Gwangjang Market in Seoul is an absolute must-visit when travelling to the city. It’s our favourite haunt for all the Korean food one can imagine all in one place. This traditional food market is just a few bus stops from Jin’s family home and is usually one of our first spots to hit when we’re in Seoul. Nothing says Welcome (back) to Korea quite like diving into the aromas and tastes of Korean food.
Fantastic Korean food aside, we love Gwangjang Market (광장시장) for its no-frills and unpretentious atmosphere. Food is central to Korean culture, and if you want to experience the best of it, Gwangjang Market is the place to be. Seoul is an everchanging city where nothing is permanent, but Gwangjang has stood the test of time. It is a great place to experience local culture and get a taste of the Korean way of life. You must include this market on your itinerary for Seoul.
Opened in 1905, it is the city’s oldest and largest food market and is an experience like no other. From the bustling atmosphere to the variety of food, Gwangjang Market offers something for everyone.
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Quick Guide to Gwangjang Market in Seoul
Opening Hours: 8:30 am – 6 pm
Suggested Time: At least 2 hours
How to Get There: Take the subway to Jongno-5 Station, and take exit 8 or 9.
Suggested Food Tour: Gwangjang Market Food Tour
Best Time To Visit Gwangjang Market
The market is open daily between 8:30 am – 6 pm.
The lunchtime rush between 12 pm -2 pm sees throngs of office workers from the surrounding business districts flowing into the market, which means you’ll have to queue for your food and wait to get a table. Weekends are always rammed with locals, but these are the best times to experience the market’s lively atmosphere. It’s estimated that a whopping 65,000 people visit Gwanjang Market every day!
Mondays are the quietest day, as most stalls take this day off after working their butts off over the weekend.
For me, the best time to visit Gwanjang Market is in the dead of winter when Seoul is bone-rattling cold. Few things are more comforting than a hot bowl of mandukalguksu, a plate of spicy tteokboki or crispy fried bindae-tteok when it’s waaaaay below zero outside.
Regardless of when you come, the food, people and atmosphere of Gwangjang are undiluted Korean culture at its best.
Why You Should Visit Gwangjang Market
Gwanjang Market is an incredible place to visit. It is the oldest and largest traditional market in Korea and a wonderful place to eat Korean street food. Visiting the market is a real foodie experience, and you’ll get a real taste of Korean culture and traditional Korean cuisine.
There is an incredible variety of food to choose from, and the prices are very reasonable. While Seoul is no budget destination, you can have a good meal for about W5 000 (about USD 4). But why limit yourself to just one dish in Seoul’s most famous food market? Spend $15-20, and not only will you be stuffed to the gills, but you’ll get to taste several Korean street food dishes at different stalls, and you probably won’t need to eat for the next day.
Koreans are incredibly social people, and they’re likely to strike up a conversation with you as you sit elbow-to-elbow with the real people of Seoul. This is especially true if you come here by yourself.
Ordering food at Korean restaurants (outside the tourist areas of Meyongdong and Insadong) can be intimidating, as most menus will only be in Korean. Waiters are also rare in this part of the world. Instead, you would say Yeogiyo loudly to get someone’s attention, followed by your order that you read from a menu in Korean displayed on the wall. ( I still struggle with this, even after having lived in Seoul for ten years).
At a food market like Gwanjang, you can simply point at the food on display or being prepared.
All things considered, a visit to Gwangjang Market is a delicious, fun, exciting, cheap and social experience not to be missed.
Must-Try Food at Gwangjang Market
Koreans love the phrase famous and delicious. You’re likely to hear This is a famous and delicious dish from Korea or You must eat this famous and delicious food when visiting X or Y when chatting with a Korean.
So, let us show you some famous and delicious food you must try at Gwangjang Market.
Bindae-Tteok (빈대떡)
Jin, born and bred in Seoul, says the most famous and delicious food at Gwangjang Market is bindae-tteok.
It is a savoury mung bean pancake popular all over Korea, but nowhere are they as gooood as here.
Bindae-tteok is made from ground mung beans blended with various vegetables and seasonings to create a flavorful batter. You’ll see the beans soaking and getting ground on a special mill at the stalls. The batter is then fried in a pan and served with a soy sauce, vinegar and pickled onion concoction for dipping. The dipping sauce is slightly sweet, salty and sour and a great compliment to the pancakes.
The texture of the thick pancake is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Best to think of bindae-tteok almost as a hashbrown, but much thicker and softer on the inside.
Kalguksu (칼국수)
Korean knife noodles, or kalguksu, is a traditional noodle dish consisting of hand-cut wheat flour noodles served in a hot broth or cold with toppings and a spicy sauce.
The noodles are made by rolling dough out, then rolling it up and then cutting it into strips using a large knife, resulting in a unique, rough-cut texture. It is often served with an array of accompaniments, such as chopped scallions, kimchi, and other vegetables. Or my favourite, Mandukalguksu – adding a serving of dumplings to your bowl of noodles levels up your dish and hits the spot.
For the best kalguksu in Gwanjang Market, find the Netflix lady’s stand in the centre of the market (see below).
Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
Tteokbokki is a popular Korean street food dish made of chewy rice (almost like little rice sausages) in a spicy red pepper sauce. It’s usually served as an appetizer or snack but can also be eaten as a main course. You can only say you’ve been to Korea if you have had these great little things.
Tteokbokki originated in the Joseon Dynasty when it was served as a special treat for the royal family. It has since become a popular staple in Korean households and food stands across the country.
Mandu (만두)
Mandu, or Korean dumplings, are a popular traditional food in Korea. They are made by wrapping a combination of ground meat, seafood, kimchi or vegetables in a thin wheat-flour wrapper. The filling is usually seasoned with sesame oil, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Mandu can be served either steamed, boiled, or pan-fried.
When ordering mandu, you can ask for gogi (고기만두 meat), yachae (야채만두 vegetables), saewu (새우만두 shrimp) or kimchi (김치만두) mandu.
Boiled and steamed mandu can be eaten on their own with soy sauce for dipping, or you can add them to your noodles, ramyeon or soup. Either way, they’re damn good!
Mayak Kimbab (마약김밥 )
Kimbab might almost look like sushi – but it’s completely different. Traditional kimbab is about 30cm long and can be stuffed with any ingredient imaginable. My favourites are tuna or donkkaseu (crispy pork cutlet).
Mayak kimbab is the miniature version, and the rolled-up seaweed and rice roll, filled with various ingredients such as seasoned vegetables and meat, is about 10 cm long.
The name Mayak kimbab means drug kimbab, not because it’s laced with cocaine but because it’s so addictive.
It is made with rice and various vegetables such as carrots, onions, cucumbers, and perilla leaves. Mayak kimbab can also be made with pork or beef. The seaweed laver is brushed with sesame oil, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and served with a variety of dipping sauces, such as soy sauce, sesame oil, and gochujang. It is a very healthy dish, and it is high in fibre and low in fat.
Hodo Kwaja (호두과자)
Looking for something sweet? Then follow your nose to a stall selling hodo kwaja. You’ll catch a whiff of sweet cake long before seeing them.
Hodo Kwaja, or walnut cake, is a sweet cake batter mixed with chunks of walnut that’s baked in a special pan. The shape of the pan makes the little hodo kwaja almost look like real walnuts.
The cake is then filled with red or mung bean paste or custard. I don’t fancy beans in my dessert, but Jin loves them. I’m a sucker for the custard-filled ones, though.
Don’t fool yourself into getting only one. One is never enough! Get half a dozen at least and eat them as you walk along.
If you want to completely immerse yourself in a culinary world of Seoul and learn more about its local cuisine, then consider taking Korean cooking class at a local home, where you will learn how to cook authentic Korean dishes with your experienced chef-guide, visit a traditional market and taste the local street food.
Eat at Gohyang Kalguksu & Meet the Netflix Lady of Gwangjang Market
Netflix aired a fantastic series called Street Food Asia, showcasing the best street food on the continent. Intertwined with the mouthwatering food, the food documentary tells the stories of the people creating this fantastic food.
In episode six, the show visits Gwanjang Market in Seoul and tells the story of Cho Yonsoon, the woman behind Gohyang Kalguksu Stall. In no time, Ms Cho became a celebrity and is now simply known as the Netflix Lady of Gwangjang Market.
The Netflix Lady of Gwangjang Market is a legend who has been serving noodles for nearly 30 years. She is known for her unique style of kneading and stretching the dough and her delicious, flavourful broth.
Even before fame came knocking, Cho Yonsoon was beloved by hungry locals and tourists. She is the stuff of legends, and her noodles are a must-have for any trip to Seoul.
Due to Gohyang Kalguksu’s fame, we had to wait in line for about half an hour before we could squeeze in on a bench at the stall. While waiting in line, a helper handed out menus so customers won’t have to uhm and aah when they finally got seated.
I had the mandukalguksu with gogi mandu, which came with a generous topping of roasted seaweed. Jin went with the bibimguksu (cold noodles served with ice, cucumber, mustard, vinegar and spicy sauce).
While slurping up our noodles, we enjoyed watching the Netflix Lady doing her thing. Between rolling and cutting noodles, she was more than happy to smile for a photo or two.
We are glad to say that fame hasn’t ruined this place. The food and service remain faithful to the tradition of Gwangjang Market and that of Korea. The food’s good, hearty, and unpretentious, the service is fast without bells and mirrors, and the smiles are genuine.
Not Only About Food
Yes, the food is the main attraction here, but if you’re looking for other distractions, you can head up to the second floor, where you can find many shops selling traditional Korean Hanbok.
You can browse at the hole-in-the-wall shops selling traditional Korean ware at the entranceways leading to the central food market.
Jin says Gwangjang Market is the preferred spot to buy 수의 (burial garments). The rolls and rolls of white hemp you see as you enter are sold to make burial shrouds.
Gwanjang market might be the best place for street food in Seoul, but it’s also a bastion holding up Korean tradition. It’s refreshing to visit a place like this where vendors still cook traditional food that’s dynamite without trying to please the Instagram crowd or whatever the newest fads are.
Learn more about local street food with this walking street food tour with a guide. You will discover Seoul’s unique street food culture, visit Culture Avenue, Ikseon-dong Alley, and Gwangjang Market.
Thanks to the market’s central location, you can take a walk next to Cheonggyecheon Stream, visit the Dongdaemun Gate and Design Plaza or head to Insadong before or after the market.
If you want to experience Seoul with all five senses rather than just see it, don’t miss Gwanjang Market
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