Must-see restaurants in Seoul

Within the Dongdaemun Shopping Complex of the main market, there's an excellent choice of street food ranging from vendors to small restaurants, including…

Sometimes you just need a nicely cooked piece of meat – 2046 Pansteak serves up just that, still sizzling on an iron skillet along with spinach, a choice…

Refuel with sandwiches, pastries and coffee at this pleasant bakery-cafe, part of a small chain known for its baked goods and macarons. It also stocks…

Specialising in big bowls of kalguksu (handmade knife-cut noodles in spicy soup) and steamed pork dumplings, this simple restaurant focuses on the great…

Usually busy, this place is famous for manduguk – the dumplings in the soup are whoppers (three make a meal). Also try its platter of haemul pajeon …

In business since 1935, this popular pit offers big bowls of wholesome beef broth and rice either in the regular version with a mere four slices of meat…

A good place for adventurous diners to tick off pufferfish from their list, this local eatery is known for its bulgogi pufferfish barbecued in front of…

This throwback Korean eatery, painted duck-egg blue, serves simple bowls of guksi noodles in a milky-white, beef-bone broth with leeks and zucchini. Homey…

A sweet diversion in Hongdae, Fell & Cole's fabulous flavours of ice cream and sorbet are changing all the time but might include perilla leaf, parsley…

With too many temptations to count, this gourmet buffet is a good way to sample a range of Asian and other cuisines, with plenty of steak, seafood and…

This 2nd-floor restaurant, marked by a sign with red Chinese characters, offers reliable samgyetang. Put salt and pepper into the saucer and dip the…

Join the fashionistas at this expensive cafe on the ground floor of the Comme des Garcon boutique for avocado toast, eggs-benny and scrumptious croissants…

One of this convivial restaurant’s specialties is neobiani, a flavoursome beef patty the size of a small pizza. Meant for sharing, it comes with a mass of…

A convivial young crowd comes here for the jjimdak experience, a very spicy concoction of chicken, noodles, potatoes and vegetables that comes on a…

This classy Italian restaurant combines a two- or three-course meal with a movie afterwards in one of two super-comfy screening rooms (the double movie…

Take the elevator to the 5th floor and head to Mealtop, which has been selling excellent patbingsu (red bean and fruit on milky shaved ice) for over 20…

This simple place serves tasty handmade meat-, seafood- or vegetable-stuffed dumplings. A few doors up the road, another branch specialises in noodles.

One of several traditional arcade markets in Seoul, Jungang Market is very much a local affair with vendors selling street food, kimchi and fresh produce…

A cool little spot with stencil art and comic-book-themed murals on its walls, this basement den previously named 'A Person' does tasty pork belly and…