Restaurants near the sights in Seoul and Busan: 67 places (October 2026)
67 restaurants in the Korea on a Plate guide for eating near the main sights, ranked Monthly 30 first and then by Google rating. Each has hours, a price per person and what to order.
In this guide: Ikseon Aetteut, Geumseonggwan Naju Gomtang (Naju-style Beef Soup), Doma (Cutting Board), Cheolcheol Bokjip, Myeongdong Kyoja.
At a glance: Price per person ₩5,000–₩100,000 (middle ₩15,000). Average Google rating ★4.1. 2 of 67 are open late or 24 hours.
Updated 2026-10-05
Tips before you go
Gyeongbokgung closes on Tuesdays and Changdeokgung on Mondays, so plan the meal around the palace you visit.
Restaurants near markets and palaces are busiest at noon. Eating at 11:00 or after 14:00 saves the wait.
Ikseon Aetteut sits in Ikseondong, about 130 m from Jongno 3-ga Station, and is listed on DiningCode for ssambap and beef galbi. The menu runs from pork ssambap and bibimbap to marinated beef galbi and kimchi pancakes, and reviewers most often call it pretty, clean and casual, with a good view.
START WITHGang-doenjang ssambap · lettuce wraps with rice and thick soybean-paste pork
Geumseonggwan Naju Gomtang serves Naju-style gomtang made with hanu (Korean beef) near Namdaemun Market, along with galbitang, pan-fried beef slices and boiled beef platters. DiningCode lists it for gomtang and dongdongju rice wine, and reviewers most often call it unpretentious, casual, generous and popular with locals.
START WITHNaju Gomtang · Korean beef soup served with rice, Naju style
Doma in Insadong is listed on DiningCode for sotbap, rice cooked in an individual pot, and doenjang jjigae. Set meals pair the rice with charcoal-grilled galbi, Iberico pork neck, chicken thigh or mackerel. Reviewers most often call it lively, clean, a lesser-known local pick and casual.
START WITHSotbap · rice cooked to order in a stone pot
A blowfish restaurant on a side street between Euljiro 1-ga and Myeongdong where the whole menu is bok: clear bok-jiri and spicy bok-maeuntang at ₩28,000, and salt-grilled blowfish, blowfish bulgogi and grilled milt at ₩43,000. DiningCode reviewers mostly describe it as lively, old-school and unpretentious.
Pair a visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace with a warming bowl of chicken soup. The traditional hanok setting makes this an inviting introduction to Korean comfort food.
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.
A Korean restaurant in Ikseon-dong centred on onban, rice served in a warm broth, alongside soy-sauce suyuk (sliced boiled pork), dumplings, perilla-oil buckwheat noodles and samgyetang. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as upscale, with a good view, clean and quiet.
START WITHOnban · warm rice in clear broth with toppings
Groups & sharingFirst time in KoreaNear the sights
₩22,000 per person
Hours 11:00–21:00
A large, bright dining hall in the heart of Namdaemun Market with seating for over a hundred, this spot is built for the market's steady flow of shoppers and tour groups rather than a quiet meal. It's a dependable, filling stop near Seoul Station and the market's kitchenware and fabric alleys.
START WITHWanggalbitang · large-cut beef short rib soup
Gwanghwamun Seokgalbi's D Tower branch, about 190 m from Gwanghwamun Station, serves pork and beef stone-plate grills, 1++ hanu striploin on a tabletop brazier, a large galbitang, hanu yukhoe bibimbap and a cheese potato pancake. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as clean, upscale, formal and casual.
START WITHSeokgalbi · meat grilled on a hot stone plate
A modern Korean fine-dining restaurant on the 81st floor of Lotte World Tower, long listed in the Michelin Guide Seoul, with a panoramic view over the city. It serves seasonal Korean tasting menus at lunch and dinner and suits a special occasion more than a quick meal.
A sundae-gukbap restaurant a few steps from Olympic Park, open from 08:00 to 22:00 every day. The soup comes full of sundae and pork with rice, and stir-fried spicy squid is the usual side to share. It is one of the most popular soup houses around Jamsil.
START WITHSundae-gukbap · Korean sausage and pork soup
First time in KoreaGroups & sharingNear the sights
₩20,000 per person
Hours 11:30–22:00
The Itaewon branch of a polished barbecue group, tucked into a lane off Itaewon-ro in a traditional-style house. It serves lunch as well as dinner, cooks the set menus at the table and is a common pick for hotel guests and tour groups who want a first Korean barbecue in comfortable surroundings.
East Village Seoul, near City Hall Station, is listed on DiningCode for its barley rice set meal. The wider menu includes old-style pork cutlet, whole fried chicken, tofu with spicy pork and kimchi, an LA galbi set, spicy braised chicken and seafood pancake. Reviewers most often describe it as clean, casual, generous and unpretentious.
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.
This Gwangjang Market stall, about 220 m from Jongno 5-ga Station, is listed on DiningCode for gimbap and japchae. The short menu covers japchae gimbap, cheese-tuna gimbap, a set of rolls, fish cake and japchae, and reviewers most often call it down-to-earth, good value, lively and casual.
START WITHJapchae gimbap · rice roll filled with glass-noodle japchae
This annex sits by Gwangjang Market and is listed on DiningCode for yukhoe, Korean seasoned raw beef, and yukhoe bibimbap. The menu also offers live octopus tartare, raw beef sashimi, and liver and tripe. Reviewers most often describe it as down-to-earth, lively, casual and good value.
START WITHYukhoe bibimbap · rice bowl topped with seasoned raw beef
A small home-style restaurant in Seochon serving rice bowls and simple single plates: beef rice bowl, cockle bibimbap, gondre (thistle) rice, curry and pork-cutlet rice bowls, and udon. Prices sit between ₩9,000 and ₩13,000, which suits a quick meal while walking the area.
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.
START WITHHanwoo Yukhoe · beef tartare with laver chips
Which restaurants in Korea are good for eating near the main sights?
In this guide: Ikseon Aetteut, Geumseonggwan Naju Gomtang (Naju-style Beef Soup), Doma (Cutting Board), Cheolcheol Bokjip, Myeongdong Kyoja.
Which is the cheapest here?
Wonjo Nudeu Chijeu Gimbap (Original Nude Cheese Gimbap), about ₩5,000 per person.
Which has the highest Google rating?
Namdaemun Daega: ★4.9 from 141 reviews.
Which are open late?
Matchandeul Wangsogeumgui, Banju (Drinks with a Meal).
How were these chosen?
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.
