it in.
A and i went here for the first time together in 2023 with my friend. i loved and dream about the futomaki and the saba nigiri. alas, these grainy photos are all i have of these very delicious items. and they do not do them justice at all.
p. famous spot in itaewon but i LOVE it. my aunt took me here when i was in middle school and i don't really talk to her anymore but i still go to this place.
while i recommend this place, i think the experience of lamb skewers is a must do when in seoul, and i know everyone has their own preferences and there are a lot of places that do this very well, so this is towards the end of the list because i think this restaurant is great, but there are lots of places that do this kind of thing that i believe are also great.
put this also in the category of, too many drinks imbibed to take good pictures. here's a video that I think accurately displays the wonder of the lamb skewer rotisserie machine. that magic orange dust is called 쯔란 and it's a perfect mix of 고추가루, cumin, salt, sesame, and other spices. other than skewers and the dust, other must orders are 꿔바로우 (a kind of sweet and sour tangsooyook (pork) variation made with glutinous rice flour. a video for the curious) and a tsingtao obviously.
i adore this place but acknowledge that it may be because of my personal memories attached to it. it's such an interesting menu with a focus on fermentation, that explores korean food but also some interesting fusions like korean-american, korean-spanish, and korean-italian, like this uni rigatoni pasta made with 방풍나물 pesto and uni cream sauce. it brought me to tears when i first had it. and reminded me of this lee chang-rae story that i love and return to again and again. it is unfortunately no longer on the menu but everything i had the last time i went was very yummy.
they have a great natural wine list and they're on maybe what is my favorite street to walk down in seoul. one side of the street has this very korean, han-ok-esque? architecture (because it's near all the palaces) and the other side of the street is all very vibe-y cafes and restaurants and bars. so vibe-y that when a and i did our engagement shoot, our photographer (before knowing it was my fave street) took us here.
also i kind of made friends with the chef and he opened up a cafe/makkeoli bar nearby called mava where he sells makkeoli that he brews himself.
bottom of the list but i felt i needed to include because of one dish. it's a michelin star fancy place, so i get it if it's not top priority and especially because the thing i am specifically recommending is this dessert.
she's called the jang trio because they use the three most important jangs: 간장 (soy sauce), 고추장 (gochujang), 된장 (soybean paste). and it's maybe one of the most intelligent things i've ever put in my mouth. it's so thoughtful and interesting and delicious and when i mentioned this to our server, she was like "yeah, i started to work here because i thought if i did maybe i could eat the jang trio more often" which honestly!!!!! is so real because i would too!!!!!
anyways that's a wrap. there are so many more places i wanted to include but i wanted to keep the list short, but if people want more recs maybe i'll make a more extensive list some time.
special shout out to my friends e and s who did not ask for any recs from me but i felt the need to give my opinion anyway.