Seoul’s halal food scene is small but real, and most of it is around Itaewon, with a few useful stops in Myeongdong, Insadong and Gangnam. Build your days around the Itaewon cluster, check each restaurant’s certification level before you go, and treat other Korean food as potentially containing pork or alcohol until you’ve asked. How…
If you’re looking for a K-pop album store in Seoul, Myeongdong is probably the easiest place to start. Kyobo Hottracks in Gwanghwamun is another good option if you want a large selection in one place. Albums bought in Korea can also be cheaper than buying them overseas, and foreign visitors may be eligible for an…
Seoul to Busan Day Trip: Is It Realistic? Yes, you can do it, but only by KTX, and only if you accept seeing three or four places instead of trying to see “all of Busan.” The train takes roughly 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes each way, so you’ll need to leave…
Bring cash, order at least a dish or two for your table, and check the price before you sit down. That covers most of what trips people up at a traditional pojangmacha. A pojangmacha (포장마차) is a tent or cart-style drinking spot that sets up on the street, mostly at night. People often shorten it…
Most of what not to do in South Korea comes down to a few habits. Don’t start eating before the oldest person at the table, don’t hand things to someone older with one hand, and don’t stand your spoon or chopsticks upright in your rice. Nobody expects a visitor to get all of it right,…
Ganjang gejang is raw crab cured in soy sauce. You pull the meat out of the legs and body, scoop the roe and the soft orange tomalley out of the shell, drop a spoonful of rice into that shell, and mix it all together with a bit of sesame oil and crushed seaweed. Many healthy…
Credit cards in Korea are surprisingly easy to use. If you’re visiting for the first time, you may end up using your card for almost everything. You can use one at a coffee shop, a convenience store, a taxi, or even the little bakery you happened to walk into while exploring a neighborhood. Most of…
Vegetarian Korean Food can be a little tricky to figure out in Korea. Not because there aren’t enough vegetable dishes, but because ingredients like fish sauce and anchovy broth can be easy to miss. A dish might be packed with vegetables, but the broth could still be made with anchovies. Even a simple bowl of…
Is Seoul safe for solo female travelers? I’ve actually had this question come up a few times, especially from people planning their first trip to Korea. I can understand why they’re curious. Walking around an unfamiliar city at night can feel pretty different when you’re traveling alone. Personally, I feel pretty comfortable walking around Seoul…
Hongdae vs Seongsu is something friends often ask me about when they’re planning a trip to Seoul. I get why. Both neighborhoods are popular for shopping, but the experience is pretty different. Hongdae is lively and easy to walk around, while Seongsu feels more like a place where I’ll visit one store, grab a coffee,…
