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SPICY Braised Mackeral stew in Busan, South Korea!
While walking around the Haeundae area in Busan, I stumbled upon an alley that was filled with various seafood restaurants. Taking a look at the menus, something that caught my eye was a spicy looking braised mackeral stew.
I hadn’t had it before but it looked delicious so I decided to give it a try!
One of the many tiny seafood restaurants in the area 
Braised mackeral stew! The dish comes out in a large bowl which is placed on the burner on the table and kept boiling hot. You then ladle yourself hearty servings of the delicious bubbly stew. The main dish is accompanied by a number of side dishes as well which is par for the course with any Korean meal. It’s a ton of food. There’s a good number of large, meaty chunks of mackeral in the stew.
The sauce is flavorful with a blend of different spices and is slightly spicy with a touch of sweetness, which I loved. The mackeral is tender, flaky, and really soaks up the flavor of the sauce.
Each bite is packed with flavor. The veggies in the stew also really soak up the sauce and add another texture to the dish as well.
Scooping some of the sauce along with a chunk of the mackeral and some veggies over rice was absolutely delicious and quite a comforting, filling meal.
Korean braised mackeral stew is definitely a dish that’s packed with flavor and is worth giving a try if traveling through South Korea!
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DELICIOUS DONUTS at Cafe Knotted, Busan, South Korea
Knotted is a popular donut chain in South Korea with many different types of uniques flavors in a cute cafe setting. This particular branch in Haeundae is quite new.
I definitely had a tough time choosing which ones to try since they all sounded so interesting. I went with the classic vanilla and the lemon sugar donuts. I wanted to get more but was still pretty full from a big lunch so had to settle for “just” two.
The donuts are so light and fluffy with sugar sprinkled over the outside. I could have eaten a couple more of them since they were so light to be honest. Looking back I’m disappointed I didn’t!
The donuts are chalk full of flavored vanilla and lemon cream. I was surprised after taking my first bite. Sweet, rich, and very flavorful, the vanilla and lemon cream filling were very satisfying.
Something else that makes the donuts so delicious is that they aren’t overly sweet, which it being a donut filled with flavored cream you would think it would be VERY sweet but it’s not at all.
I would definitely recommend stopping by and giving Knotted a try if you come across it during your travels through South Korea for some unique flavored donuts!
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Spicy Wheat Noodles -Yukjeon Bibim Milmyeon in Busan
While visiting Busan I made my way down to one of its most famous beaches, Haeundae. It’s a nice little walk from the subway to the beach with a main strip leading down to the beach that has shops and restaurants on both sides of the street.
On the walk to the beach I noticed a place serving cold wheat noodles which is a very popular dish in South Korea and something I definitely wanted to give a try.
They had regular wheat noodles and spicy wheat noodles so of course I had to opt for the spicy.
The presentation of the noodles is fantastic and it looks essentially like the photo on the menu.
The wheat noodles were topped with half an egg, vegetables, radish, fish, with a nice sprinkling of sesame seeds on top. The bowl of noodles is served nice and frosty. You can literally see some ice in the bowl!
The sauce is a flavorful combination of sweet, sour, and spicy, with none of the flavors being overly dominant. It all combines for a very tasty experience.
This type of noodle is definitely chewy and your jaw can certainly get a workout eating through this, lol. You get a nice mixture of the chewy noodle, with a crunch from the vegetables and another soft texture with the fish pieces.
This splendid bowl of frigid noodles definitely hit the spot on a warm day. The combination of flavors and textures made this a memorable first taste of Korean spicy wheat noodles and I look forward to grabbing another bowl of these delicious noodles!
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Jagalchi Fish Market – Busan, South Korea
The largest fish market in South Korea, Jalgachi Market is a massive, bustling market place with stalls galore, restuarants, and an insane amount and variety of seafood.
There are two large buildings housing aisle after aisle of tanks / bins of various live seafood. You can buy any of the live seafood from one of these seafood stalls and then go upstairs to a correlating restuarant (each stall has a restuarant upstairs) and they will prepare the seafood for you. There’s so many different types of live fish, sea crustaceans, squid, crabs, octopus, it’s really mind boggling.
The entire surrounding area is very similar to what is housed within these buildings with shop after shop having an abundance of live seafood that can be purchased and then prepared / eaten all at the same spot.
Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area After walking through one of the buildings and being amazed by the sheer volume of stalls and endless aisles of aquatic tanks and bins filled with quite the assortment of aquatic wildlife, I decided that I had zero idea of what most of these creatures were, let alone how they would be prepared and what it would taste like, I wandered upstairs to where the restuarants were located to make things less complicated on myself.
I was quickly flagged down by one of the first restaurant patrons that noticed me who asked what I was looking for. They had a large fish tank with a few species of fish in it and the patron went over what kind of fish they were and how much they cost. They were fairly good sized fish. I really had no idea what they were or what they would taste like but chose one of them and got half of it sashimi style and the other half grilled.
This came with the usual side dishes that accompany pretty much all South Korean meals, kimchi, radish, etc. It also came with a few massive shrimps that were incredibly sweet.
The fish I ended up getting didn’t turn out well sashimi style. Very rubbery and chewy it wasn’t very enjoyable. I’m used to sashimi that melts in your mouth and this was certainly not that type.
The grilled fish on the other hand was very good. Freshly grilled and salted the fish was moist and had great char taste. All in all it was a ton of food that definitely left me quite full.
Walking around Jalgachi market and seeing all the different types of seafood in the market, then being able to eat such fresh fish was certainly a memorable experience. If ever visiting Busan it’s certainly a place to check out since it’s such a busy area with a lot going on!
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Soybean Sprout Soup (Kongnamulguk) – Gyeongju, South Korea
After a long day of walking around Gyeongju taking in the sights, I was definitely tired and in need of some comfort food. It was later in the afternoon in between lunch and dinner so a lot of restaurants were not open.
Fortunately, I was able to come across this small restaurant called Market Soup (not sure if that’s translated correctly).
Definitely a small place off the main road, down a random alley, which had a handful of tables. The menu was short and sweet with just a few items. I always believe places with a small menu will have delicious food because they can specialize in just a few recipes and perfect them.
I ordered the bean sprout soup with beef and was quite content with the choice.
Bean sprout soup is a very common, beloved soup in South Korea, and is also known as a hangover cure. I hadn’t tried it yet so I was eager to give it a try.
This was a good sized bowl and it came out piping hot. The broth was outstanding. Savory with mild spice to it with sesame seed. The bean sprouts were nice and crunchy and the meat was extremely tender.
Taking some of the cubed radish kimchi and putting it in the soup added even more crunch and an extra layer of flavor to the soup base.
Served with a side of rice, this was definitely a comforting meal that really hit the spot after a long day of exploring!
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Eating Your Way Through Gwangjang Market Is A MUST For Any Visit to Seoul, South Korea!
There are many market places throughout Seoul and South Korea in general, to check out. Gwangjang Market is one of the most famous and popular amongst them all with some truly mouth watering food experiences to be found under one roof.
The market place is massive with various shops and food stall options throughout. There are so many delicious smells and interesting food in this market it’s difficult to decide where to start!
One thing that’s noticeable while walking around is that the food stalls clumped together seem to focus on specific types of food and sell similar dishes.
Many shops and food stalls 
One of the many food stalls One of the most popular dishes found in the market is the savory mung bean pancake (Bindaetteok)
Mung bean pancake Made from ground mung bean and fried in light oil, the pancake is filled with mung bean and chives. The outer pancake has a nice crunch and the middle is soft, similar to mashed potatoes but still has some crunch from the mung beans. The soy sauce / vinegar dipping sauce and salty little peppers go really well with the pancake and are certainly a must to fully enjoy this particular pancake.
Another main dish found in Gwangjang Market is nice bowl of fresh noodles (Kalguksu). There are many vendors selling freshly made noodles so pull up a stool and enjoy!
Fresh Noodles! I can’t really say if one place is any better than another. They all look to be pretty similar but I’m sure there’s subtle differences that true noodle aficionados would notice.
At all of these sit downs stations the noodles are literally being handmade, freshly cut, right in front of you.
The bowl I got are some of the best noodles I’ve had. The noodles were truly al dente. Nice and chewy, yet firm. Freshly made noodles truly make a massive difference.
The broth had a rich, flavorful taste to it. There’s some veggies in the soup and it’s topped by nori. I really enjoyed dropping some kimchi into it to add a different texture and flavor to the soup too.
To top off my experience at Gwangjang Market I noticed a donut stand that had a long line of people and figured it must be the place to go!
Popular donut stand Gwangjang Market 
The 3 donuts sold The line wrapped outside of the market, spilling out onto the street but only took about 20 mins. It was well worth the wait. The donuts are freshly made right in front of you and are absolutely delicious.
Freshly deep fried then immeditely rolled in sugar, the donut twist (Kkwabaegi) is exceptionally light, has a fried crunch on the outside and the inside is pillowery soft and chewy. I could have easily eaten 10 of these but refrained and only got two!
The only downside of this market is that there’s so much food waiting to be tried and enjoyed but only so much space in one’s stomach, lol. Choose wisely and enjoy all the fantastic food options Gwangjang Market has to offer!
Related Links
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Noonaholdak Hongdae – Oven Baked Chicken and Beer (Seoul, South Korea)
You see plenty of fried chicken spots in South Korea. It’s a country wide staple. I didn’t see too many oven baked chicken restuarants however.
While walking around Hongdae I stumbled upon this restaruant located near Hongik University and it was too hard to pass by, what with the bright lights and interesting building layout. Also, let’s be honest: you can never go wrong with (Oven) Chicken and Beer.
The restaurant definitely had a Buffalo Wild Wings type atmosphere with multiple TVs on the walls and loud music blaring. The menu offered a vast array of food options besides the chicken and a had nice selection of beers to choose from with some local craft beers as well.
Going back to the chicken, there’s a good number of seasonings / glazes to choose from but I had to go with the spicy. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that spicy but still packed a decent kick and was slighlty sweet but not overly so.
The chicken had a nice oven baked outer crunch to it and the meat was fall off the bone kind of tender. Really a nice, delicious combination of the spicy glaze, oven baked crunchy skin and super tender meat. There was also a TON of chicken and fries (which were also very good).
Literally a massive pile of chicken which the pictures do not do justice.
Chicken, fries, and beer. What more could you want? I did my best but I just couldn’t eat this entire plate. It’s most likely better to share with someone else unless you have a big appetite!
There’s a ton of food options in Hongdae to choose from but if you’re in the mood for some chicken and beer this makes for a very good option!
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Hairtail Stew At The Namdaemun Market In Seoul Is A MUST Try
There’s so much to see, explore, experience, smell, and EAT at Seoul’s famous Nandaemun Market. It’s truly hard to know where to start.
Lined with various shop after shop with food vendors interspersed throughout, the marketplace is a sprawling space with many alleyways waiting to be explored. This is a massive marketplace area.
Namdaemun Market After walking around taking in all the sights and sounds, I narrowed my search down for one specific alleyway – Hairtail Alley.
Entrance to Hairtail Alley I had seen the famous Mark Weins eat at a restaurant here in one of his videos and knew it was a place I wanted to visit to give their famous hairtail stew a try. It did not disappoint. I hadn’t heard of hairtail before, let alone eaten it, but it’s a long, silver, slender, fish also known as beltfish There’s quite a few restaurants down this alley and they all seemingly have similar menus so I dipped into one and ordered a nice piping hot bowl of the stew.
Hairtail Alley The broth is bright red and laden with chili flakes so I assumed it would be very spicy. While it does have heat it’s not overly spicy at all, it’s just the right amount and is very tasty. The fish is nice and tender and absorbs all of the broth nicely. It’s quite bony though so you’ll want to be careful while eating this dish. On the bottom of the bowl is radish which really absorbs the flavor of the broth and is quite delicious on its own.
The meal also comes with a fluffy steamed egg which is always delicious and really paired well with the stew alongside the usual side dishes like kimchi and radish. This meal also came with a couple pieces of deep fried (I assume) hairtail which was very good as well. Getting a spoonful of the fish, radish, broth and eating it over rice was really a spoonful of heaven.
There really is a lot to see at Namdaemun Market and this alley is pretty easy to overlook and just walk right by. Be sure to keep your head on a swivel and be on the lookout for that hairtail in bowtie sign atop this lovely alleyway. You won’t be disappointed!
Related Links
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Insadong Dumplings That Are Worth The Wait In Seoul
While exploring Insadong on a rainy Sunday morning, I stumbled upon Bukchon Sonmandu, a local Insadong dumpling restaurant and couldn’t resist stopping by and trying the gullim and steamed pork and kimchi dumplings.
I haven’t had gullim before so wanted to give it a try. It’s essentially a meatball of the meat filling of a dumpling consisting of (I think) ground pork, onion, green onions, garlic. These were tasty. Nice, juicy, freshly made, these were easy to put down.
I also got the steamed pork and kimchi dumplings. Both were very good. Dumpling skin was perfect with great texture. The pork dumpling filling was very similar to the gullim, perhaps with a slight twist, with a little more green onion.
The kimchi dumpling was my favorite of the bunch. The kimchi added a little spice, crunch, and flavor to the ground pork mix. It provided a burst of flavor to the mix and was very delicious. I only wish I had more hot sauce and soy sauce to dip all these wonderful gullim and dumplings in!
Overall, this was a very satisfying experience. I loved the number of different options that were available. Many of which I hadn’t tried before. The dumplings were all quite different from one another with varying flavors and textures from their fillings. With very affordable prices, everything varied from about $3.50 – $5.50 USD, Bukchon Sonmandu is certainly worth a stop for some Insadong dumplings.
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Experiencing Myeongdong Street Food in Seoul Is A MUST
Myeongdong Street Food
Myeongdong is a popular tourist destination in Seoul and is known primarily for it’s robust shopping which offers many international name brands and a ton of department stores packed in the area.
There’s also plenty of food options with restaurants and food vendors lining a major street running through the heart of Myeondgdong.
A few of the many, many restaurants in the area 
View of the strip in Myeongdong with lots of food vendors 
View of the strip in Myeongdong with lots of food vendors The draw for me was the aforementioned food stalls which I’d seen plenty of vloggers try so I was fairly familiar with the type of food found here and was excited to try some of the items!
There’s so many Myeongdong street food items to try here but with me traveling solo I really had to be selective on what I chose since I can only eat so much! I’ll update this article when I return to Myeongdong someday and am able to try new items.
A prominent item not only in Myeondong but I feel throughout South Korea is the chicken skewer (dakkochi). Pieces of tender, grilled chicken lathered in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce, delicious. The sauce takes the cake here. A great balance of sweet and spicy.
Egg bread (gyeran) is something I definitely wanted to try since it sounded and looked so interesting. It doesn’t taste how you would think it would since it seems like it would more of a savory item but the bread portion of it is actually sweet. Not overly sweet though. The egg adds the savory element to it and goes well with the bread creating a tasty snack.
Waffles in South Korea are dessert items with various toppings and fillings. The texture is different then what would be deemed a “breakfast” waffle as well. It’s firmer due to a sugar glaze on the outside. This particular waffle was topped with shredded Norwegian cheese. I wouldn’t think waffle and shredded cheese would ever go well together but this absolutely does. It may look and sound strange but the cheese pairs really well with the sweetness of the waffle and is very delicious.
Probably my favorite street food in all of South Korea – Hotteok. It’s like a deep fried pancake that can have either a savory or sweet middle. I always opted for the sweet variety which was usually brown sugar, cinnamon, honey in the middle. The dough has a satisfying crunch on the outside and the inside is nice and doughy and chewy and full of sweetness. It’s an unbelievable snack that I never passed up when walking through a food market while in South Korea.
There’s many more options when it comes to Myeongdong street food. This is just a sampler of what this street and area have to offer. What are some of your favorite Korean street food items?
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