Best restaurants in Korea for every situation
43 restaurants in the Korea on a Plate guide for dishes to share, ranked Monthly 30 first and then by Google rating. Each has hours, a price per person and what to order.
In this guide: Mingles, Yongyong Seonsaeng, Golmokjip (Alley House), Sunhee's Bindaetteok, Jinokhwa Halmae Dak-hanmari.
At a glance: Price per person ₩3,500–₩320,000 (middle ₩20,000). Average Google rating ★4.1. 10 of 43 are open late or 24 hours.
Updated 2026-10-05
Disclosure: the editor of this guide runs Yongyong Seonsaeng. Yongyong Seonsaeng is placed at #2 as the editor's pick; the other restaurants are ordered by rating.
| Restaurant | Area | Order | Per person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mingles | Gangnam | Tasting Menu · multi-course set menu | ₩320,000 | ★4.5 |
| Yongyong Seonsaeng | Gangnam | Volcano mala hot pot | ₩30,000 | ★4.7 |
| Golmokjip (Alley House) | Mullae · Mullae-dong | Ori bulgogi · marinated duck cooked at the table | ₩46,000 | ★4.4 |
| Sunhee's Bindaetteok | Jongno | Bindaetteok · mung-bean pancake | ₩15,000 | ★4 |
| Jinokhwa Halmae Dak-hanmari | Jongno | Dak-hanmari · whole chicken pot | ₩18,000 | ★4 |
| Seongsu Agu | Seongsu | Agujjim · spicy braised monkfish | ₩20,000 | ★4.8 |
| Hyehwa Dodam | Jongno | Kimchi-jjim · braised aged kimchi with pork | ₩11,000 | ★4.6 |
| Mapo Somunnan Wonjo Jokbal | Hongdae | Jokbal · braised pig trotter, sliced to share | ₩34,000 | ★4.3 |
| Pareukeu | Itaewon | Chilnamul Hangeureut · rice bowl with seven seasoned vegetables (vegan option) | ₩18,000 | ★4.3 |
| Milgwabori (Wheat and Barley) | Jongno | Minari-jeon · water dropwort pancake | ₩12,000 | ★4.4 |
밍글스
₩320,000 per person
Hours 12:00–22:00
A fine-dining restaurant in Cheongdam serving set tasting menus at lunch and dinner, with wine, Korean liquor (uri sul), signature and selected drink pairings offered at varying prices. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as upscale, formal, clean and pretty.
Nonhyeon
용용선생 논현점
₩30,000 per person
Hours Sun–Fri 17:00–02:00; Sat 17:00–05:00
A Hong Kong-style pub in Nonhyeon for a table of bold, shareable dishes. Start with the signature volcano mala hot pot.
골목집
₩46,000 per person
Hours 11:00–22:30
Golmokjip in Mullae is listed on DiningCode for duck and duck bulgogi. The menu includes a two-person set, seasoned duck jumulleok, duck with webfoot octopus, boneless duck-potato stew, and a half-chicken set with bone broth. Reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, lively, generous with portions and casual.
순희네빈대떡
₩15,000 per person
Hours 10:00–21:00
One of the best-known pancake stalls inside Gwangjang Market, a covered market that has fed Seoul since 1905. Sit at the counter, watch the pancakes fry a few feet away, and eat on a stool the way market regulars do.
진옥화할매원조닭한마리
₩18,000 per person
Hours 10:30–01:00
Jinokhwa opened in 1978 and is one of the founding restaurants of the alley now called Dak-hanmari Golmok, where whole chickens simmer tableside in a shallow pot of broth. It's a communal, cook-it-yourself meal that rewards a small group with time to linger.
성수아구
₩20,000 per person
Hours 11:30–22:00
An agujjim restaurant near Ttukseom Station that tops its spicy braised monkfish with crispy fried beef intestines, an unusual mix of tender fish and crunch. Portions are large, and pollack roe, pork belly and beef dishes are also on the menu.
혜화도담
₩11,000 per person
Hours 11:00–22:00
Hyehwa Dodam is about 180 m from Hyehwa Station and is listed on DiningCode for kimchi-jjim and makgeolli. The menu centres on kimchi-jjim and braised pork ribs in shareable sizes, plus a green onion pancake, and reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, casual, lively and popular with locals.
마포소문난원조족발
₩34,000 per person
Hours Daily 07:00–24:00
One of the long-standing trotter shops in the jokbal alley inside Gongdeok Market, where several similar houses sit side by side. The pig trotter is braised, sliced and served warm with salted shrimp sauce, wrapping leaves and soup. It keeps unusually long hours for the style.
파르크
₩18,000 per person
Hours 11:30–21:00
Pareukeu is a Korean bansang (home-style table) restaurant in Hannam-dong near Hangangjin Station, serving beef japchae, potato pancakes, a seven-vegetable bowl with a vegan option, Black Angus LA galbi and aged-kimchi fried rice with bacon. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as clean, pretty, quiet and casual.
밀과보리
₩12,000 per person
Hours 11:15–21:00
Milgwabori in Gye-dong, near Anguk Station, is listed on DiningCode for minari-jeon and gondeure-bap. Minari, potato and kimchi pancakes are ₩12,000 each, gondeure rice is ₩11,000 per person (minimum two), and there is also clam kalguksu and spicy braised chicken; DiningCode reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, casual and popular with locals.
반주
₩25,000 per person
Hours 15:00–23:00
A modern Korean dining bar in Ikseon-dong pairing traditional Korean liquor with shareable plates such as bulgogi potato jeon, octopus carpaccio, perilla-cream gnocchi, crab spaghetti and charcoal-scented Hanwoo yukhoe with gim bugak. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as pretty, clean, quiet and upscale.
만족오향족발 시청
₩25,000 per person
Hours Mon–Fri 11:30–22:00; Sat–Sun 12:00–22:00
Gather around sliced braised pork near City Hall. Jokbal makes a generous sharing meal after exploring Deoksugung and central Seoul.
애호락
₩12,000 per person
Hours 11:00–21:30
Aehorak is in Gye-dong, about 80 m from Anguk Station, and is listed on DiningCode for bossam set meals and aehobak (Korean zucchini) stew. Lunch specials include a bossam set and zucchini stew, while dinner centres on a five-item bossam platter, and reviewers most often call it clean, down-to-earth and casual.
각시보쌈
₩38,000 per person
Hours 11:00–22:00
Gaksi Bossam near Hapjeong Station is listed on DiningCode for bossam and the bossam set meal. Plates come half-and-half in medium and large sizes, with oyster bossam, fresh oysters and kimchi bossam, plus jaengban guksu, a platter of cold spicy noodles. Reviewers most often call it lively, down-to-earth, good value and generous with portions.
Main Hall
진진
₩26,000 per person
Hours Mon–Sat 11:30–21:30; Sun 12:00–21:30
A Chinese restaurant in Seogyo-dong run by chef Hwang Jin-sun and listed in the Michelin Guide Seoul as a Bib Gourmand address for several years. The kitchen works in a Cantonese-leaning style rather than the usual Korean-Chinese delivery menu, and dishes are plated for sharing. The main hall is small and fills quickly at lunch.
통큰누이네 육회빈대떡
₩6,000 per person
Hours 09:00–22:20
This Gwangjang Market spot, about 100 m from Jongno 5-ga Station, is listed on DiningCode for bindaetteok and yukhoe. The menu pairs mung bean pancakes with beef tartare dishes, mini gimbap and makgeolli, and reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, lively, casual and good value.
Mangwon Market
진성만두
₩6,500 per person
Hours Daily 10:00–19:00
A dumpling stall inside Mangwon Market making large thin-skinned mandu on the premises and selling them the same day. There are two fillings, pork and kimchi, and you can mix them. It is takeaway only, which is how most of Mangwon Market is eaten.
Yeongdeungpo
윤이불닭발 영등포점
₩20,000 per person
Hours Tue–Sun 17:00–02:00; Mon 17:00–01:00
Explore Korea’s spicy side with chicken feet in Yeongdeungpo. Rice balls and steamed egg are classic companions for this bold shared meal.
일성수산 (노량진수산시장)
₩25,000 per person
Open 24 hours
Korea's largest wholesale fish market runs a simple two-step system: buy raw fish downstairs among the shouting vendors and tanks, then take it up to a seating counter to eat it as hoe. Ilsung Susan is one of the steadier counters inside, known among visitors for straightforward pricing rather than aggressive touting.
Hongdae
홍대조폭떡볶이 본점
₩8,000 per person
Hours 11:00–22:00
A well-known Hongdae street-food stall with cheeky 'gangster' branding, serving the fiery rice-cake dish at the heart of Korean snack culture. It's a cheap, fast meal that fits naturally into a night out around the neighborhood.
종로계림닭도리탕원조 본점
₩15,000 per person
Hours 11:30–21:45
A Jongno 3-ga institution for garlicky, chili-red braised chicken, sized by the pot so groups can order without fuss. The alley has several similarly named competitors, but this original branch is the one longtime locals point to.
Nonhyeon Main Branch
리북집
₩25,000 per person
Hours Mon–Sat 11:00–01:00; Sun 11:00–23:00
Ribukjip is an old-style jokbal house in the Yeongdong Market alleys of Nonhyeon-dong, serving braised pig trotter sliced to order. It also does a cold-dressed version and a spicy one. The dining room is noisy and busy, with terrace seating outside.
주유별장
₩25,000 per person
Hours 11:30–21:00
Juyu Byeoljang is in Cheongjin-dong, about 190 m from Gwanghwamun Station, and is listed on DiningCode for fusion Korean food and makgeolli. Dishes for sharing such as potato pancakes, rosé tteokbokki and avocado yukhoe sit beside makgeolli slushies, and reviewers most often call it clean, upscale, quiet and pretty.
육회자매집 종로3호점
₩23,000 per person
Hours 11:00–21:10
Yukhoe Jamae-jip's Jongno Branch 3 sits by Gwangjang Market and is listed on DiningCode for yukhoe and yukhoe bibimbap. The menu covers yukhoe (₩23,000), yukhoe rice bowls, beef jeon and raw beef sashimi, with Japanese labels on many items; reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, lively, casual and generous.
In this guide: Mingles, Yongyong Seonsaeng, Golmokjip (Alley House), Sunhee's Bindaetteok, Jinokhwa Halmae Dak-hanmari.
Mapo Wonjo Tteokbokki, about ₩3,500 per person.
Seongsu Agu: ★4.8 from 303 reviews.
Yongyong Seonsaeng, Jinokhwa Halmae Dak-hanmari, Mapo Somunnan Wonjo Jokbal, Banju (Drinks with a Meal), Yuni Buldakbal, Ilsung Susan · Noryangjin Fish Market.
Every place is in the Korea on a Plate guide, written by an editor who runs four restaurants in Seoul. The list is filtered from published hours, prices and tags; nobody pays to be listed.
More situations: Korean BBQ · Korean soups: gukbap, seolleongtang, samgyetang · Korean noodles and dumplings · Korean rice dishes and bibimbap
What a Seoul restaurant owner ordered, paid and noticed.