Cheap Eats in Seoul

Tartine Bakery Seoul (Hannam) ★ 4.7

The Seoul outpost of Chad Robertson's San Francisco bakery, in Hannam-dong since 2018, quickly setting the standard for open-crumb sourdough in Korea.

Fritz Coffee Company (Dohwa) ★ 4.7

Fritz Coffee Company in Dohwa is the roaster that reshaped Seoul's specialty coffee culture, serving own-roasted single-origins in a converted factory.

Gwangjang Market Bindaetteok Stalls ★ 4.7

The bindaetteok stalls in Gwangjang Market are Seoul's most legitimate street food: mung-bean pancakes fried on cast-iron griddles alongside mayak gimbap.

OrderBindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) and mayak gimbap

Gwangjang Market Stalls ★ 4.7

Gwangjang Market is the best place in Seoul to eat for very little: bindaetteok for 4,000 won, mayak gimbap for 3,000 and soondae blood sausage for 5,000.

OrderBindaetteok (mung bean pancake), mayak gimbap, soondae

Fritz Bakery (Dohwa) ★ 4.6

Fritz operates its bakery counter from the same Dohwa building as the roastery, and the baked goods match the coffee programme in seriousness.

Anthracite Coffee Hapjeong ★ 4.6

Anthracite converted a 1970s shoe factory on the Hapjeong waterway into Seoul's most atmospheric specialty cafe with single-origin pour-overs.

gml Coffee Hannam ★ 4.6

gml Hannam runs an espresso-free filter-only program with more than 20 single-origin pour-overs from roasters like Prodigal, Dak Amsterdam and Hatch Ontario.

Center Coffee Seoul Forest ★ 4.6

Center Coffee sits at the Seoul Forest edge of Seongsu, a three-floor specialty cafe from past UK Barista Champion Sang Ho Park, pouring single-origin Geisha.

Noryangjin Fish Market Pre-Dawn Stalls ★ 4.6

Noryangjin Fish Market operates 24 hours but the pre-dawn hours -- from 01:00 when the auction floor runs -- are when the market is most viscerally alive.

OrderLive seafood: raw abalone, sea cucumber, crab; sashimi sets

Artist Bakery Anguk ★ 4.5

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.

Weirdough ★ 4.5

Weirdough in Seongsu is a small-batch vegan bakery renowned for seaweed sourdough and plant-based pastries, rated 5.0 on HappyCow across 28 reviews.

Ma Pause ★ 4.5

Ma Pause in Hongdae is a French-trained baker's response to Seoul's generic patisserie scene, producing black sesame canele and laminated pastries.

Cha Masineun Tteul ★ 4.5

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.

Imun Seolnongtang ★ 4.5

Imun Seolnongtang has served the same bowl since 1904 -- seolnongtang, a milky ox bone and brisket broth, for ₩10,000. Michelin Bib Gourmand recognised.

OrderSeolnongtang (ox bone broth soup) with rice

Imun Seolnongtang ★ 4.4

Korea's first registered restaurant, open since 1904 in Jongno, still serving a single dish: 17-hour ox bone seolleongtang with sliced brisket.

OrderSeolleongtang: 17-hour ox bone broth poured over sliced beef and soft wheat noodles.

TipSeason the broth yourself with the salt provided; adding too much at once is the only mistake you can make.

Imun Seolnongtang ★ 4.4

Korea's first registered restaurant, open since 1904 in Jongno, serving one dish unchanged: 17-hour seolleongtang. Michelin Bib Gourmand recognised.

OrderSeolleongtang: the 1904 recipe unchanged, ox bones for 17 hours.

TipThe breakfast crowd is small; a morning bowl before the palace opens is one of the best starts to a day in old Seoul.

Passion5 ★ 4.4

Passion5 is the patisserie arm of Paris Baguette's parent company SPC, but it operates on an entirely different level from the parent chain.

For Four Bread ★ 4.4

For Four Bread in Hongdae specialises in dairy-free and egg-free Korean bakery classics, with vegan tangzhong milk bread that rivals any conventional version.

Cafe Layered Anguk ★ 4.4

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.

Cafe Onion Seongsu ★ 4.4

Cafe Onion turned a crumbling concrete warehouse in Seongsu into one of Seoul's most-photographed spaces, with a thick-cut honey butter toast counter.

Namdaemun Market Hotteok Stalls ★ 4.4

Namdaemun Market hotteok stalls fry thick dough discs filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and crushed peanuts on flat irons in the market's main food lane.

OrderHotteok (sugar-filled fried pancakes) and kalguksu

Sindang Tteokbokki Town ★ 4.4

Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town is the origin neighbourhood of the modern spicy tteokbokki -- Ma Bok-rim developed gochujang-seasoned rice cakes here in 1953.

OrderTteokbokki (various styles: original, cheese, rabokki)

Sambodang Hotteok ★ 4.4

Sambodang sells only one item from a maroon-awning stall halfway down Insadong-gil: a fist-sized hotteok stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts.

OrderHotteok (brown sugar and nut filled pan-fried pancake)

Hadongkwan ★ 4.4

Hadongkwan has served seolleongtang (milky ox bone and brisket soup) from its Myeongdong address since 1939, at a price that remains practically unchanged.

OrderSeolleongtang (milky ox bone soup)

Hadongkwan ★ 4.3

Hadongkwan has been open since 1939 in Myeongdong and is in the Michelin Guide for a bowl of seolleongtang that has not changed: slow-cooked ox bone.

OrderSeolleongtang: ox-bone broth cooked until milky-white without additives.

TipThe kitchen closes at 15:30 sharp; arrive for an early lunch to guarantee a bowl.

Hadongkwan ★ 4.3

One of Seoul's oldest restaurants, Hadongkwan serves only seolleongtang (milky-white ox bone soup) from morning until it sells out around 15:30.

OrderSeolleongtang: slow-cooked ox-bone broth in the bowl that has made this Myeongdong institution a Michelin.

TipThe kitchen closes when the pot is empty, typically mid-afternoon. No dinner service.

Cafe Onion Bakery (Seongsu) ★ 4.3

Cafe Onion's Seongsu warehouse space runs a bakery counter with honey butter thick-cut toast that draws a pre-opening queue on weekend mornings.

Tea Therapy ★ 4.3

Tea Therapy is the most design-conscious teahouse on the Insadong strip, selling hand-blended teas named after Korean folklore characters in ceramic.

Tongin Market Coin Lunchbox ★ 4.3

Tongin Market coin lunchbox: buy a tray and brass yeopjeon coins, fill the tray from banchan stalls, then eat in the communal hall at the market back.

OrderDIY coin-currency lunchbox: banchan selections from market stalls

Tongin Market Coin Lunchbox ★ 4.3

Tongin Market's coin lunchbox is one of Seoul's best budget eating experiences: trade traditional brass coins for banchan at stalls across the covered market.

OrderBuild-your-own dosirak with Korean banchan

Namdaemun Market Kalguksu Alley ★ 4.3

The kalguksu stalls inside Namdaemun Market serve knife-cut wheat noodles in a clean anchovy-and-kelp broth with zucchini and green onion for ₩7,000-8,000.

OrderKalguksu (knife-cut noodles in anchovy broth)

Bukchon Son Mandu ★ 4.2

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.

OrderSteamed mandu (dumplings) with kimchi and pork filling, thin pleated skin.

TipThe mandu guk (dumpling soup) is only slightly more expensive and adds a clear anchovy broth that makes it a meal.

Jongno 3-ga Pojangmacha Street ★ 4.2

The 200-metre stretch in front of Ikseon-dong from Exit 5 to Exit 6 at Jongno 3-ga Station is Seoul's most concentrated pojangmacha (street food tent).

OrderTteokbokki and odeng (fish cake skewer in anchovy broth).

TipArrive by 19:00 or earlier to find a free stool; cash only at most tents.

Maru Jayeonsik Kimbap ★ 4.2

A traditional Korean lunch counter in Insadong serving plant-based kimbap and banchan, rated 4.5 stars across 400+ HappyCow reviews for consistent quality.

OrderVegan kimbap (seaweed rice rolls) with seasonal vegetable fillings.

TipArrive early; the seating is limited and the queue forms quickly at lunchtime.

Myeongdong Street Food Alley ★ 4.2

The Myeongdong pedestrian strip turns into one of the densest street food corridors in Asia after 16:00, with stalls selling tteokbokki (spicy rice.

OrderTteokbokki, corn dogs, egg bread (gyeran-ppang)

Dongdaemun Night Market Food Stalls ★ 4.2

The night stalls around Dongdaemun Design Plaza serve the garment workers who sew through the night, with soondae, eomuk and gimbap until 05:00 every day.

OrderSoondae (Korean blood sausage), eomuk (fish cake), gimbap

Dongdaemun Bonga Seolleongtang ★ 4.1

Near Dongdaemun Fashion Market, Bonga cooks its seolleongtang in a traditional gamasot (iron cauldron) from ten beef cuts for 24 hours straight.

OrderGamasot seolleongtang: broth from ten different beef cuts.

TipThe 24-hour schedule means this is Seoul's best post-midnight beef broth bowl.

Dongdaemun Bonga Seolleongtang ★ 4.1

Open 24 hours, Bonga near Dongdaemun cooks its seolleongtang in traditional cast-iron pots from ten beef cuts for 24 hours: the bowl that market traders.

OrderGamasot seolleongtang from the iron cauldron.

TipThis is the best late-night beef broth in the city; order extra rice to soak the last of the bowl.

Hongdae Street Food Strip ★ 4.1

The Hongdae strip around Hongik University generates dense street food every evening: chimaek, takoyaki, and Korean corn dogs from the university exit.

OrderChimaek (Korean fried chicken and beer), takoyaki, crepes

Myeongdong Tteokbokki Carts ★ 4.1

Myeongdong pedestrian strip has dense street food carts: tteokbokki, gyeran-ppang (egg bread), and fish cake skewers from 2,000 won in central Seoul.

OrderTteokbokki, fish cake skewers, gyeran-ppang