Follow the Smell of Sizzling Oil to Gwangjang Market's Pancakes and Addictive Gimbap

Before you even step through the entrance of Gwangjang Market in Seoul's old Jongno district, the smell of sizzling oil grabs your collar first. Inside, over the constant crackle of hot griddles, women flip batter without pause, and mung-bean pancakes puff up golden on the iron plate.

At a glance: Location near Exit 8, Jongno 5(o)-ga Station, between Cheonggyecheon 3-ga and 4-ga, Seoul · Market hours 9am-6pm, closed Sundays · Food alley hours 9am-11pm, open every day.

The market's signature dish is bindaetteok, mung-bean batter fried in oil. Just watching a palm-sized round of it puff up on the griddle — crisping at the edges while staying moist inside — is enough to make you hungry.

A few steps further down the alley, tiny mayak-gimbap ("addictive gimbap") is waiting. Little rolls of rice wrapped in sesame-oiled seaweed, dipped in a mustard-soy sauce mixed to a "golden ratio," explain themselves the moment you taste one — you understand instantly why your hand keeps reaching for more. Vendors still joke that first-time foreign visitors have mistaken the name for something more literal.

As the weather turns cooler, a freshly lifted piece of bindaetteok and a bowl of hot broth feel especially welcome. Amid vendors who slip easily between Chinese and Japanese, you can feel the market's long experience hosting travelers from abroad.