129 restaurants in the Korea on a Plate guide for food that is not spicy, ranked Monthly 30 first and then by Google rating. Each has hours, a price per person and what to order.
In this guide: Yukmian Gangnam branch, Ikseon Aetteut, Ttukbaegijip (Earthen Pot House), Gosami, Hangaram.
At a glance: Price per person ₩5,000–₩70,000 (middle ₩15,000). Average Google rating ★4.2. 6 of 129 are open late or 24 hours.
Updated 2026-10-05
Disclosure: the editor of this guide runs Haehwaok. Ranked by the same rule as every other restaurant: this month's 30 first, then review-weighted Google rating.
Tips before you go
White broths such as seolleongtang, gomtang and samgyetang are not spicy; only the kimchi on the side is.
To ask for less heat, say "an maepge haejuseyo" (not spicy, please). Some sauces cannot be changed.
Yukmian's Gangnam branch, near Sinnonhyeon Station, is listed on DiningCode as a beef barbecue restaurant. Cuts include angchang galbi and bon galbi (250 g, ₩27,000 each) and pork galbi (200 g, ₩16,000), with fried rice and a truffle galbi sotbap to finish; DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as clean, pretty and casual.
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
Ttukbaegijip is a small stew restaurant near Jongno 3-ga serving four stews in earthenware pots: snail doenjang, plain doenjang, soft tofu and kimchi stew, all priced ₩8,000–₩9,000. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as unpretentious, good value and popular with locals.
START WITHUreong Doenjang · soybean paste stew with freshwater snails
Gosami is a home-style Korean restaurant near Sinchon Station, listed on DiningCode for grilled fish and stir-fried squid. The menu covers grilled mackerel and Spanish mackerel, ojingeo bokkeum, beef bulgogi and two stews at ₩9,000–₩17,000. Reviewers most often describe it as unpretentious, lively, generous and good value.
Hangaram serves hanjeongsik-style set meals near City Hall, including a herbal-style (yakseon) soy-marinated crab set, an abalone and braised beef shank set, a bulgogi set and a spicy freshwater-crab hot pot. DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as upscale, clean and generous with portions.
START WITHGanjang-gejang · raw crab marinated in soy sauce, served as a set meal
Haehwaok is a 24-hour Korean restaurant near Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam, Seoul. Visit for Hanwoo beef soup, beef shank and tendon hot pot, bulgogi and Korean beef barbecue, from breakfast to late-night dining.
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 home-style Korean restaurant near Seoul Forest in Seongsu, listed on DiningCode for jipbap, everyday home cooking. Set meals include lettuce wraps, bibimbap with bulgogi, Korean beef tteokgalbi and grilled fish, alongside spicy stir-fried pork and fire-grilled bulgogi. Reviewers most often call it clean, pretty, casual and down-to-earth.
START WITHSsambap jeongsik · lettuce-wrap rice set with side dishes
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.
A Michelin Guide Busan-listed institution near Haeundae Station, this pufferfish specialist has served bokguk around the clock on its ground floor for years. It's a classic Busan hangover cure and an introduction to a dish visitors rarely find outside Korea's coastal cities.
START WITHBokguk · clear pufferfish soup with bean sprouts
Eulmildae is one of Seoul's most-cited destinations for Pyongyang-style naengmyeon, a subtle buckwheat noodle in cold beef broth that Korean food lovers argue over endlessly. It's an acquired taste for first-timers, and a window into a dish with roots north of the border.
Running since 1949 and now in its third generation, Mapo-ok is regularly named among Seoul's oldest seolleongtang houses. The slow-simmered ox-bone broth is the kind of unfussy, warming meal locals eat any time of day, including breakfast.
One of the long-running tofu houses in Chodang-dong, the seaside neighborhood where tofu is set with seawater instead of standard coagulants, giving it a delicate, custard-like texture. It's a quiet, homestyle counterpoint to Gangneung's beach and coffee-street crowds.
START WITHSundubu · seawater-set soft tofu, plain or in a hot pot
One of Jeju City's most recommended early-morning soup houses, specializing in a Jeju-only style of haejangguk built around bracken fern instead of the cabbage used on the mainland. It opens at 6am and draws locals starting their day alongside travelers wanting a hearty meal.
START WITHGosari haejangguk · bracken-fern and pork-bone soup
A small noodle restaurant holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the Seoul selection. The kitchen builds Korean noodle bowls with some Italian technique, and the menu changes with the season, turning cold in summer and to an ox-head broth in winter. There are only a few tables.
Hayan Gorae's main Jonggak restaurant is listed on DiningCode for jeotgal (salted seafood) and ssambap. The one-person jeotgal ssambap set costs ₩18,000, with extras such as boiled pork (100 g, ₩10,000), grilled mackerel and spicy braised fish roe; DiningCode reviewers most often describe it as clean, generous and down-to-earth.
START WITHJeotgal ssambap · leaf wraps with rice and salted seafood
Running since 1968 in the old Mukyo-dong office district, this single-menu restaurant serves the mild, clear pollack soup Seoul office workers turn to as a gentle hangover cure. It opens early and is built for a quick, quiet meal rather than a leisurely dinner.
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.
