The most visited samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) restaurant in Seoul, set in a cluster of traditional hanok buildings near Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Signature: Samgyetang, Black chicken samgyetang
Order: Classic samgyetang: whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng root and garlic in clear medicinal broth.
Tip: Come at 10:00 on a weekday to walk straight in; the broth is identical morning and night.
The original Maple Tree House, in a restored hillside house in Samcheong-dong, with a more intimate setting than the Itaewon branch and a view of the old.
Signature: Hanu beef, Samgyeopsal
Order: Hanwoo beef tasting set: three cuts of heritage Korean cattle served in the original house that started the Maple Tree brand.
Tip: The Samcheong branch has fewer tourist crowds than Itaewon on weekday lunchtimes.
A hanok courtyard dumpling kitchen in Bukchon, selling hand-formed mandu (dumplings) by the basket to a patient queue of Seoulites who find the 20-minute.
Signature: Steamed mandu, Mandu guk
Order: Steamed mandu (dumplings) with kimchi and pork filling, thin pleated skin, eaten with a dipping soy and vinegar.
Tip: The mandu guk (dumpling soup) is only slightly more expensive and adds a clear anchovy broth that makes it a meal.
The most visited samgyetang restaurant in Seoul, set across several traditional hanok houses near Gyeongbokgung Palace with a long daily queue before 11:30.
Signature: Samgyetang, Black chicken samgyetang
Order: Samgyetang: whole young chicken packed with glutinous rice, ginseng and garlic inside renovated hanok buildings with courtyard seating.
Tip: Come at opening on weekdays; queues are shortest before 11:30.
Cafe Layered's Anguk branch sits a minute from Bukchon Hanok Village with an English country-kitchen counter heaped with scones, tea cakes and a properly built earl grey latte.
Signature drink: Earl grey latte with plain scone
Cha Masineun Tteul (the tea-drinking garden) is a traditional hanok teahouse in Bukchon with a courtyard view of the Samcheong rooftops, serving a long Korean tea list with steamed rice cakes and red bean soup.
Signature drink: Jujube tea with steamed pumpkin cake
Artist Bakery is the salt-bread sister project to London Bagel Museum, set in a restored hanok off Yulgok-ro with more than 20 versions of the viral salt butter loaf, from plain to truffle pretzel and basil pesto.
Worth the queue: Classic salt butter bread with truffle pretzel and squid ink cheese variants
London Bagel Museum's Anguk flagship sits a block from Bukchon Hanok Village, with over a dozen rotating bagel flavours and the most photographed brunch queue in Seoul.
Order: Spring onion cream cheese bagel with iced Americano