Jongno 3(sam)-ga, Seoul ranked third in “The 49 coolest neighbourhoods in the world” for 2021, selected by the English travel magazine Time Out. What charms does this place, which draws the world’s attention and attracts an entire generation, hold? Jongno is the heart of Seoul, where Korea’s past and present, seniors and juniors, and retro and refined styles coexist.
Today, we’d like to explore the charming area of Jongno 3(sam)-ga!
Gwangjang Market, a Traditional Korean Market
Located in Yeji-dong, Jongno-gu, Gwangjang Market demonstrates the energetic daily lifestyle of Koreans. As Korea’s first permanent market with about 100 years of tradition, it houses numerous textile wholesalers and retailers of hanbok (traditional Korean clothes) material, curtains, and bedding. It has recently become more famous for its unique food street serving small gimbap, mung bean pancakes, and beef tartare. The savory aroma of food draws passersby into the market.
Taste of Korea at Gwangjang Market
When entering Gwangjang Market, you will easily find beef tartare restaurants. We highly recommend trying the “chopped live octopus and beef tartare” dish, a combination of beef tartare and finely chopped live octopus. This delicacy is characterized by the savory taste of egg yolk mingling with the soft beef tartare and chewy octopus. The dish’s Korean name, nakji tangtangi, originates from the sound of chopping (tangtang) octopus (nakji) with a knife.
Kkoma gimbap, highlighted in Time Out, is also known as mayak gimbap, literally meaning “drug gimbap,” because once you taste these addictive rolls with the mustard dipping sauce, you’ll never want to stop eating them. In addition, japchae, a combination of various vegetables, meat, and glass noodles, is a festive dish usually eaten on special occasions because of its complex and time-consuming cooking process. However, this delicious dish is readily available in Gwangjang Market for a reasonable price.
We also recommend mung bean pancakes (bindaetteok) and griddlecake with sugar filling (hotteok). While the griddle cake filled with sugar and nuts is a sweet dessert-like snack, the mung bean pancake, made with mung bean dough, green bean sprouts, and pork, is perfect for hungry tourists and best enjoyed with drinks. The latter has a long tradition and is the most popular food at Gwangjang Market.
Attractive Walking Spots along Seosulla-gil
Once you’ve appeased your hunger in Gwangjang Market, let’s discover more of Jongno’s hidden charms while digesting another delicacy! Seosulla-gil, the western stone wall road surrounding Jongmyo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a beautiful walking spot with a cozy and peaceful atmosphere. Behind the stone wall, a large old tree’s verdant branches offer a shady resting spot in the summer and become tinged with autumn colors in the fall. While walking along the 800-meter-long road and observing the stunning scenery, you will pass by traditional crafts workshops, jewelry multishops, cafés, pubs, and other interesting shops where you can stop and rest at your leisure.
Strolling along K-Crafts Street
Do you know that the citizen identification tags and ornamental hairpins that appeared in Netflix’s popular K-zombie series “Kingdom (2019)” were made in a traditional handicraft workshop in Seosulla-gil? Also known as a K-crafts street, Seosulla-gil is home to many similar shops. We’d like to introduce you to Space 42, where you’ll find diverse jewelry crafts. This cultural complex offers various products from rising Korean jewelry designers. Its first floor has a jewelry multishop, while the second floor houses a lounge and experience booth where visitors can try their hand at making jewelry.
Enjoying Food and Drinks in Hanok
If you want to take a break from walking around Seosulla-gil, we advise you to visit Café Sasa for a delicious coffee or Seoul Gypsy for an alcoholic drink. Café Sasa, designed like a hanok, was featured in Time Out for its savory mugwort latte. In addition, the Seoul Gypsy, a remodeled 1950s hanok decorated in a unique pub style, boasts experimental microbrews and exotic dishes, including Vietnamese chicken and Thai salad.
Getting a Sense of Traditional Culture
The Seosulla-gil walking tour’s last course lets you discover the beauty of Korean traditions. Korea Saekdong Museum, featuring a traditional hanok-style and modern interior, displays Korea’s old clothing culture. The Korean word saekdong means “clothes with multicolored stripes.” The museum exhibits traditional wedding clothes and children’s clothes for celebrating their first anniversaries made of these colorful, striped clothes. In addition, you can purchase various modern accessories, such as mugs and pouches, made with the colorful stripe design in the museum shop.
Major Gourmand Alleys of the Newtro Culture
Jongno is home to numerous food streets, ranging from old restaurants in Meat Alley and Pocha Street to Ikseon-dong Café Street, which incited Korea’s newtro craze. Let’s explore these gourmand alleys that attract people of all ages, from seniors to hipsters!
Meat Alley Packed with Well-Established Restaurants
Many long-standing pork restaurants serving grilled pork belly and pork skirt are situated along Meat Alley, next to Jongno 3(sam)-ga Station, Exit 6. These old restaurants each have their specialties, and Tongdwaeji Jip, known for its huge cauldron lid–grilled pork belly, is no exception. Grilled pork belly, considered Korean soul food, has become a popular dish among foreigners and is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. You can enjoy pork belly and kimchi grilled over a hot cauldron lid and wrap them in lettuce or perilla leaf. If you want to properly appreciate trendy Korean food culture, we recommend that you end your meal with fried rice made with kimchi and cheese.
Delicious Dessert in Ikseon-dong
Ikseon-dong Café Street is a popular place among the youth to find exciting desserts. The hanok café “Cheong Su Dang” is known for its delicious desserts, such as soufflé castella, which is made upon order, black sesame cake, and pour-over coffee made from millstoneground coffee. This café is also a famous photo spot thanks to its interior design. Its entrance is embellished with a bamboo lamp and stepping-stones, emphasizing Asian beauty, while its nature-friendly interior is decorated with moss and rocks.
Food Stalls at Night
If you walk toward Nagwon Arcade from Exit 3 of Jongno 3(sam)-ga Station on Subway Line 5, you will find food stalls lining the roadside. In Pocha Street, you can try Koreans’ favorite snacks, such as mussel soup, grilled chicken feet, grilled sea eel, and green onion pancakes, served with alcoholic drinks on a street table. Along with Gogi Alley, Pocha Street also came highly recommended in Time Out. If you want to experience Korean night culture, this is the perfect place to end your Jongno travels.
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Heunginjimun Gate is the largest gate in Seoul, surpassing even Sungnyemun Gate. It has a semicircular ongsung (a small wall built in front of the gate for complete protection) that differentiates it from the other fortress gates.
Though Gwanghwamun is the main entrance to Cheonggyecheon Stream, visitors may also get to the stream from Dongdaemun Station. There are a total of 22 bridges that cross over Cheonggyecheon Stream, with the bridge in Dongdaemun being Ogansugyo Bridge. The bridge is located at the spot of the previous Ogansu Gate, where five streams flowed out of the old capital. Due to urban development, the old gate can no longer be seen, but its memory lives on in the name of the bridge.
Although international tourists tend to visit the modern-style shopping malls, Dongdaemun Shopping Complex and Pyounghwa Fashion Town are also highly recommended. Visitors may experience a different vibe from usual shopping, and feel a sense of the traditional flea market instead. Dongdaemun Shopping Complex mainly sells fabric, buttons and other similar materials while fashion-related goods and commodities can be found at Pyounghwa Fashion Town.
The structure itself is not only unique on the outside but is also full of fascinating attractions on the inside. The complex is convenient and makes exploring enjoyable as it is divided into four segments namely ‘Art Hall’, ‘Museum’, ‘Design Lab’ and the ‘Oullim Square’. The park next to the DDP is installed with 25,550 LED roses that make a beautiful scene at night. It’s the perfect location for a romantic date night.
Doosan Tower. Recently, the name was changed to Dongdaemun Sebit Market.
Established in 1950 as Asia’s first national theater, National Theater of Korea presents diverse performances spanning over Korea’s traditional arts, ballet and opera performances. World renowned performance groups and organizations from overseas often hold performances here as well. The theater is composed of Haeoreum Theater, the main hall; Daloreum Theater, a smaller theater; Byeoloreum Theater, with a customizable stage; and Haneul Theater, an outdoor stage.
Korea’s unique traditional architecture is merged with modern design to create the grand yet elegant appearance of Sejong Center. Sejong Center holds a variety of performances of diverse genres including traditional Korean, classics, and even crossovers. The main theater, Grand Theater, has a wide stage equipped with the largest pipe organ in Asia. Sejong Center is a popular attraction among tourists as it is located across from Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace.
The building of Seoul Museum of Art, which was once used for the Supreme Court, is highly recognized for its splendid modern image after undergoing renovation. Featured exhibitions are not limited to traditional arts, but include a wide range of media including architecture, films, music, fashion, handicraft, and even works that do not belong to any specific genre. The museum also features non-Western artwork, such as those from Africa and Latin America. If you are visiting Deoksugung Palace, consider adding Seoul Museum of Art to your schedule as they are located right next to each other.
Located inside Seoul Arts Center, Hangaram Art Museum features various plastic arts. It consists of six exhibition halls and an art shop. Most featured exhibitions are based on modern art, making it easier for youths to approach the world of art. Often visited by people watching performances at Seoul Arts Center, Hangaram Art Museum makes it comfortable to explore with pleasant, open-style exhibition halls.
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