One of my favorite omakase places in the city is in Yeungdeungpo, Nakashima Goemon. You'll have to make a reservation at least a few weeks in advance though.

There's a lot of good foreign food in Itaewon, but if you like drinking/makgeolli, Ahn's Makgeolli is a really great little place that has a really diverse range of takju and cheongju, as well as elevated traditional anju. All of the food is really good but I was surprised to have liked their greens so much.

Any specific cuisines/types of food you're into?

MyeongDong Gyoja (명동교자) located in MyeongDong. It’s a Michelin recognized noodle and dumpling place. And it’s awesome.

Throwing a random suggestion: Millennial Dining is a creative vegan restaurant/bar near Nambu Bus Terminal station (3rd orange line). It’s walking distance to Seoul Arts Center if you have a show or exhibition to catch up, and also close to Gangnam/Gyodae area and it’s worth the short travel.

https://instagram.com/millennial_dining

Idk where it is, but I saw a tiktok Where someone when to eat Hotteok filled with Japchae and they looked SO GOD!!

Edit: found it https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFT78hq9/

Obva it'a streetfood and not a reataurant but man do I want one lol

Find the nearest 봉추찜닭 or any place that has 안동찜닭

Went to Jungsik and La Yeon... Both were incredibly awesome experiences and you will pay far far up the ass for them! I felt Jungsik was more creative in it's interpretations of Korean fine dining, but they were really both excellent experiences. But definitely make sure you spend lots of time in the hole in the wall restaurants too!

If you want an authentic sense of the cuisine, I don't think you'll find it in the Michelin Guide... better stick with the traditional markets or hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

Really enjoyed my lunch at L’Amant Secret and thought the tasting menu was reasonably priced.

I went to Mingles last year and it was pretty good. Can't remember much from it, just that it was expensive (as expected). They did give us this anchovy soup base for noodles as a thank you gift. Still using it!

I'm in Seoul right now and just had dinner at Soigne, which got 1 Star in 2021. We enjoyed dinner and the kitchen's interpretation of Korean cuisine. I'd say 2 or 3 standout courses out of 8 or so. No cocktails, and small wine list. Every seat was at the kitchen counter so it felt intimate. Service was expectedly warm and attentive.

A few observations. It was more expensive relatively speaking than the 1 star restaurants in my home town in the US. Even with the strong USD to KRW, dinner turned out to be about 15% more than I'd expect to pay for a comparable restaurant. We found babysitting last minute so we were scrambling a bit, but getting reservations was difficult (my first choices were a couple of the 2 star places but they were booked). Don't know when you were planning on going but I'd start looking now. On a related note, I think reservations are hard to get because restaurants don't have late seatings (relative to US counterparts). We got seated at 19:30, and we were the last seating. In the US, you can regularly find openings around 21:00.

Good luck and hope you enjoy!

native korean here. old knives(steak), sookhee(bar)

Insadong Sujebi in Insadong! Best haemulpajeon I’ve had in my 6 years in Korea. Get 1 haemulpajeon (해물파전), 1 sujebi (수제비), and some house makgeolli (막걸리) :) The owners are wonderful people as well

I just came back from my first trip to Korea. I know it sounds super unhelpful when people give vague non-answers but literally everything we had in Korea was good, from Michelin-rated Kyoja to the little tteokbokki shop in the subway, you really can’t go wrong.

Social media will make you think there is a finite number of restaurants and cafes since you see the same recommendations over and over again, but it’s not true. What makes it to social media are the places that look cute on social media. There are so many fantastic mom-and-pop restaurants that don’t look glamorous, but serve excellent food.

Most places post pics of the food they serve outside of the restaurant, so if a place looks good, be adventurous and just try it out!

I just had Myeongdong Kyoja yesterday and it was amazing.

This city has HUNREDS of THOUSANDS restaurants. Just go anywhere and you'll be fine 95% of times. Instagram got people thinking restaurants are some hidden treasure you have to discover. Unless you're asking for something extremely specific like helal crocodile or narrow it down to your immediate neighbourhood your question is obsolete.

Not to sound like a dick but what do you even expect to read here?

I'm SO happy to hear that! That is really a gem of a restaurant :)

You might want to skip Bukchon Dodam, 24-Hour Bone Gamjatang, and Odeng Sikdang since their menus are mostly spicy :)

How many restaurants have you been to? I.e. what percent are "must go" versus ok-to-go or don't go?

Great list! Unfortunately, only some of the links work - others are not valid, it seems.

following!

Great list! Maybe this helps once you’re there - it’s a Ordering Helper for Korea I’m building, maybe it helps: https://www.menu-please.app/

Curious to know what you choose but if you’re from the States, maybe avoid Jungsik since they have another location in the US? I’m sure the Korea one is really good and not sure how different the menu is but I’d try to taste food from other spots if it were me

Thanks all! Mosu was my top pick but is booked out till the end of time, so I'm trying my luck at Mingles.

Has anyone been to Onjieum? Looks exciting too.

I would personally pick Mosu for what I considered the best food. If you’re interested in more traditional Hansik cuisine you could consider something like Bicena. However, I’ve found for the latter that’s not to the palate of many westerners. Also not very traditional, but I enjoyed Muoki quite a bit and it was more relaxed/cheaper than the others

Mingles was awesome, but my lunch at Mosu was mind blowing. Just an excellent setting, service and the food was truly 3* quality and attention to detail. Highly recommend it.

I loved my lunch at ⭐️⭐️ Mingles a couple years ago; it was by far my fanciest meal in Seoul, and definitely the most memorable. They do a lot of fun riffs on classic Korean dishes. Prices have gone up since I went but are still (just) in your range: the lunch menu is $210, the dinner menu is $240.

Hyodo Chicken in Seoul 

경주뼈숯불구이 (pork) and 영양숯불갈비 (beef) in Gyeongju 

I plan to visit this Michelin rated place, Myeongdong Kyoja Main Restaurant located at:

29 Myeongdong 10-gil, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea 서울특별시 중구 명동10길 29 mdkj.co.kr

Yes. My favorite restaurant is a Greek one called Nostimo. It’s a married couple, American man and Korean woman. They make their own feta. The food is amazing. They have the best baklava I’ve ever eaten You can follow them on Instagram.

Thank you for your interest in traveling to Korea! 🙇🏻‍♂️

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Kwonsooksoo.

Hands down Mosu, followed by Onjium and Mingles.

basically none are on your list :)

Mija, it’s a restaurant opened by a Korean YouTuber named Doobydobap. They grow most of their vegs iirc.

Have you tried Born and Bred?

Mingles. I’ve gone twice now. It has by far been one of my favorite experiences.

I went to 7th Door (not on your list). It was so amazing, I’m seriously contemplating another trip to Korea soon just to go back.

I've been to 13 Michelin star restaurants in Seoul. Went to Mingles today, going to Kwonsooksoo tomorrow. The most pure Korean cuisine restaurants were YUN Seoul and Kwonsooksoo, based on their menus. Soul Dining is an honorable mention. Mingles and Jungsik are slightly more western influenced Korean but they're still high quality (Mingles especially was amazing). Side note: the service at YUN Seoul is slightly lacking, as the entire restaurant is chef's counter seating and they weirdly serve each dish to all guests at the same time. So if you eat more slowly than others, you feel weird peer pressure to speed up because everyone else is waiting for you. But the food is good.

Mingles and Allen were okay for me, but I would suggest non Michelin options. There are some dishes that you can only get in Korea, and they are not prominent, if at all, on the Michelin spots' menus.

I’d still try Mosu even day of to see if they have cancellations. Did you email them? It was seriously fantastic. Mingles was also great. If you want something more casual but absolutely delicious I highly recommend Mr Ahn’s Craft Makgeolli.

Mingles was the best dining experience for me, service was polite but not stuffy, the food at the time was amazing and I felt it punched above its weight for 2 Michelin stars. For comparison (in regards to Michelin) I went to Odette in Singapore a few weeks prior and that just felt stuffy and the food wasn’t as balanced with a lot of heavy dishes.

Mingles and Evett were quite good

If you have a plan to go to near Myungdong, Me-Sung-Ok 미성옥 is a very wonderful place to eat a sulungtang(설렁탕). Sulungtang is a kind of beef bonesoup noodle, eat with 2 different type of kimchi. I am korean and i currently live in seoul. I had my American friends come with me when they coming to seoul last month, and they loved it. Also I hope you like it. Have a wonderful trip!

Noryangjin fish market is a great experience!

외고집 for their incredible 설렁탕

봉추찜닭

It really depends on your budget and preference.

If you are into street snack foods like you see on tv, than must visit places are Myeong-dong (명동), Nam Dae Mun Market (남대문시장), or Gwang Jang Market (광장시장)

If you want to go somewhat traditional, Seolgaon (설가온) would be my recommendation. They serve Hanjeongsik 한정식 , and they are bit expensive

If you are into tteokbokki 떡볶이, than Sin Dang-Dong is must visit places as they are known as places that came up with the dish. and literally you can go in to any restaurant that are in tteokbokki street 떡볶이 거리 (But go into one with most people in it)

If you are into Bulgogi 불고기, Hanilkwan (한일관) is go to. They have long history, and lot's of former Korean presidents' favorite place.

You could go to Seoul Shilla Hotel and they will serve you some gourmet foods. but super expensive.