The Foodie’s Guide to Korean Street Food in Seoul

By Mark Wiens 64 Comments
Korean street food
Korean street food stall in Myeongdong, Seoul, South Korea

Seoul is a foodie kingdom.

While there’s a tantalizing restaurant every few meters throughout the entire city, it’s street food carts and tents that fill all the open spaces. Walking through Seoul is like having to walk through a slot canyon of culinary goodies all calling your name.

When I first arrived, I felt like an octopus, all of my tentacles screamed to eat a different delicacy in a different direction.

If you like to snack, you’ll have lots to do in South Korea!

Korean street food tent in Seoul
Korean street food tent in Seoul

Unlike Bangkok street food where you can eat entire meals on the sidewalk, I found most Korean street food in Seoul to be more along the lines of snack material (I guess depending on how much you eat of course).

Instead of wolfing down bowls of rice and full dishes, Korean street food is often reserved for things that can be eaten standing up, especially catering to Seoulites that are running from subway to subway. Stuff on sticks or things can can be eaten with toothpicks are common.

Korean street food carts are bulky and quite sturdy in design, kind of like boats of food on wheels.

Gimbap 김밥
Gimbap 김밥 – Korean Street Food

Gimbap 김밥

As a beloved South Korean food, you can be assured gimbap is available in restaurants and on the street too. Packed onto street carts, often accompanied by tteokbokki, gimbap begins with a sheet of seaweed that’s filled with rice, a few pickled veggies and a slice of egg. The street version is normally pre-made and wrapped in plastic to remain moist and soft.

What I liked most about the street style gimbap was the toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top!

A portion, consisting of about 4 – 6 bite sized rolls goes for 1,500 Won ($1.32)

Korean Street Food
Gimbap – Korean Street Food

Here’s a shot of the restaurant or take-out version of gimbap.

Cost – normally about 1,500 Won ($1.32) per roll

Jjinmandu 찐만두
Jjinmandu 찐만두

Jjinmandu 찐만두 (or just Mandu)

Korean mandu is eaten both in sit down restaurants and also on the street. These particular dumplings were resting in the warm outdoor air, just asking to be devoured.

Cost – 3,000 ($2.63) for a plate of 3 – 5 mandu dumplings

Seoul street food
Fried Mandu covered in cabbage in Myeongdong

In Myeongdong, there’s no shortage of modern trendy and tasty street food treats to taste. This plate of deep fried dumplings was sliced with scissors, piled with sliced cabbage and drenched in tomato chili sauce and teriyaki sauce.

Twigim 튀김
Twigim 튀김

Twigim 튀김 (Korean Deep Fried Vegetables)

Deep frying is one of the world’s favorite street food cooking methods – crunchy, greasy, and packed full of tastiness. I don’t think there’s a culture in the world where deep frying is not present and Korea has lots of deep fried goodies.

Korean street food tempura (deep fried goodies!)
Korean street food tempura (deep fried goodies!)

Very similar to Japanese tempura, Twigim is a greasy man’s favorite treat – slices of veggies fried and waiting on the side of the street to be ordered. Twigim goes great with a few beers!

Tornado Potato
Tornado Potato

Tornado Potato

It seems the trendy shopping district of Myeondong, where some 2 million people visit per day, is kind of a Korean street food pioneer in testing out new delicious snacks.

One of the popular items that kids and supermodels munch on the is the tornado potato. This impressive potato swirl is a potato cut into a spiral, spread out on a long stick, deep fried until crunchy and sprinkled with addictive MSG cheesy tasting powder.

A Tornado Potato swirl is the marriage of French Fries and potato chips.

These treats have made such a name for themselves that they’re even available in Bangkok.

Cost – 2,000 Won ($1.75)

Korean French Fry Hot Dog
Korean French Fry Hot Dog

Korean French Fry Hot Dog

Do you enjoy the duo of hot dogs and French fries?

Well the South Korean street food scientists decided to wrap a hot dog in French fries and deep fry the entire thing. Though it looks more like a medieval war club, I can assure you that it’s much tastier.

Tornado Potato wrapped Hot Dog
Tornado Potato wrapped Hot Dog

Tornado Potato wrapped Hot Dog

This snack was not designed for the health conscious.

A long skinny hot dog wrapped with the same spiral cut potato, deep fried in the same oil, and served for only the purest deep fried fanatics.

Hot Dogs Korean
Korean street food dogs!

Hot Dogs

South Koreans have more than an obsession with hot dogs. These lardy bite sized hot dogs were stuffed with a variety of things, some were wrapped in bacon, and they were cooked in their own grease and then skewered to be served.

I didn’t even try these, but from observing the smiling faces of those who indulged, they must be quite delicious.

Deep Fried Dumplings (Hotteok 호떡)
Deep Fried Dumplings (Hotteok 호떡)

Deep Fried Dumplings (Hotteok 호떡)

Deep fried dumplings are almost always delightful. These things are a little like Korean street food samosas, tasty filling with a crunchy outer layer.

These deep fried dumplings are served straight out of the oil so they’re extremely hot. They are place in a little cup and you sort of eat it like an ice cream cone.

Cost – 1,000 each ($0.88)

Squid and Octopus Stand
Dried and fried squid and octopus in Seoul

Squid and Octopus Stand

Seoul street food would just not be the same without tentacles of fried and dried octopus and squid. They really are some of the most delightfully flavorful and pleasingly textural item from the sea.

Seoul street food carts tend to carry a variety of different of different squid and octopus to satisfy whatever you craving happens to be.

Street food in Seoul
I could snack on this stuff all day!

Here’s another closer shot of the octopus candy cart. If you’ve ever had tako in Hawaii, you’ll surely love the smoked octopus – YUM!

Korean blood sausage
Korean blood sausage is such a wonderful thing!

Soondae 순대 (also spelled Sundae)

This South Korean dish may not be for everyone, but those who indulge in the finer pleasures of blood sausage will be delighted with Korean soondae. Mixed with sticky rice or transparent noodles, I thought the Korean version was fluffy, spongy, and packed with lovely piggy flavor.

They also threw some sliced lungs on top!

Cost for the entire plate – 6,000 Won ($5.26) at the Gwangjang Market

Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
One of the most important Korean street foods: Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Tteokbokki 떡볶이

One of the staple Korean street food dishes is known as tteokbokki. From the moment you step into any busy place in Seoul, it’s impossible to not notice these bright red rice cakes smoldering away like hot lava.

Every country has an iconic street food delicious, for Sri Lankan food it’s kottu, in Burma it’s laphet thohk, and for Korea it’s TTEOKBOKKI!

The chunks of rice cake are similar to chewy gnocchi, and when cooked, they are coated in the ever present addictive Korean red sauce.

Don’t worry, these rice cakes often look a lot spicier than they are. They not that spicy, but they sure are flavorful!

Cost – A plate of tteokbokki should cost around 2,500 – 4,000 Won per plate ($2.19 – $3.51)

A plate of wonderful Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
A plate of wonderful Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Here’s a close up shot of the blood red rice cakes – this one I ate even came with a hard boiled egg. Eaten on the street, you may be serve on a plastic wrapped plate.

Giant Cream Puff
Giant Cream Puff

Giant Cream Puff

If they weren’t so overly huge, I never would have been temped to eat it… but since they were, it was inevitable. The breading was decent, though it wasn’t overly fresh, but the pudding itself with rather plasticy – not very good.

Cost – 2,000 Won in Myeongdong ($1.75)

Korean Cracker Bread
Korean Cracker Bread

Cracker Bread

Similar to an Egyptian diet bread, this cracker like piece of Korean pita was filled with a very light sweet filling that just barely coated the inner edges.

It was plain yet delightful, the type of snack that would be excellent with a cup of sweet Vietnamese coffee.

Cost – 2 for 1,000 Won ($0.88)

Korean Mochi Rice Cakes
Korean street desserts

Korean Mochi Rice Cakes

Not everything you taste when you travel is going to be your favorite…

While I did LOVE nearly every single Korean street food I sampled in Seoul, this plate of soft mochi rice wasn’t a winner. Perhaps I was imagining something fluffy and lightly sweet, brushed with powdered sugar. Nope, these were dry completely non sweet at all and I nearly choked on the powder.

Have you ever had this?

Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡)
Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡)

Chapssaltteok 찹쌀떡

A lot of the sweet Korean desserts I sampled were stuffed with sweet red beans – and that’s a good thing. These soft mochi rice balls were delicious because they weren’t overly sweet and the entire balls were pillow soft.

Steamed Red Bean Bun
Steamed Red Bean Bun

Steamed Red Bean Bun

Similar to a Chinese steamed bun (baozi), this was a delicious little street snack in the Namdaemun market. Lightly sweetened red bean paste packed into a flattened dough and steamed so the bread was soft yet lightly sticky.

Cost – 1,000 Won ($0.88)

Korean desserts
Red Bean Fish Toast

Red Bean Fish Toast

Something I noticed is that lots of Korean snacks are shaped into the form of fish. Not sure completely why, but I think it’s a fantastic idea!

While the famous Korean fish snacks are made with a pancake batter, this particular version was just two pieces of toast filled with sweet red bean paste and pressed together in a hot mold.

Cost – 1,000 Won ($0.88)

Massive Ice Cream Cone
Massive Ice Cream Cone

Massive Ice Cream Cone

Koreans love their ice cream… And Korean ice cream is really really good.

Even the packages of ice cream at 7-Eleven, things like Melona bars, are extremely delicious. This rather famous ice cream cone located in Myeongdong is about as impressive as ice cream cones come. This small handheld cone was piled high with about a foot of ice cream on top.

Cost – 2,000 Won ($1.75)

There’s a quick roundup of some of the tastiest Korean street food dishes I was able to eat in my short 2 week visit to Seoul.

I wasn’t able to try everything as there was so much to eat, and prices were a little higher than I had imagined, but I did manage to fill myself and thoroughly enjoy eating my way through Seoul.

In case you missed it, make sure you take a look at last weeks South Korean food article, for a roundup of Korean sit-down restaurant food. You don’t want to miss these dishes either!

64 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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  • Vishal Kaushik

    4 years ago

    Its great.

  • DeeJade Barba

    8 years ago

    I’m planning a solo trip this coming December to Seoul and I’ll be staying at Myeongdong. This list made me hungry and excited for my trip. Plus, it gave me an idea on how much cash I should carry around… with all the food readily available in the street stall, I’m guessing a lot! LoL! Thank you for this very informative post. Love it!

  • Jillian

    8 years ago

    Hi Mark! I love your YouTube channel btw. I could watch it constantly. I’ve been watching random vlogs of your Korea trip here & there. We just bought tix to the Philippines and made sure we have a long layover at ICN. Any suggestions of what to hit up on a Tuesday afternoon into the night? I know for sure I want to hit up the street food, and some bbq? Maybe I’ll just watch the vlogs again from start to present lol. So excited!

  • btslotto

    8 years ago

    Hello! Just wanna ask… I really can’t speak nor understand korean .. So how do I ask how much the price is or how to order street food? Is it okay to just point the food of choice then use fingers to tell them how many will I buy? Thank you:)

  • Hafni

    8 years ago

    I like dried squid, but then I am getting an allergy after eat it.
    You should add odeng. I like it especially the spicy one in winter.

  • Lias

    8 years ago

    I’ve also seen that tornado potato in Kyoto, and it was called… potatornado!

    Nice article, looking forward to tasting all that next March

  • Jonathan

    9 years ago

    Hotteok = samosa? That’s odd, particularly as hotteok are nearly always sweet.

  • Hannah

    9 years ago

    I agree with everything about this post!

  • Snowie

    10 years ago

    Hi Mark, where did you find the fried Mandu covered with cabbage and sauce? I know you mentioned Myeongdong but do you know any more specifics? Thanks! We really enjoy your blog!

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Snowie, thank you for reading. I can’t remember the exact place I got that, but it was just in the middle of the Myeongdong walking street at one of the street food stands there. You should be able to find it. Enjoy!

  • Kyla Olives

    10 years ago

    Hi!

    I’m planning a trip with three kids and I was wondering if you could recommend places we could go to eat 🙂 we will be staying in Hotel Ramada in Namdaemun. Basically I need advice on breakfast places and dinner places 🙂

    THANK YOU! WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Kyla, good to hear you’ll be visiting Seoul. I didn’t stay in that area, so I’m not very familiar with all the options, especially in the morning. Maybe check out http://www.seouleats.com/ for some suggestions. Hope you and your family have a wonderful visit.

  • Owen Lipsett

    11 years ago

    Very impressive list Mark! I’ve lived in Korea for a year and a half and I haven’t even seen some of these.

    Next time you’re in Seoul, you might like to try 번데기 (beondegi) – which are boiled silkworm pupae and apparently very healthy. I’ve always been a little put off by the smell (as have my Korean friends), but I figure given your love of durians you’re able to easy look past such inconveniences 🙂

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Owen, thanks a lot. Yes, I had heard of that, but didn’t have a chance to try it, next time will for sure. If you try it, let me know how it is!

    • Adam Severson

      11 years ago

      I’ve been living in South Korea for the better part of a year now and silkworm pupae was actually the first traditional cuisine I tried (totally by accident). I was pleasantly surprised in all honesty. It has a strong earthy, woody taste, almost like a good mushroom, if much stronger. Love the work you did here in such a short amount of time, you actually persuaded me to try some of the dishes I initially shied away from.

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Adam, awesome to hear that, thanks a lot for sharing. Somehow I didn’t come across the silkworm pupae when I was there, so I’m looking forward to trying that the next time I’m in Korea!

    • David Thompson

      6 years ago

      I too was surprised not to see beondegi mentioned, considering how ubiquitous they are. I have had some that were actually pretty tasty (and not too foul-smelling) in a restaurant, but also some fairly nasty ones from street vendors. And at all cost avoid the canned ones you can get from the convenience stores.

  • Minsooky

    11 years ago

    Hi, just wanted to add that steamed bun with the red bean paste inside was a treat I had a lot as a kid, it’s called hobbang (pronounced like hoh bahng). Sometimes the bun is filled with meat or veggies instead.

  • Cherie

    11 years ago

    Where did u find the Chapssaltteok 찹쌀떡? I always went to a cafe in insadong to get them but now, they do not sell it anymore:( pls tell me where I can find them!:D I’m still here an I want to know so pls reply ASAP

  • Dana

    11 years ago

    Nice post. I learned some new things about Korean food.

    Those french-fry and tornado hotdogs look pretty funky. I’d give that a go for sure.

    Haven’t been to Korea, but I was a little surprised I like dried cuttlefish when I went to Bangkok. Also liked the product called ‘Fisho’ (which you probably have had).

    I think the idea of blood sausage freaks out a lot of Westerners. It did for me a little bit, until I had one morcilla in Buenos Aires. Wouldn’t eat it every day, but it was OK.

    I’ve incorporated some Korean products into my everyday life. Kimchi, red pepper powder, gochujang.

    Cheers

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Dana, thanks for the comment, and hope you can visit Korea someday. Great to hear that you’ve incorporated Korean products into your meals now – if I had a better supply, I would probably eat kimchi with everything – I love it. You’re right about blood sausage, it doesn’t have to most appealing look on name, but it’s really not as bad as it sounds. Awesome that you’re so willing to try new foods!

  • June H

    12 years ago

    The ice cream looks really yummy! Do they have different flavors? There are Korean ice creams available here, and they are a big hit too!

    Thanks for sharing!

    -June

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Yes, there was vanilla, chocolate and green tea, I think that’s it. Glad to hear they have Korean ice cream where you are too.

  • Robert

    12 years ago

    Oh Godness! Would like to taste each one of the staples you mentioned! the ice cream looks so weird!! But have you really eat all these great stuff?

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Yes, I tried all of the things mentioned and most were quite delicious. The ice cream was huge but fantastic!

  • Ruth of Tanama Tales

    12 years ago

    What a wonderful (or weird) combination of different treats. Hot dogs and fried octopus? I would probably eat those. For some reason, I can’t stand the red bean filling on dumplings and other sweets.

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Yes, really a great combo – I’m a big fan of all the octopus in Korea!

  • Naomi

    12 years ago

    It’s pretty hit and miss with ddeok sometimes – I agree that the ones filled with redbean paste are delicious, but those just covered in powder are pretty bland. I used to think that the plain ddeok covered in dried, crushed red bean was the WORST, but then discovered that popping it in the microwave for a few seconds makes it all sorts of delicious :9
    How much time did you spend in Korea? I’m really impressed by these lists!!

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Hey Naomia, I was in Seoul for about 2 weeks… but with an aim to eat. Nice little trick with popping the ddeok in the microwave – never would have known about that! How long have you been living in Korea?

  • Erica

    12 years ago

    I’ve had mochi, but only in Japan- I had no idea they had this in Korea too!
    The topping is called kinako in Japanese and is made up of ground roasted soybeans.
    I personally don’t mind it, but I always warn friends before they attempt to eat any. It’s considered a topping for desserts, though it’s definitely not sweet on its own. At least in Japan it’s often paired with a brown sugar sauce.

    OMG the massive ice cream cone! Brings back memories of when I was in Seoul in JANUARY and still thought it was a good idea to eat one of those! 🙂

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Cool, thank you for sharing Erica! I couldn’t detect what that topping was… Haha, you got the ice cream too!

    • Erica

      12 years ago

      Of course! I’m a sucker for soft serve- I’ve even tried sea urchin flavor 🙂

  • Ayngelina

    12 years ago

    Only you could make hot dogs look tempting!

  • sully86

    12 years ago

    mark: i love those korean mochi a few good spank before I gobble them up. Another thing mark, the tornado potatoes can be found in malacca too.