As I have told you, Seoul is a city with very diversified food. It will fulfill every kind of craving; Sweet, Spicy, Healthy etc. I have been introducing a lot of sweets already. Now, I would like to introduce you guys to some Spicy foods! If you are a spicy-food-lover like me, this post is made just for you!
#1 Uncles Tteokbokki
If you are a fan of Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cake), this place should be on your must-go list! At this place, they offer tteokbokki with a variety of toppings; the Well-known Fried Squid, Fried Chicken, Shrimp and Pork Belly.
The price starts from 4,900 won (without cheese) and 5,900 won (with cheese) per person. They also offer you a Jumokbab (Rice Ball) to eat with this dish! The good thing about this place is that you can also choose your own level of spiciness.
Level 1 = Approximately 2 times of Korean spicy ramyun
Level 2 = 4 times the spiciness of Korean spicy ramyun
Level 3 = Crazy spicy!
I really like the combination between the tteokbokki sauce and cheese. The cheese is perfectly melted and the Buffalo Wings are crispy outside and very soft at the inside. They also very well-seasoned! This dish is one of my favorite dishes in Hongdae.
Where >> Hongdae (Exit 9) or Sinchon (Exit 1)
#2 Hong’s Jjukkumi
Hong’s Jjukkumi is a very famous place among the locals for their Jjukkumi (Spicy Squid). They have 3 menu options: Jjukkumi (9,000 won per person), Jjukkumi with Samgyeobsal (Pork Belly) (10,000 won per person) and Jjukkumi with Shrimp (10,000 won per person).
What is special about this restaurant is their own Jjukkumi sauce. At your first bite, you can taste very strong seasoning and spices. It smells really savoury and you will taste just the right level of the spiciness that really suits all the side dishes.
They also have a free Bbok-Keum-Bub (Korean Fried Rice) served when you finish your Jjukkumi. What is special about their fried rice is that they put fish eggs in it! So when you try them, you will feel the popping of fish eggs when you chew it. You can also smell the nice aroma from the remaining Jjukkumi sauce that is still in the pan when they make the fried rice!
Where >> Hongdae (Exit 5)
#3 Hong Kong Ban Jum 0410
If you have a craving for Spicy Korean-Style Chinese food, this place will be the right choice for you! They also offer a 1-person portion to the customers. The famous menu of this restaurant is JjaJjungMyun (Korean-Chinese style noodles with Chun-Jung sauce) and JjamPpong (Spicy Korean-Chinese noodles with seafood).
I would like to introduce to you guys to the famous Jjamppong. The price starts from 5,000 won for the regular size and it is totally worth it! Jjampong here is filled with high quality seafood such as mussles and octopus. In my opinion, the level of spiciness is not that high, so people with low spicy tolerance can still eat this.
The soup is also very delicious and every bit of the ingredients including the vegetables makes the soup sweet. Overall, it is an interesting place you should try if you want to live like a local.
Where >> Sinchon Exit 3 (Near Art Box)
#4 Namul Meongneun Gom
Namul Meongneun Gom is a hidden gem of Hongdae. It is very well-known among locals for its Bibimbub. Here, you can experience Korean traditional Bibimbub with a variety of side dishes! The side dishes are randomly picked for you. The owner never fails to surprise with savoury new side dishes! I have to say that they are all good!
When you order the Bibimbub, it will come with the crispy rice bar, Gochujung sauce (the level of spiciness of the dish will depend on how much you put this sauce in your bibimbub), bean sprout soup and 3 side dishes.
How to eat this? You just simply put the Gochujang in, put some crispy rice bar and then mix everything in the hot bowl and then let it set for a while and Yay! you will get a perfectly crispy and hot bibimbub! The price here starts from 9,000 won.
Where >> Hongdae Exit 9
#5 Daepo JjimDak
JjimDak is Korean Spicy Chicken with a variety of vegetables and noodles. Daepo JjimDak is very famous for this as it offer its special topping which is Fried Squid! In this restaurant, you can choose between normal Jjimdak, Cheese Jjimdak or Fried Squid Jjimdak! The price starts from 20,000 for size S (2-3 people). They also offer all-you-can-eat rice. You can also choose whether you want the regular chicken or boneless one! I really like this dish and this is the restaurant I go very frequently.
The melted mozzarella cheese provides the best combination with JjimDak. The sauce here is not too spicy until it covers all other flavors. You can still feel the sweetness of vegetables and potatoes. The fried squid is also very big that you have to use the scissors to cut them out.
At first, I thought it will be very sticky, but NOT AT ALL! It is very crispy outside and very bouncy inside. You can feel that the squid is very fresh and of high quality. They also have random surprise promotions such as if you win the “rock-paper-scissors” with the staff, you will get a discount!
Where >> Sinchon Station exit 2 or 3
If you have any spicy craving or would like to spice up your life, these restaurants are the best choices! Tell us what you think about it when you visit :)
