Mandu

만두

Korean dumplings

♨️ Served hot🙂 Not spicy🥬 Vegetarian versions exist: ask

Korean dumplings filled with ingredients such as pork, tofu, vegetables and kimchi. They are steamed, boiled, pan-fried, or served in soup (mandu-guk).

What it is

Common fillings are ground pork, tofu, mung bean sprouts, glass noodles, garlic chives and kimchi.
Gogi mandu has a meat filling; kimchi mandu is a little spicy and tangy.

How to eat it

1Dip them in soy sauce mixed with vinegar, with a little chili if you like.

History

Dumplings are thought to have reached Korea during the Goryeo period, often linked to contact with the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. Other theories place their arrival earlier.
Gaeseong, the old Goryeo capital, is known for dumplings with wheat wrappers, and Gaeseong-style mandu is still a well-known style in Seoul.

Allergies and diet

Usually contains

wheatporksoy

Vegetable dumplings exist but are less common.
Kimchi fillings usually contain fish sauce.

Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.

🗣️ Allergy card for the staff

Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.

📍 Where to try it

🍜
1969 Buwon-dong Kalguksu (Nampo Main) 1969부원동칼국수 남포본점
Noodles · Nampo & Jagalchi · Since 1969
A knife-cut noodle house going since 1969, listed by reviewers among Busan's Michelin picks. Try the house kalguksu, or the bibim kalguksu in a spicy sauce, with a plate of dumplings on the side. A warming, low-key stop near Jagalchi Market, and a good hangover cure.
Try: Buwon kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup)
Short wait
🥟
Kkangtong Mandu 깡통만두
Street snacks · Seochon & Bukchon · Since 1988
A dumpling house in the Bukchon lanes near Anguk Station, in the same spot since 1988 and often named among Seoul's three best for mandu. Order dumpling soup, or the noodle and dumpling combination, and expect a wait.
Try: Manduguk (dumpling soup)
1 hr+ wait
🥟
Nambuk Tongil 남북통일
Noodles · Hongdae · Since 1994
A Pyongyang-style dumpling house open since 1994 in the lanes between Hapjeong and Hongdae; the name means "North-South Unification". Big, mild North Korean-style dumplings go into a shared hot pot, a knife-cut noodle soup or a rice cake soup, with famously good kimchi on the side.
Try: Mandu jeongol (dumpling hot pot)
Short wait
🍗
Cheogajip 처가집
Soups & stews · Dongdaemun
North Korean-style steamed chicken served in an old house with no sign above the gate. A whole chicken is cooked plain until tender and arrives on a bed of soft chives; you dip it in a tangy soy and chili sauce. Buckwheat makguksu noodles and steamed dumplings complete the meal.
Try: Ibuk-sik jjimdak (North Korean-style steamed chicken)
Short wait
🥟
Gaeseong Mandu Koong 개성만두 궁
Street snacks · Jongno
A hanok dumpling house tucked down an Insadong alley, making Gaeseong-style mandu: large, delicate dumplings from the old city of Gaeseong in today's North Korea. They come in a clear, gently seasoned soup or a bubbling hot pot to share.
Try: Gaeseong meat dumpling soup
30-60 min wait
🥟
Gamegol Son Wang Mandu 가메골손왕만두 본점
Street snacks · Namdaemun & Seoul Station
A Namdaemun Market favorite for wang-mandu: giant hand-made dumplings filled with pork or kimchi. Most people queue for takeout, but you can also sit down with a bowl of hand-cut kalguksu.
Try: Gogi wang-mandu (giant pork dumplings)
Short wait
🥟
Gubok Mandu 구복만두
Street snacks · Namdaemun & Seoul Station
A dumpling shop near Sookmyung Women's University that has been in the Michelin Guide every year since 2017. Try the house Gubok dumplings and the shrimp dumplings, and order a few kinds to share.
Try: Gubok traditional dumplings
Short wait
🍜
Milbon 밀본
Noodles · Yeongjongdo
A popular lunch restaurant near Unseo Station, with an airport branch of the same name. The favorite order is mandu-kalguksu-jeongol, a bubbling pot of noodles and dumplings, and boiled pork bossam comes on the side. It's a good stop if you're staying on the island before or after a flight.
Try: Mandu-kalguksu-jeongol (noodle and dumpling hot pot)
Short wait
🥟
Mr. Seo Wang Mandu 미스터서왕만두
Street snacks · Sinchon & Ewha
A small Chinese-style dumpling shop between Sinchon and Ewha. Soup dumplings, shrimp dumplings and fried dumplings are the favorites, and the prices suit a student neighborhood. Popular with Chinese visitors, which says something.
Try: Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
🍜
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
🥟
New Mandu-jip 뉴만두집
Street snacks · Gangnam
A Michelin Bib Gourmand dumpling house in Apgujeong Rodeo, making North Korean-style hand-made dumplings since the early 1980s. Order the manduguk, big dumplings in a clear, gentle broth, with crisp stuffed-pepper pancakes or a nutty soybean stew on the side.
Try: Manduguk (dumpling soup)
Short wait
🍲
Okdongsik 옥동식
Soups & stews · Hongdae
A tiny bar-counter restaurant near Hapjeong Station that serves one thing: dwaeji-gomtang, a clear, delicate pork soup over rice, plus kimchi dumplings. It is a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick, and its chef appeared on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars, so expect a long wait.
Try: Dwaeji-gomtang (clear pork soup)
1 hr+ wait
🥟
Sandong Gyojagwan 산동교자관
Korean-Chinese · Gangnam
A tiny Chinese dumpling house by Apgujeong Station, run in the tradition of Korea's long-settled Chinese community (hwagyo). Its pan-fried dumplings, crisp outside and full of juice, are among the most praised in Gangnam, and the five-spice pork and stir-fried eggplant are worth sharing.
Try: Gun-mandu (pan-fried dumplings)
Locals' pick30-60 min wait
🍜
Seolmaene 설매네
Home-style meals · Gangnam
A basement Korean restaurant that Apgujeong residents have relied on for more than thirty years. At lunch it's a bowl of kalguksu or manduguk; in the evening tables share bossam, dumpling hot pot, tangpyeongchae (mung bean jelly salad) and spicy stir-fried octopus.
Try: Kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup)
Locals' pickShort wait