Eating in a fancy restaurant is a great experience, but trying all the delicious and cheap street food is also an opportunity to discover. Sausages, fish paste, spicy rice paste dishes, tempura and ice cream are just a few of the many meals available at very low cost.
Pojangmacha (street stalls)
This is a place where you can relieve your hunger pangs for just 2,000w and get a variety of meals, including spicy rice paste dishes, fried food and sausages. The streets around Jong-ro and the universities are lined with these food stalls.
Tteokbokki (spicy rice paste)
Tteokbokki is a variation on a traditional dish called japchae (noodles with thinly sliced beef and various vegetables seasoned with soy sauce). When Korean spicy red pepper paste was introduced to the Korean peninsula, the dish changed to the spicy version, now known as tteokbokki. A serving costs about 2,000w and is filling enough to replace a meal.
Eomuk (skewered fish paste)
Fish paste is made from fish puree combined with chopped vegetables and flour, which is then rolled onto long skewers and deep-fried. Enthusiastic customers line up at street stalls to watch the fresh fish paste being made.
Other than fish paste, there are more appetizers available on skewers. Hot dogs and skewered chicken, dipped in hot and sweet sauce, are popular. Another of the much loved and fixed sales is the Korean-style hot dog, which is a hot dog wrapped in dough and fried in abundant oil. A delicacy on a skewer costs about 1,000 to 2,000w.