Have you heard of Gwangjang Market? Here's some food recommendations you should try and add this into your Seoul itinerary! ^^

PS: Running man fans, this was one of the traditional food market places featured in Episode 186:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2014/02/running-man-episode-186/

Gwangjang Market is one of Korea’s oldest traditional markets with over 100 years of history. Locals come here for quality silk goods, bedding, fabric, hanbok and clothing shopping. From 6pm onwards, the shops close but the food market starts to become lively.

Here's how you can get to Gwanjang Market:

Jongno 5-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1), Exit 8

Euljiro 4-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 5), Exit 4

There are many entrances (North, South, East, West etc) into this market, one of which would be this entrance pictured below :)

Look at how happening this place is at around 6-7pm! ^^ Super excited to try out the different food available!

Pretty similar to Singapore's wet market but it is much cleaner and has a wider array of products as well as many food stalls! It's really vibrant & colourful!

First stop:
The 빈대떡 (Bindaetteok) was huge!! We were not sure which flavour to order and just pointed to the table beside ours lol!
물 Water was provided at every table and there were side dishes to go along with this Korean style pancake too :) 
Om nom nom nom! We finished one whole piece only leaving some crumbs behind haha.. Didn't want to be greedy and wanted to save stomach space for more, so we only ordered one piece to share! ^^

This pancake is also called the mung bean pancake. This dish is basically made out of ground mung beans, with green onions, kimchi, or peppers cooked in a frying pan. There are several different fillings for this, and we ordered the meat version if i'm not wrong :p really crispy and fragrant, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. *salivating as i'm typing away* Think of this as the Korean style Rosti haha!

It was pretty affordable, approx about 4000-5000 won for a piece of huge yummy pancake ^^

Dip the bindaetteok into the ganjang(Korean soy sauce) and onions for a more authentic taste. If you are up for it, order a bottle of makgeolli to go with the pancakes too! ;)


And time for more food adventures!
There were weird looking food like the one above, which we gave a miss since we are unable to tell what is this haha..

2nd Stop:
Yukhoe (Yuk Hwe)
 It is actually Korean steak tartare made from raw ground beef seasoned with various sauces and spices paired with the julienned bae 배 (Korean Pear) which was oh so good!!! ^^ A raw egg yolk is also served on top of the dish together with sea salt sauce for you to dip with.


Costs approx about 12000 won for a plate of yummy goodness! Check out the Korean pear peeking out from beneath the meat! Miss it so much noms! So sweet and juicy, and goes so well with the meat that tastes just like sashimi to me :)

Yay! New food conquered! And it was oh so yummy!!
B with our plate of Yukhoe^^

We went on to explore the market in search for more food!
Check out the wide variety of seasoned food they have selling in the market~


We saw many other stalls but decided to go for red bean porridge to soothe our tummy from all the yummy food we just had. Would love to try out these stalls on my next trip!;)


3rd Stop:
Patjuk 팥죽 (Red bean porridge)
I guess this was the only "meh" food we had on the trip. Was rather disappointed that it was not sweet at all! >.< Probably we went to the wrong stall? Maybe Gwanjang Market is not the place to try Patjuk haha.. We finished about half the bowl and left. Pretty tasteless to me..


Nevertheless, it was a great experience sitting in front of the stall squashed with other patrons having our bowl of Patjuk :) There was even a black dog strolling around haha.. Pretty cute!

And here are more street food to whet your tastebuds! I will be back for more!^^ Spot those Gimbap and Sundae~ YUMS!
You can also refer to these directions on how to get to Gwangjang Market:
Take subway line 1 to Jongno 5(o)-ga Station and go out exit 11. Walk towards Jongno 4-ga Rotary, going around the outside of Gwangjang Market, and enter the market through the second west gate (광장시장 서2문). You should see a sign for Mayak Gimbap Alley. 


Pic credits to: http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&art_id=45862&lang=en&m=0004025001002&p=01

Highly recommend for you to add this into your itinerary for the foodie in you! :D As Gwangjang Market is pretty near to Dongdaemun, we took a stroll along Cheonggyecheon stream to do some late night shopping before heading back. More on our Korea adventures soon! Stay tuned!^^