Market Browser · 48 stories

Meals and Market Finds

I write about restaurant visits and shopping stops around Seoul. · Writes about: Restaurants · Shopping · Cafés · Bars · Hair & beauty salons · Beauty products

PlaceGeumcheon, SeoulRestaurants

Weekend Korean BBQ lunch in Gasan, Eonyang bulgogi: Choi Woo-young

Choi Woo-young Gogiya (최우영고기야) is a charcoal-grill Korean BBQ restaurant in Geumcheon, Seoul, a one-minute walk from Gasan Digital Complex Station. Staff grill the meat over charcoal before serving it, and every meat order comes with marinated crab, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and ssambap (rice for lettuce wraps). At a weekend lunch the writer had Eonyang-style beef bulgogi, pork belly, beef galbisal and grilled rice cakes, then finished with shrimp and cold soba, and eating three meats at once was a happy experience. Verdict: Choi Woo-young Gogiya is a recommended lunch BBQ spot near Gasan Digital Complex Station.

Written Apr 23, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho sashimi restaurant for couple's drinks and maki: Singa Hoetjip

Singa Hoetjip (신가) is a sashimi restaurant at 45 Dongmyeonghang-gil in Dongmyeong-dong, Sokcho, Gangwon, serving snow crab sets, wild and farmed mixed sashimi platters, and meals such as mulhoe (cold raw fish soup). On a Sokcho trip, the writer and her husband stopped at Singa Hoetjip for evening drinks and ordered the small farmed mixed platter, which came with complimentary starters, flatfish, rockfish and mullet sashimi, maki, spicy fish stew and roe rice. Verdict: Singa Hoetjip is recommended for sashimi and a drink in Dongmyeong-dong.

Written Apr 26, 2026Sponsored
PlaceAnyang, GyeonggiBars

Couple's Korean bar in Beomgye: yukjeon & gopdoritang, Bueongi Sanjang

Bueongi Sanjang Beomgye Branch (부엉이산장 범계점) is a cabin-themed Korean pub on a 2nd floor, a 2-minute walk from Beomgye Station in Anyang, serving Korean-style dishes and traditional liquor. A couple sat by the window and ordered yukjeon (pan-fried beef in egg batter), gopdoritang (spicy chicken and beef intestine stew) and Naru draft makgeolli. They finished the tender yukjeon with pickled onions and the gopdoritang, packed with chicken and rich gopchang, in no time. Bueongi Sanjang Beomgye Branch is a solid pick if you want jeon and a glass of makgeolli at an atmospheric Beomgye bar.

Written Apr 24, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho makguksu restaurant: homemade fruit dongchimi broth, Topgol

Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch is a Korean restaurant specializing in makguksu (buckwheat noodles) on Haeoreum-ro 188beon-gil in Sokcho, Gangwon. On the first lunch of a Sokcho trip with her husband, the writer ordered pollack buckwheat noodles, perilla oil buckwheat noodles and a potato pancake, poured the restaurant's homemade fruit dongchimi (radish water kimchi) broth over the noodles for a cool, nutty bowl, and finished with a cup of yagwanmun herbal tea each. For a dongchimi makguksu lunch in Sokcho, Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch is well worth recommending.

Written Apr 25, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho tofu restaurant: brunch sundubu and makgeolli, Yetgoeul Sundubu

Yetgoeul Sundubu (옛고을순두부) is a soft tofu restaurant on Wonamhaksapyeong-gil in Sokcho, Gangwon, that makes its own chodang sundubu (soft tofu) and tofu from domestic Yeoncheon soybeans. On a Sokcho trip, a couple ordered spicy sundubu and abalone jjamppong sundubu at Yetgoeul Sundubu for brunch, then added a bottle of Sokcho Saengtak makgeolli when the craving hit. The spicy, seafood-packed sundubu, pot rice and a glass of makgeolli made Yetgoeul Sundubu a satisfying Sokcho brunch.

Written Apr 28, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonCafés

Sokcho tofu village café for a couple: Chodang corn latte, Cafe Neorae

Cafe Neorae (카페너래) is an Ulsanbawi-view café on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a soft tofu restaurant in Haksapyeong Kongkkot Village, Sokcho, Gangwon. After a soft tofu brunch, the writer and her husband ordered an americano, a Chodang corn latte and tissue bread and enjoyed them in front of the 3rd-floor floor-to-ceiling windows facing Ulsanbawi. Cafe Neorae is a forest-feel view café that makes an easy stop after a meal in the tofu village.

Written Apr 27, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho red crab restaurant with herring sashimi: Hanggu Hwareo

Hanggu Hwareo (항구활어) is an ocean-view crab and raw fish restaurant in Building S of Daepo Port Fish Market in Sokcho, Gangwon. On a Sokcho trip with her husband, the writer ordered the red crab B course for dinner and got red crab, sashimi, side dishes, spicy fish stew and crab fried rice. The red crab at Hanggu Hwareo was packed with meat, and the crab fried rice at the end is a must-try.

Written Apr 29, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSokcho, GangwonShopping

Sokcho market jeotgal shop: oyster & octopus, half frozen, Hwangbuja

Hwangbuja Jeotgal is a salted seafood (jeotgal) shop inside Sokcho Jungang Market (Sokcho Tourist Fish Market) in Sokcho, Gangwon, selling salted cutlassfish guts, pollock roe, salted octopus, fermented flatfish (gajami sikhae) and more. After tasting samples with her husband, the writer bought eoriguljeot (spicy salted oysters) and salted octopus, split them half into the fridge and half into the freezer as the shop advised, and ate them with rice for lunch the next day. Packed in a cooler bag with ice packs, the Hwangbuja Jeotgal oysters and octopus held up on a drive home of over 3 hours, and those two alone were enough to clear a whole bowl of rice.

Written Apr 30, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

Daechi-dong eel bowl restaurant: holiday lunch, two whole eels, Manmok

Manmok (만목) is a Japanese restaurant specializing in eel bowls on Seolleung-ro 82-gil in Daechi-dong, Gangnam, Seoul, about a 5-minute walk from Seolleung Station. On a public holiday, the blogger and her husband ordered two whole-eel bowls at Manmok, served with salad, chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard) and matsutake soup, and each had a matcha or black tea ice cream for dessert. Manmok grills Gochang freshwater eel Kanto-style for a soft, rich flavor, making it an easy recommendation for a Daechi-dong lunch, a solo meal or a team dinner.

Written May 3, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSiheung, GyeonggiRestaurants

Siheung mudfish soup spot with coffee while you wait: Namwon Cham

Namwon Cham Chueotang (남원참추어탕) is a mudfish soup (chueotang) restaurant near Sincheon Station and Sammi Market in Siheung, Gyeonggi. On a low-energy day the writer waited in line at Namwon Cham Chueotang with self-serve tea, coffee and puffed rice, then ordered the Cham Chueotang. After the meal came a ₩2,000 takeout discount, scorched rice softened with mistletoe water and a sprinkle of jepi powder (Korean prickly ash). Namwon Cham Chueotang is a dependable Siheung pick when you want a rich broth to warm you up.

Written May 4, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulRestaurants

Hanwoo omakase in Gongdeok for my husband's birthday: champagne, Usu

Usu is an all-private-room hanwoo (Korean beef) course restaurant on the B2 floor of the Lotte Castle President retail building by Gongdeok Station in Mapo, Seoul. For her husband's birthday the writer had the Dinner B course at Usu, and because she noted the birthday on her Naver reservation, Usu served a sparkling champagne birthday drink, a dessert topped with a Happy Birthday card and candle, and took a commemorative photo. For a special occasion like a birthday in an atmospheric private room in Gongdeok, Usu's hanwoo course is a great fit.

Written May 7, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulRestaurants

Hapjeong pizzeria, truffle funghi & egg carbonara for two: Pizzeria O

Pizzeria O Hapjeong Station is a Neapolitan wood-fired pizza and pasta restaurant in Mapo, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Hapjeong Station. On a weekend, the writer and her husband booked ahead and ordered the salmon pizza, a Quattro Funghi finished with truffle oil, a carbonara topped with a free-range egg and a Coke Zero. The portions were so generous that they took the leftover pizza home and ate it until the next day. For pizza and pasta in one meal near Hapjeong Station, Pizzeria O Hapjeong Station is an easy recommendation.

Written May 14, 2026Sponsored