What Would You Eat If You Could Only Eat 3 Korean Foods While Traveling in Korea?

What would you eat in Korea?

Korean foods have been getting more attention these days. Many travelers visit Korea, looking forward to eating different kinds of Korean foods.

But time is limited. There are only three meals
a day, four meals if we include late night snacks. While traveling to Korea, we have to be thorough with menu options.

So… we thought it would be nice to think about,
“What would you eat if you could eat only 3 Korean dishes while traveling in Korea?”

Here’s our choice. ????

1. 한우 (Hanwoo)

If you’re in Korea, you can’t leave without not eating Korean barbecue. But there are so many different types of meats you can choose from!

Why don’t you try 한우 (pronounced ‘han-woo’)? It’s a specific breed among cattle born in Korea, regarded as premium beef with an amazing taste (and a high price). 

It’s something that you can’t easily find outside of Korea. According to USA Today, 한우 is not too greasy, but soft and chewy with a good combination of fat and protein. 

If you’re wondering where to go, 마장동 (Majang-dong) in Seoul can be one of your options. There’s the largest meat market called “마장축산물시장 (Majang Meat Market)” where you can buy and eat 한우. There are butchers and restaurants inside. You can either buy 한우 from one of the butchers and take it to a restaurant or just go to a restaurant and order from there. 

Buying 한우 from a butcher is one of the cheapest ways possible. But restaurants also sell 한우 at a reasonable price, so if you don’t feel like going to the butchers, you can just go straight to a restaurant.

???? Address: 40, Majang-ro 31-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul

2. 국밥

국밥 literally means “soup rice.” It refers to all kinds of Korean food that you eat rice in hot soup, such as hangover soup (해장국) and ox bone soup (설렁탕).

It’s one of the most popular daily foods among Koreans. If you want to feel authenticity, 국밥 can be a good choice. You might think putting rice inside soup may be a bit weird, but it’s better than it looks.

The price is usually between 5,000 ~ 15,000 won, but it really varies depending on the region.)

You might want to visit the oldest restaurant in Korea to eat 국밥.

이문설농탕, built in 1902, is the oldest restaurant in Korea and sells ox bone soup (설렁탕) and ox knee soup (도가니탕).

Tips

1. Don’t forget to add salt and chopped green onions on the table. The soup is barely seasoned.
2. Eat with kimchi! 국밥 and kimchi go well together.

???? Address: 38-13, Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

3. 분식 (Bunsik)

It’s a word referring to Korean street foods, such as tteokbokki, fried foods, fish cake, gimbap, ramen, and sundae (pig’s intestines stuffed with clear noodles).

You have to visit one of those food carts that sell 분식 on the streets at least once while you’re in Korea. It’s one of the foods that Koreans eat on a regular basis. You can easily find 분식 restaurants on the streets. 분식 has been with us for a long time, from the 1960s.

Where can you find all those food trucks? There are so many different regions with food trucks so it’s hard to pick only one, but today, we want to introduce 혜화역 (Hyehwa station), often referred to as “대학로 (dae-hak-ro)”. 혜화역 is known as a Mecca of performing arts with many small theaters nearby. 

And they also have a number of amazing food trucks selling 분식 and other types of street foods. (Some places are open only in the evening, so it would be better to go in the afternoon.)

???? What would be your choice? If you’ve decided your mind, share them in the comment section below!