Top 5 Things To Eat In Seoul According To This Wannabe-Foodie by: Jonathan Saquisili

SeolBing (설빙) - Mango Cheese Bingsu with Garlic French Toast

SeolBing is a popular dessert spot in South Korea that highlights its Bingus. Bingsu is a powdery snow dessert with an array of toppings. Above you see a Mango Cheese Bingsu with a side of Garlic French Toast. Sweet and Savory is key here -- this is an amazing combo. The small cup on the bottom contains condensed milk to add on top of the bingsu. A bingsu can range from 4,500-9,000KRW. Best way to eat a bingsu? Dig right in and mix it all up!

Budaejijigae (부대찌개) - Army Stew 

Army Stew originated during the Korean War with leftover foods from the U.S. Army facilities. This stew is very hardy and filling. Some typical ingredients you’ll find are ramen, scallions, sausage, spam, kimchi, tofu and other ingredients. This soup does tend to be on the spicy side, so be sure to let the waitress know that you want little pepper paste if you don't do well with spicy foods. The spot I visited for this stew was in Dongdaemun.

ChiMaek (치맥) - Chicken + Beer

Thanks to the hit drama My Love From the Star, Chimaek (chicken and beer) has become very popular in South Korea. Restaurants that serve this meal can be found all over the place. This is a great meal to have with friends after a long week, enjoy by the Han River or even in your apartment. This is a very addictive meal as the chicken is not prepared like in the US; there is something very unique to the taste that I have not seen replaced in NYC’s K-Town.

Kup Bap (컵밥) - Cup Rice

The literal translation for Kup Bap is Cup Rice. This can be found in 노량진(NoRyangJin) a famous fish market in Seoul. This is a very popular meal that is enjoyed by school kids and adults. The typical ingredients are rice, spam, egg, pepper paste, sausage, yellow radish and kimchi. Again, this is on the spicy side, so be sure to let the vendor know that you don’t want a lot of spicy sauce. One of the best things is that meal is filling and costs anywhere between 3,500-4,000KRW.

Isaac Toast

Finding something for breakfast can be pretty difficult if you are used to sausage, egg and cheese on a bagel. Thankfully, in Sinchon there is a place called Isaac Toast which serves a variation of toast sandwiches. The one I ordered was the Ham Special, ham, cheese, cabbage, sweet sauce and egg. One of the best things about this filling sandwich is that this comes in at less than 3,000 KRW.

*BONUS*

Despite all the food I listed nothing can beat a home cooked meal. On the last night before I headed back to the states I was able to stay at a friend’s house and ate his mom’s amazing cooking.