Un-gatekeeping My Gangnam Must Try Foods
I’m un-gatekeeping all of my Gangnam Must Try Foods while taking my sister and my mom around Seoul, Korea! From some of the best Beef BBQ to a Korean izakaya that left us speechless with its seafood dishes, Gangnam’s food scene has so much to offer! Some are favorites I had to share with my mom and sister, while others are hidden gems we stumbled into while exploring. But, I guarantee, ALL of them are delicious. So, if you’re in Gangnam, here’s some MUST TRY restaurants that I know you’ll love!
Sharing My Top Gangnam Restaurants with My Family
We’re back in Seoul for 7 days, this time with my Mom and my sister! I’ve taken them to all the places I already love here in Seoul, plus some new places we got to see for the first time together, like enjoying street foods at Mangwon Market, and more! My heart and my stomach are both so full knowing that I got to share some of the most delicious places in Seoul with my family. Now, I’m sharing them with you!
Since we are staying in Gangnam, we got to try some of the more uniquely delicious restaurants around this area, some while doing my Gangnam 1 Day itinerary. So, I decided to share some of the places that I’ve genuinely almost want to gatekeep for myself in Gangnam. You can’t blame me, because these spots are already so popular with locals, I just want to be able to come back again next time!
Ginseng Chicken Soup & Abalone Congee – 논현삼계탕·죽
It’s winter in Korea, and we were craving something warm and comforting. So, we decided to go grab Samgyetang or Ginseng Chicken Soup and Jeonbokjuk, or Korean Abalone Porridge at Nonhyeon Samgyetang • Juk 논현삼계탕·죽. Honestly, did you really come to Korea in the winter if you didn’t try these two iconic dishes that warm you from the inside out? Within 10 minutes of being seated in the restaurant, it was already packed with locals on their lunch break, which is always the best sign.
Their Ginseng Chicken Soup is everything you want on a chilly day. A whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng, dates, and garlic, and cooked into a broth. It is simple, nourishing, and exactly what your body craves when the weather dips. The broth is clean and flavorful without being too heavy, and the chicken is fall off the bone tender. And the moment you open it up, the broth mixes with sticky rice into pure perfection.
Of course, we can’t miss the umami-packed Jeonbokjuk. This silky Korean abalone rice porridge is made with abalone liver, gently simmered with rice in broth until it’s full of rich, savory, deep ocean umami. Then, it’s topped with slices of tender abalone. It’s also my first time trying their deep fried ginseng. They recommend dipping it into a sweet honey sauce. It was such a fun surprise: bitter, sweet, crispy, savory all at once.
The portions here are generous, making it the perfect meal for colder days or when you’re feeling under the weather or even as fuel before a full day of cafe hopping like us. This branch is open 24/7, so even if you’re craving a warm soup in the middle of the night, you can come try their ginseng chicken soup!
Korean BBQ and Tartare Bibimbap – Dr Hong KBBQ
I had to bring my family to what I consider, hands down, the best Korean barbecue I have ever had my whole entire life here at Dr Hong KBBQ. Yes, this is better than any Michelin spots I’ve ever tried in North America. The restaurant is connected to its own butcher shop. You literally walk in, pick your own cuts of meat, and they grill everything to perfection right in front of you.
The beef quality here is unreal. Beautifully marbled, but not overly fatty. It melts in your mouth just like Wagyu, but without the heavy richness. So, you can literally eat plates after plates and never get tired of it. All you need is sprinkle of salt and a dab of Korean wasabi. It will literally be the best bite of beef you will ever have.
Based on what you’ve chosen, they customize the side dishes just for you, too. They can be anything from the classic Korean acorn jelly, to various different types of kimchi. Don’t even get me started on these side dishes. Just give me a bowl of rice and they can be a full meal for me itself.
The true life-changing dish here. It is definitely their Yukhoe Bibimbap, or raw beef tartare bibimbap. Freshly seasoned raw beef, mixed with various vegetables, Korean pear, and an egg yolk with either a spicy gochujang or soy-based sauce. Dump in a bowl of rice, mix it up, and you get the best bibimbap ever. It is so good. We came back twice just to have it for lunch.
This is easily a 10 out of 10 meal. I’ve been dreaming about this meal since the last time we came here, and I’m so glad I got to take my Mom and Sister to try. In fact, even with our limited time, we came back multiple times this trip, just for the bibimbap!
Ox Bone Soup – Oegojip Seolleongtang
Another spot that wow’ed us in Gangnam is Oegojip Seolleongtang. This Michelin-recommended restaurant might be the best place to enjoy Seolleongtang in Seoul. As you can tell, I love soup. so so much. So, I honestly think winter is the best season for me to visit Seoul because this is actually one of my favorite dishes of all time.
Seolleongtang, or Korean beef bone soup, is a clean, milky broth that has been simmered for hours until it becomes rich, silky, and full of depth. The beauty of this soup is truly its simplicity. The steaming clay pot comes filled with that deep clear broth, tender slices of beef brisket and shank, and soft glass noodles that have soaked up all the flavor. Paired with kimchi, kakkdugi (picked radish), and a bowl of hot rice, and suddenly you have the most perfect soul warming meal, especially on a cold day.
I could literally have this every single day and never get sick of it. Truly one of my favorite meals in my life! They’re open daily from 11 AM to 9 PM except for Sundays. It’s close to a lot of other tourist hot spots in Gangnam, so it’s worth adding into a Gangnam Day Trip Itinerary!
Aged Kimchi-jjigae – KimbuksoonKeunNambijip
Kimchi-jjigae (김치찌개) is one of those dishes that is so simple that you assume it will taste the same in every restaurant. Well, KimbuksoonKeunNambijip completely changed that for me. This restaurant is always busy and packed with so much locals, but the service is lightning fast.
We started with an order of their Gyeran-Mari, or Korean Rolled Omelette, one of their most popular side dishes. Inside, there’s finely diced carrots and green onions rolled into it. It was soft, fluffy, and perfectly seasoned.
Of course, we’re here for their Kimchi-Jjigae. It comes out literally within 5 minutes, piping, hopping, and bubbling served in their iconic copper pots. Their kimchi-jjigae are known for that long-aged kimchi that adds layers and layers of deep, rich flavor. I love kimchi-jjigae so much, but I never realized how big of a difference a good well-aged kimchi can make in the soup until we came here. Honestly, we were speechless at how good this tasted! The flavors of the kimchi soaked right into the pork, spam, and tofu in every bite.
The portion sizes here are so generous, the service is fast, and the food is so good. Dom literally rate this as his top three meals of this entire trip because it was that delicious. It is one of those restaurants that you wish existed in your own neighborhood, so you could go back to enjoy it over and over again. It was so simple and comforting, yet unbelievably delicious!
The BEST Korean Fusion Izakaya – Seoulmong
Our meal at Seoulmong might have changed our life! I literally found this super local Korean izakaya by accident, and it ended up being one of our favorite meals of this entire trip. It’s a tiny izakaya shop run by just two guys, quietly serving what might be the best seafood I’ve ever had in my life.
Since their menu was purely in Korean, we asked the chef to pick our dishes for us. Every single dish here was a 10 out of 10. No misses at all, pure perfection. We started off with Korean style sashimi platter and every bite blew our minds. Every slice was clean, fresh, fatty, literally melted in your mouth like actual magic.
Then came two different mackerel dishes: mackerel rolled sushi and stewed mackerel steaks. These left us completely speechless. I don’t think I’ve ever had sushi this delicious before. The mackerel didn’t have the usual fishiness at all. Just tender, umami-packed bites. The cooked markerel was perfectly flaky, and seasoned so so well.
Their deep fried stingray also took us by surprised. Oh my goodness. This tasted almost like scallop: sweet, fresh, and super savory. We were completely obsessed. Even the final seafood miso soup, packed with crab, shrimp, and clams, was the best miso soup I have ever had in my life.
This was easily one of the best meals we’ve had all trip, and probably one of the best seafoods I’ve ever had in my life. It is unreal. I’m so shocked. One of those meals that hit you right in your heart and makes you want to book another trip back immediately. This is my number one restaurant recommendation out of this entire trip. 10 out of 10 meal. I honestly wanted to gatekeep this place to myself because there was barely any tourists here, but I 100% want to come back. This place is so good that they deserve all the love and hype, and I knew I had to share it with you guys.
Salt Grilled Chicken and Spicy Chicken Feet – 은화계
On our last night in Korea, we enjoyed some charcoal-grilled BBQ at Eunhwakye 은화계. This popular spot specializes in various parts of chicken. The staff grills everything to the perfect doneness right in front of you, so we didn’t have to worry about a thing.
Their signature Salt Charcoal Grilled Chicken is lightly salted, grilled over charcoal for a deliciously smoky, clean flavor. They also offer rare cuts, like grilled chicken neck, which has a chewier, snappier texture, but just as smoky and delicious. Besides the original salt grilled chicken, we also got some chicken that’s marinated in their signature spicy-sweet sauce as well as their boneless chicken feet. We also got an order of their Spicy Fried Rice, served in a stone pot topped with a fried egg, tons of seaweed, perilla seeds, and a deliciously spicy sauce.
This was the perfect chill dinner to end our last day in Seoul, chatting and reminiscing about our trip over grilling chicken. If you’re in the area looking for a yummy BBQ dinner, be sure to either make an appointment, or avoid peak dinner hours for walk-ins!
See More of My Seoul Adventures and Itineraries Here!
