Best Noodles in Seoul: Naengmyeon, Kalguksu and More
Seoul's long-running noodle houses are some of its most famous restaurants: cold Pyongyang and Hamheung naengmyeon, knife-cut kalguksu, cold buckwheat and soy milk noodles. Here's what to order at each and how to eat it.
34 places in our guide
- 🍲
Darak-tu 다락투
Soups & stews · Hongdae · Since 1967
A chicken soup shop across from Hongik University's main gate, open since 1967 and still serving only two things: dak-gomtang, a clean chicken and rice soup, and dak-kalguksu, chicken noodle soup. Generations of Hongik students, professors and neighbors have eaten here.
Try: Dak-gomtang (chicken and rice soup)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Eulmildae 을밀대 본점
Noodles · Yeouido & Mapo · Since 1971
One of the great names in Pyongyang naengmyeon, serving buckwheat noodles in chilled broth in a quiet Mapo lane since 1971. The broth comes slushy with ice unless you ask otherwise, and a crisp mung bean pancake or sliced boiled pork is the classic side.
Try: Mul-naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth)
Short wait - 🍜
Gwanghwamun Mijin 광화문미진
Noodles · Jongno · Since 1954
Seoul's best-known cold buckwheat noodle house since 1954. You dip chilled buckwheat noodles into a cold soy broth that you season yourself with grated radish, green onion, wasabi and seaweed. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick between Gwanghwamun and Jonggak.
Try: Cold buckwheat noodles (naeng-memil)
30-60 min 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 - 🥩
Joseonok 조선옥
Korean BBQ · Euljiro · Since 1937
A tiny alley restaurant serving marinated beef short ribs grilled over coal briquettes since 1937. It is one of the oldest galbi houses in Seoul, now run by the third generation.
Try: Marinated beef short ribs (yangnyeom so-galbi)
- 🥟
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 - 🍜
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 - 🥟
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 - 🍜
Ojangdong Heungnamjip 오장동흥남집
Noodles · Dongdaemun · Since 1953
Seoul's best-known Hamheung naengmyeon house, on Ojang-dong's cold noodle street since 1953. The thin, very chewy starch noodles come cold and spicy, topped with marinated raw skate (hoe-naengmyeon), with beef, or in a chilled broth.
Try: Hoe-naengmyeon (noodles with spicy raw skate)
Short wait - 🍖
Pyeongando Jokbal 평안도족발집
Jokbal & bossam · Dongdaemun · Since 1961
The old-timer of Jangchung-dong's jokbal street. Jokbal is pork trotter braised for hours in a spiced soy broth, then sliced and served at room temperature: tender meat, sticky skin. Here it is mild and clean-tasting, with buckwheat makguksu noodles and mung bean pancakes on the side.
Try: Jokbal (small, medium, large, extra-large)
Short wait - 🍜
Pyeongnaeok 평래옥
Noodles · Euljiro · Since 1950
A North Korean-style restaurant in Euljiro going back to 1950. It started with Pyongyang naengmyeon, but many people now come for chogyetang, cold shredded chicken in a tangy broth, and spicy chicken salad served with the noodles.
Try: Chogyetang (cold chicken soup with noodles)
Short wait - 🍜
Samcheongdong Sujebi 삼청동수제비
Noodles · Seochon & Bukchon · Since 1982
The busiest door on Samcheong-dong's main street since 1982: hand-torn dough soup (sujebi) in a light anchovy broth, served in a little pot, with crispy potato pancakes on the side. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick near Bukchon and the palaces.
Try: Sujebi (hand-torn dough soup)
30-60 min wait - 🍜
Sinchon Sujebi 신촌수제비
Noodles · Sinchon & Ewha · Since 1988
A cheap, cheerful sujebi shop from 1988 by Sinchon Station. Hand-torn dough soup comes with radish kimchi, and a simple gimbap is the classic side. It's one of the last true student-priced meals in the area.
Try: Sujebi (hand-torn dough soup)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Won Daegutang 원대구탕
Soups & stews · Itaewon · Since 1977
The oldest house on Samgakji's cod-stew alley, open since 1977. Daegu-tang is a big pot of fresh cod, radish and a mound of minari (water dropwort) in either a spicy red broth or a clear one, simmered at your table. Locals add fried cod on the side and finish with fried rice in the pot.
Try: Daegu-tang (cod stew), spicy or clear
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Woo Lae Oak 우래옥
Noodles · Euljiro · Since 1946
Open since 1946, Woo Lae Oak is one of Seoul's oldest and most famous Pyongyang naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodle) houses. Its beefy broth makes it a friendly first bowl for naengmyeon beginners.
Try: Traditional Pyongyang naengmyeon
1 hr+ wait - 🍜
Chebu-dong Janchijip 체부동잔치집
Noodles · Seochon & Bukchon
A cheap, cheerful noodle house at the start of the Sejong Village food street near Gyeongbokgung. Bowls of janchi-guksu (banquet noodles), perilla sujebi and kalguksu are remarkably affordable, and a pancake with makgeolli turns it into a long afternoon.
Try: Janchi-guksu (noodles in anchovy broth)
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 - 🥩
Daeseong-jip 대성집
Korean BBQ · Seongsu
A retro Seongsu eatery whose star is beoseot jumulleok: spicy marinated chicken stir-fried at the table with a heap of mushrooms and no water, a cousin of dakgalbi. A seafood pancake and cold acorn-jelly soup often come along, and staff finish the pan as fried rice.
Try: Beoseot jumulleok (spicy chicken and mushroom stir-fry)
Short wait - 🥩
Dosan Jeongyuk (Cheongdam) 도산정육 청담본점
Korean BBQ · Gangnam
A busy pork barbecue house in Apgujeong Rodeo where staff grill aged pork belly and neck at your table from start to finish. Celebrity visits have made it a favorite with foreign visitors, and the evening line shows it.
Try: Aged samgyeopsal (pork belly)
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 - 🍜
Gohyang Kalguksu 고향칼국수
Market food · Jongno
The Gwangjang Market noodle stall made famous by Netflix's Street Food: Asia. Sit at the counter and watch Cho Yoon-sun roll and cut the dough by hand, then eat a steaming bowl of knife-cut noodles with handmade dumplings.
Try: Hand-cut noodle soup (son-kalguksu)
30-60 min wait - 🍜
Hwangsaengga Kalguksu 황생가칼국수
Noodles · Seochon & Bukchon
A Bukchon noodle house known for kalguksu in a milky beef-bone broth and fist-sized handmade dumplings. Right across from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, it is a favorite lunch stop between galleries and palaces.
Try: Beef bone broth kalguksu
30-60 min wait - 🍜
Jinju-jip (Yeouido) 진주집
Noodles · Yeouido & Mapo
A basement noodle shop in the Yeouido Department Store with a national reputation for kongguksu: thick, nutty, ice-cold soy milk noodles. Office workers also come for the chicken kalguksu and plated dumplings.
Try: Kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles)
Short wait - 🍜
Kkongkal (Noryangjin) 꽁칼 노량진점
Noodles · Noryangjin
A Blue Ribbon noodle shop on the exam-students' street near Noryangjin Station. An anchovy kalguksu comes with a small bowl of barley rice to mix with vegetables, and the price is hard to beat. Easy for solo diners.
Try: Myeolchi kalguksu (anchovy noodle soup)
Locals' pick - 🍜
Matjarang 맛자랑
Noodles · Gangnam Station & COEX
A noodle restaurant near Seolleung Station, in business for over 35 years and often counted among Seoul's three great kongguksu (cold soy milk noodle) houses. In colder months the oyster soup with rice takes over, and it's an easy stop from the royal tombs.
Try: Kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles)
Short wait - 🍜
Myeong Guksu 명국수
Noodles · Seongsu
A plain, friendly noodle shop that has fed Seongsu office workers for over a decade. The bowls are big and cheap for the area: anchovy-broth noodles, sweet-spicy bibim guksu, and in summer a thick, nutty kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles). The house kimchi is made daily.
Try: Myeolchi guksu (noodles in anchovy broth)
Locals' pickShort 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 - 🍜
Seokyonanmyunbang 서교난면방
Noodles · Hongdae
A Michelin Bib Gourmand noodle house between Hapjeong and Mangwon that revives nanmyeon, an old Korean recipe for noodles made with egg and Korean wheat, and gives it an Italian touch. The chef also runs a well-known lasagna restaurant nearby, and you can watch the noodles being made by the door.
Try: Seogyo nanmyeon
Short 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 - 🍜
Seoryung 서령
Noodles · Namdaemun & Seoul Station
The newer star of Seoul's Pyongyang naengmyeon scene, next to Namdaemun Market. Its noodles are 100% buckwheat, served in a clear beef broth, and the menu card on each table explains how to enjoy each dish. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick with long lines.
Try: Seoryung sunmyeon
1 hr+ wait - 🥣
Sindangdong Cheon Patjuk 신당동천팥죽
Noodles · Dongdaemun
A tiny red bean porridge shop by Sindang Station. Patjuk here is savory, not sweet: thick red bean porridge with chewy sticky-rice balls, or red bean soup with hand-cut noodles. In summer it adds a rich black-bean kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles).
Try: Saeal-patjuk (red bean porridge with rice balls)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang 소문난성수감자탕
Soups & stews · Seongsu
The 24-hour gamjatang house in the middle of trendy Seongsu, now as full of foreign visitors as of locals. A big pot of pork backbones, potatoes and dried cabbage leaves simmers at your table in a spicy, nutty broth topped with perilla seeds; add hand-torn noodles, then fry rice in what's left. Solo diners can get a single bowl.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-bone stew, small to large)
30-60 min 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