My tenth day in South Korea continued as my boy Sam from Samuel & Audrey and I headed off to Namdaemun Market in Seoul to go on the ultimate Korean street food tour! Come along with us as we explore the best of Namdaemun Market! Namdaemun Market is the oldest and biggest market in all of Korea. It dates back to 1414 and has 10,000 stalls. You can get just about anything there!
We made our way to the heart of the street food area. Our first dish was a hot dog on a stuck that is battered, covered in potatoes, and is deep-fried. It came with four sauces. My first bite was just French fries and batter! It was salty and the spicy sauce had a real kick to it! I also tried a second, sweeter sauce. It wasn’t my favorite, but it’s a good, filling treat to get on the go.
Next to the vendor was a restaurant with lots of bowls, but we wanted to stick to just street food. The prices we saw were reasonable, but there were tons of people in the market. It’s easy to feel claustrophobic with so many people!
We found lots of clothing vendors as we wound our way through the market. I wanted to get my nephews some shirts in a smaller size, but the vendors weren’t very nice to us and didn’t help us at all.
Next, we tried some fried rice cakes, which cost 1,000 won/$0.83 U.S. each. It was tough on the outside but chewy and dense in the middle. It was almost like polenta! It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. It needed some sauce and was pretty bland.
We had trouble finding more street food. There was a lot more retail and it was getting frustrating trying to find some. We headed to an indoor section, down some stairs where Sam had tried gimbap before. It was a lot less crowded down there and was more relaxed.
We found the gimbap with seaweed, rice, carrot, cucumber, and radish. It was really tasty with the spicy sauce, which was wasabi mixed with soy sauce. It was really potent and had a nice crunch with the seaweed and sesame seeds on the outside. I loved that it was filled with veggies. The sauce had a quick burst of heat, and that was it! It cost just 2,000 won/$1.65 U.S. and was a great value for the quality!
Back upstairs, we went to a Korean folkcraft store, where I could see tons of souvenirs. It was like a maze!
Then I found some cool-looking Korean masks. There was an amazing black one that cost 40,000 won/$33 U.S., which I tried on. I passed on it and we headed back outside. You would barely notice the entrance hidden inside the market!
Next, we got some rice cakes. The green one was spongy with powdered peanut on the inside. It was really sweet. I liked it! The white one was also spongy and dense, but I couldn’t make out what the filling was. I liked the other one better. They cost 1,000 won for four, so they’re super affordable!
Next were mandu, which are steamed dumplings. It cost 4,000 won/$3.30 U.S. for five, but we got a discount for four. The reddish mandu contained kimchi and was hot but heavenly! There were also noodles and pork inside. It was the best thing I had all day!
The second mandu was the pork one. It was really hot and felt moist. There were more glass noodles and an abundance of pork! It was beyond amazing!
Next was tteok-bokki. It comes with fish cakes and it all comes in a super spicy, delicious sauce. I ate it almost every day in South Korea. I liked the oden better than the rice cake, but it was all so freaking good! Sweet and spicy! They also gave us some good, fishy oden broth. It cost 2,500 won, or a little over $2 U.S.
We finished up with a green tea latte, which was really refreshing and thick like a smoothie.
What a day! I hope you enjoyed this street food tour of Namdaemun Market. If you did, please give it a thumbs up and leave me a comment. Also, please subscribe to my channel and I’ll see you in the next travel/food adventure.
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About Me:
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last decade, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,000 destinations in 73 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
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