Where to eat in Myeongdong
Seoul's busiest shopping street, with Namdaemun Market next door. Between the cosmetics shops are noodle and soup houses Koreans have loved for generations.
15 places our guide covers in Myeongdong, with what to order, how long the wait is and how to eat each dish.
- 🍲
Baekje Samgyetang 백제삼계탕
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1971
A Myeongdong samgyetang house open since 1971. A whole young chicken stuffed with sticky rice and ginseng comes bubbling in a clear, gentle broth, with a small shot of ginseng liquor on the side. Upgrade to the version with cultivated wild ginseng root, or try the black-skinned silkie chicken.
Try: Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup)
- 🥮
Dohyangchon 도향촌
Desserts · Myeongdong · Since 1968
A Chinese-Korean pastry shop across from the Chinese Embassy, baking mooncakes and walnut cookies since 1968. It sells just three things, and Seoul families have been buying them as gifts for generations.
Try: Sipgyeong mooncake
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Hadongkwan 하동관
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1939
Seoul's benchmark gomtang since 1939: Korean beef and tripe in a clear, savory broth, poured over rice in a heavy brass bowl. It opens at 7 a.m., serves only breakfast and lunch, and the menu is just soup and boiled beef.
Try: Gomtang
Short wait - 🍚
Jingogae 진고개
Home-style meals · Myeongdong · Since 1963
A classic Korean restaurant in Chungmuro since 1963, where Seoulites take parents, clients and out-of-town guests. The signature is galbi-jjim, beef short ribs braised until they fall apart, served as a set meal with rice and side dishes; eobokjaengban hot pot and its stuffed-cucumber kimchi are other favorites.
Try: Galbi-jjim set (braised beef short ribs)
No wait - 🍜
Jinju Hoegwan 진주회관
Noodles · Myeongdong · Since 1962
Seoul's most famous kongguksu: noodles in an ice-cold, almost porridge-thick soy milk broth, served since 1962. It is a summer ritual for office workers around City Hall, with lines out both doors on hot days.
Try: Kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles)
Short wait - 🍲
Miseongok 미성옥
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1966
A seolleongtang house hidden at the end of an alley in the middle of Myeongdong's shopping streets, serving since 1966. The menu is just ox bone soup made with Korean beef and sliced boiled beef (suyuk), with excellent radish kimchi. It opens at 6 in the morning.
Try: Seolleongtang (regular or large)
Short wait - 🍲
Mugyodong Bugeokukjip 무교동북어국집
Home-style meals · Myeongdong · Since 1968
Since 1968 this alley restaurant near City Hall has served exactly one dish: a milky dried-pollack soup that Seoul office workers swear by for breakfast and hangovers. Sit down and the soup arrives almost at once.
Try: Dried pollack soup (bugeo haejangguk)
Short wait 
Myeongdong Chungmu Gimbap 명동충무김밥
Street snacks · Myeongdong · Since 1983
A Myeongdong landmark since 1983 that sells just one thing: chungmu gimbap, little rice-only seaweed rolls eaten with fiery squid salad and crunchy radish kimchi. Business has been so good that the restaurant fills its own building.
Try: Chungmu gimbap
Short wait- 🍜
Myeongdong Hamheung Myeonok 명동함흥면옥
Noodles · Myeongdong · Since 1978
A 1978 noodle house tucked in an alley behind Myeongdong Cathedral, serving Hamheung-style naengmyeon: thin, very chewy noodles, either in cold broth or tossed with a spicy sauce and raw fish. A kettle of warm beef broth on every table is part of the meal.
Try: Hoe-naengmyeon
Short wait - 🍜
Myeongdong Kyoja 명동교자
Noodles · Myeongdong · Since 1966
Myeongdong's most famous noodle house, serving kalguksu since 1966: knife-cut noodles in a rich chicken broth topped with minced meat and four tiny dumplings, eaten with a fiercely garlicky kimchi. Koreans and visitors alike call it a must on any Myeongdong trip.
Try: Kalguksu
Short wait - 🍚
Mokmyeoksanbang 목멱산방
Home-style meals · Myeongdong
A Michelin Bib Gourmand bibimbap restaurant at the foot of Namsan, an easy stop before or after Namsan Tower. Choose from neat bowls of seasoned vegetables topped with raw Korean beef (yukhoe), bulgogi or soy-dressed wild greens, and add chili paste as you like. You order at a kiosk and collect your tray.
Try: Yukhoe bibimbap (with raw Korean beef)
Short wait - 🍜
Nampo Myeonok 남포면옥
Noodles · Myeongdong
A decades-old North Korean-style restaurant tucked in the Da-dong alleys between City Hall and Myeongdong. Come for eobokjaengban, sliced beef and offal simmered on a wide brass platter at your table, then cool off with Pyongyang naengmyeon in a light radish-kimchi broth and a plate of dumplings.
Try: Eobokjaengban (beef hot pot on a brass platter)
Short wait - 🦀
Odarijip 오다리집
Home-style meals · Myeongdong
Myeongdong's best-known place for gejang, raw crab marinated in soy sauce or spicy chili sauce, one of Korea's most beloved "rice thieves". The set meals come with rice, side dishes and soup, and the menu is written in several languages for the many visitors from abroad.
Try: Ganjang-gejang set (soy-marinated raw crab)
Short wait - 🥩
Wangbijib (Myeongdong main branch) 왕비집 명동본점
Korean BBQ · Myeongdong
The Korean barbecue restaurant most first-time visitors to Myeongdong end up at. Staff grill marinated pork ribs, beef and pork belly over charcoal at your table, so you don't need to know what you're doing. Wangbijib has several branches around Myeongdong; this is the main one, near Myeongdong Station.
Try: Dwaeji-galbi (marinated pork ribs)
Short wait - 🍜
Yurimmyeon 유림면
Noodles · Myeongdong
An old-school buckwheat noodle shop beside the Deoksugung Palace stone-wall road. In summer, office workers line up for cold buckwheat noodles; in winter, for a bubbling pot of udon-style noodle soup. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick.
Try: Cold buckwheat noodles (memil-guksu)
Short wait