Category: Jongno
-
Samgyetang in Jongno: 30 Years of Ginseng Chicken Soup at Jangsu Samgyetang
When you need warming up from the inside out, few Korean dishes beat samgyetang — and for samgyetang in Jongno, Jangsu Samgyetang is a reliable old hand. It’s been in the same spot for over 30 years, a minute from Jongno 3-ga Station, serving a rich, clean ginseng chicken soup that locals swear by. One…
-
A Modern Korean Restaurant in Ikseon-dong: Ikseon Aetteut
If you want Korean food that feels both familiar and new, Ikseon Aetteut is a lovely pick. It’s a modern Korean restaurant in Ikseon-dong — the menu calls itself “casual Korean” — taking everyday Korean flavors and reimagining them, then plating everything beautifully on artful ceramics. Set in a hanok with a little garden inside,…
-
Sotbap in Ikseon-dong: Eggplant Pot Rice at Damsot
Korean sotbap — rice cooked and served in a hot stone or metal pot, piled with toppings — is one of the most comforting meals you can have, and Damsot does one of the best versions in Ikseon-dong. Its signature is eggplant pot rice, heaped so high the eggplant almost spills over. If you want…
-
Signature R: An Ikseon-dong Roastery Cafe in a Modern Hanok
Ikseon-dong’s cafes are mostly small and about the vibe; Signature R is a bit different. It’s a hanok roastery cafe — coffee is the main event here — and it’s unusually roomy for the neighborhood, with sleek modern interiors wrapped around a traditional courtyard. If you want a serious coffee in a hanok that doesn’t…
-
The Prettiest Ikseon-dong Hanok Cafe: Mongblanc Som and Its Misty Courtyard
Some cafes you go to for the coffee; others you go to for the setting. Mongblanc Som is firmly the second kind — a small, photogenic Ikseon-dong hanok cafe built around a courtyard where cooling fog drifts up between the tiled roofs. If you want the prettiest spot for a photo and a slice of…
-
The Best Ikseon-dong Dessert: Angbutter and Korean Ice Cream at Seoul Coffee
Ikseon-dong is wall-to-wall cafes, so it helps to know which ones are worth it. Seoul Coffee is a hanok cafe that’s earned its reputation on two things: angbutter toast and rich, distinctly Korean ice cream. If you’re after a memorable Ikseon-dong dessert, this is a reliable pick — and it’s right at the entrance to…
-
An Ikseon-dong Cafe for Coffee by Day and Cocktails by Night: Sikmul
Ikseon-dong is full of hanok cafes, and they come and go constantly — but Sikmul has stayed. It’s one of the neighborhood’s largest and longest-standing cafes, and one of the few that shifts from a relaxed daytime coffee spot into a cocktail bar at night. For an Ikseon-dong cafe with room to breathe and a…
-
Salt Bread in Seoul: Ikseon-dong’s Famous Jayeondo Sogeumppang
If you’ve seen a long line in the hanok alleys of Ikseon-dong, there’s a good chance it’s for salt bread. Jayeondo Sogeumppang is the most famous place for salt bread in Seoul — they bake 7,000 a day and still sell out — and it’s become one of Ikseon-dong’s signature stops. Here’s what makes it…
-
Pyongyang Naengmyeon in Seoul: Woolaeok, Running Since 1946
Ask Koreans about pyongyang naengmyeon and you’ll get strong opinions. It’s the cold noodle dish people either revere or find baffling — famously seum-seum, meaning so subtle it can taste like nothing at first. Woolaeok, in Euljiro, has been making it since 1946, holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand every year from 2022 to 2026, and…
-
Bingsu in Seoul: Seasonal Korean Shaved Ice at Bubing, Bukchon
If you’re looking for bingsu in Seoul — Korea’s mountainous shaved-ice dessert — the version worth planning around isn’t in a chain cafe. It’s in a tiny hanok in Bukchon, where Bubing has been making seasonal bingsu long enough to earn a spot on Korean food TV and a permanent queue outside its door. First,…
-
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Explained: What Each Hall Actually Is (By a Local Who Finally Went)
Confession: I was born and raised in Seoul, and for years I had never set foot inside Gyeongbokgung. It’s a universal law — locals never visit their own landmarks. When I finally went (for the night opening, which deserves its own post), I was honestly stunned by how vast and beautiful it is, and slightly…
-
Gyeongbokgung Night Opening: How Foreigners Actually Get In (Hint: Skip the Booking Site)
Twice a year, for roughly a month each time, Gyeongbokgung Palace stays open after dark — lanterns on, halls glowing, the works. It’s one of the most beautiful things you can do in Seoul, and also one of the most confusing to book if you’re not Korean. I’ve been, and here’s the honest system, including…
-
Songam Onban: The Ikseon-dong Restaurant Locals Actually Eat At
Ikseon-dong is Seoul’s prettiest maze — 1920s hanok alleys reborn as cafes, dessert shops, and photo spots. Most visitors graze on coffee and croffles and move on. That’s a mistake, because tucked into those same alleys is Songam Onban, a proper Korean restaurant that turned an ordinary Saturday dinner into one of my favorite meals…
-
Sotnaeum Insadong: The Korean Pot Rice Experience Every Visitor Should Try
Insadong is one of those neighborhoods where you walk more than you planned — galleries, tea shops, souvenir alleys. By the time I’d done a full loop, I needed something warm and substantial. That’s how I ended up at Sotnaeum Insadong, a pot rice restaurant I’d been meaning to try, and it turned out to…
-
Cafe Onion Anguk: Freshly Baked Bread in a Beautiful Hanok (A Local’s Guide)
If you’re heading to Gyeongbokgung Palace or Bukchon Hanok Village, there’s one stop you should build into your morning: Cafe Onion Anguk, a bakery cafe inside a traditional Korean hanok, just two minutes from Anguk Station. I’ll be honest — as a local, I’d walked past this place many times because the line always looked…
