Gwangjang Market, Seoul

Gwangjan Market was one of our ‘fuel’ stops on the way to Dongdaemun Market. The market itself is huge with an extensive selection of shops selling textile products. But we were there for the food market. There are two main alleyways in the market crammed with many little restaurants and food stalls. Raw fish, blood sausages, pig’s trotters and some seaweed rice rolls are just some of the items this market offers. If you want THE Seoul street food experience, this is the place to go.

The stalls are mainly run by Korean middle-aged women, who tempt potential customers by waving fried food in their faces. We settled ourselves down with a friendly lady who offered us freshly fried courgette. Later she showed us that she had been in one of the local food magazines, oh bless her.

There was a mountain of jeon in front of us. I recognised most of the vegetable ones and crabsticks. We ordered some essentials (kimchi and beer) to start. The kimchi was very different from the ones I had tried in other Seoul restaurants, it was sweeter and less fermented. It went down really well with the oil saturated jeon. To be honest the food was not very tasty, but this place is great for people watching. I feel the same way about Borough Market, I hate it being so crowded and touristy but I cannot help but love it for its noisy and chaotic vibe.

Gwangjang Market