8 Street Foods to try at Gwangjang Market (광장시장) - Seoul, South Korea

If you've been to Seoul, South Korea you would know the food there can be quite incredible and if you haven't, we implore you to put it down on your travel bucket-list!

A food destination spot that everyone visiting Seoul should hit up is the famous Gwangjang Market (made even more popular due to the feature in Netflix's show - Street Food). Here is a list of 8 foods we tried:

1. Bindae-tteok/Mung Bean Pancakes (빈대떡)

Upon entering Gwangjang Market, one of the first street foods we came across was the bindae-tteok. Bindae-tteok (we pronounced it bin-day-dock) is made of ground mung beans, spring onion and bean sprouts which is then shallow-fried until crispy and golden. Usually served with a side of vinegar and raw white onion, bindae-tteok is delicious! It actually reminded us slightly of the Vietnamese bánh xèo.

Price: from 4,000₩ (approx. $5AU/ $3.35US)

Stacks of bindae-tteok

Bindae-tteok

2. Tteok-bokki/Spicy Rice Cakes (떡볶이)

This Korean street food needs no introduction. Tteok-bokki (also seen as toppoki, ddeokbokki) are slightly firm and chewy rice cakes that have been stewed in a spicy red sauce. We've had them before back home in Sydney which tend to be too chewy and sticky, but the ones at Gwangjang Market were soft, bouncy and so much more tasty!

Price: from 3,000₩ (approx. $3.75AU/ $2.55US)

Tteok-bokki/Spicy Rice Cakes

3. Soondae/Korean Blood Sausage (순대)

This was an item we had been meaning to try if we were to visit Korea. It can be seen at multiple stores throughout Gwangjang Market and we thought they looked quite intimidating due to their massive size! Soondae (or sun-dae) is a sausage with pig's blood, intestines and noodles. It was served sliced up into cylindrical pieces for us with a side of what looked like chilli salt. It was very interesting and had an 'iron-y' taste. It was OK since it was our first time trying it, but it wasn't our favourite street food for the day. Our Korean friends however absolutely love soondae. Maybe we'll like it more after trying it a few more times.

Price: from 5,000₩ (approx. $6.20AU/ $4.20US)

Soondae with Chilli Salt

4. Bibimbap/Mixed Rice (비빔밥)

Another Korean dish that requires no introduction is bibimbap or Korean Mixed Rice. Served in a huge metal bowl, bibimbap typically contains over 10 ingredients which include carrot, capsicum, cucumber, spring onion, sesame oil, sesame seeds, gochujang sauce (Korean red pepper paste) and rice. It is then mixed up until there is uniform consistency throughout with every spoonful. Super tasty and nutritious.

Price: from 8,000₩ (approx. $9.95AU/ $6.75US)

Ingredients for Bibimbap

Bibimbap/Mixed Rice

5. Mayak Kimbap/'Narcotic' Rolls (마약김밥)

Before you say anything, no, it's not sushi. Though both sushi and kimbap use rice and seaweed, a difference would be sushi rice is vinegared while kimbap rice is traditionally seasoned with sesame oil. The kimbap found at Gwangjang Market generally contain crunchy vegetables and sometimes with meat and perilla leaf. It is rolled and brushed with sesame oil then dusted with sesame seeds. They're small but so addictive hence the name mayak meaning 'narcotic/drug'.

Price: from 3,000₩ (approx. $3.75AU/ $2.55US)

Mayak Kimbap

Kimbap with wasabi sauce

6. Mandu/Korean Dumplings (만두)

Mandu (or mandoo) are dumplings that can be steamed, boiled, pan fried or deep fried. At the market, you can literally see mountains of mandu dumplings piled up high and they look good! We tried some pork and kimchi dumplings which were boiled and they were spot on with the flavour. Little did we know, we coincidentally sat at the stall that was featured in Netflix's Street Food, Gohyang Kalguksu Stall. If we had known, we would have tried their signature kalguksu noodle soup.

Price: from 3,000₩ (approx. $3.75AU/ $2.55US)

Kimchi and Pork Mandu

Yoonsun Cho - Owner of Gohyang Kalguksu Stall
(featured on Netflix's Street Food)

7. Hotteok/Korean Sweet Pancake (호떡)

Another must try snack at Gwangjang Market is hotteok, a deliciously fried pancake that is generally stuffed with cinnamon sugar and sometimes nuts. A bit greasy but ridiculously delicious, and not to mention cheap!

Price: from 1,500₩ (approx. $1.85AU/ $1.25US)

Hotteok/Korean Sweet Pancake

8. Gwabaegi/Twisted Donut (꽈배기)

Gwabaegi (or kkwabaegi) is a donut-like dessert that appear in a braided or twisted shape. Mildly sweet, fluffy and spongy, the twisted donut is a popular food item with most stores sporting long lines for these delicious treats.

Price: from  1,000₩ (approx. $1.25AU/ $0.85US)

Gwabaegi/Twisted Donut

There was so much more that we would have loved to try but unfortunately time got the better of us. If you've been before, what did we miss out on that we should try next time? Let us know :)

Check out the full video on Youtube (start 9:10)



More details: 
Gwangjang Market 광장시장
88, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Opening Hours
General stores: 8:30am – 6:00pm
Restaurants: 8:30am -11:00pm
Clothing stores: 9pm – 10am next day