If you are a foodie, then you should visit Gwangjang market at least once! It is a highly recommended place to visit! Just remember to go there with an empty stomach! There are over 5,000 shops in a very small area! This place is very near to Jongno 5-ga Station line 1, exit 7/8, which takes a 3-minute walk or Euljiro 4-ga Station line 2/5, exit 4 and about a 5-min walk. After finishing your food, you can take a stroll near the bridges with stepping stones and shop at the fashion malls near there.
We went on a Saturday night and it was packed! I think if I had the chance to visit Seoul again, I would choose to visit here in the daytime as it would be much easier to take photos and be able to find Cho Yonsoon’s Kalguksi knife-cut noodle stall!
We got quite confused as there were so many rows of stalls with different entrances/exits. I have no clear orientation of the location at all. I think we must have walked at least three times back and fro, nevertheless, I was not able to find Netflix’s lady knife-cut noodle stall.
So we settled on a random store that sold knife-cut noodles as they had seats available for four of us! The shop owners were very friendly, their food was delicious and very reasonably priced!
In this market, I could see that many seafood restaurants sold Sannakji (live octopus) and Yukhoe (Korean seasoned raw beef). We didn’t have the guts to try these!
They also sell a range of Soondae (pig intestines stuffed with cellophane noodles, barley and pork blood), chicken feet, pig trotters/heads, etc. Again, this was a big ‘no’ for us!
I queued for 20 minutes to buy the Kkwabaegi (twisted Korean doughnuts) and they were very soft and crunchy (roughly 1,000 KRW each).
Other foods you must try are the Boribap (rice and barley with vegetables) 보리밥, Bindaetteok (Mung Bean Pancakes) 빈대떡, Eomukguk (fish cake soup) or Odeng (fish cakes), Mayak Kimbap (bite-size dried seaweed rolls) 꼬마김밥, Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) 떡볶이, Honey Hotteok (Korean sweet pancakes) and many more! You won’t be disappointed at the quality and value of the food!
We then walked around the malls, but most of them were closed. We were told by the tourist information, the fashion shops normally close on Fridays and Saturdays. What a mistake we made! Nevertheless, my son did buy some fancy trousers. As all the items had no price tags, they don’t work on fixed prices and you can barter with them. My husband was able to barter them down!