There is a diverse selection of restaurants in the youthful streets of Seoul’s Hongik University. If you walk towards the Far East Broadcasting Company from the playground which is located across the street from the university’s front gates, you will come across a large wooden restaurant named < Yogi>. This is a restaurant widely popular for its noodles, dumplings, and tteokbokki (rice pasta and vegetables simmered in spicy sauce). The kimchi-mari-guksu (noodles with hand-rolled kimchi) is the restaurant’s most popular menu item, as it is a bowlful of refreshing and all-natural noodles. The bibim-guksu presents a spicy delicacy of noodles mixed in red pepper sauce, while the thickly boiled beef broth of sagol-guksu also brings in its own share of customers. Yogi offers an abundant amount of noodles at comparably inexpensive prices.  

Woonsan (Formerly, Yongsusan) is a traditional Korean restaurant located in the basement of the Seoul Finance Center. For the past 30 years, the restaurant has been serving up Gaeseong-style (Old capital of Goryeo Dynasty), which is said to be experienced using each of the five senses. Though the restaurant offers a variety of traditional course meals, the best-selling course is Haewon Jeongsik. This special set meal typically starts with porridge for soothing the stomach and then moves on to more substantial dishes like Kimchi, mung bean jelly, vegetable dishes, pork, beef, jeon (Korean-style pancakes), Gujeolpan (a platter of nine delicacies), Tteokgalbi (grilled short rib meat patties), rice steamed in bamboo, and desserts. Private rooms are also available in various sizes for business meetings or special family gatherings.

Shim’s Tapas, opened in 2006, introduced Spanish tapas to Korea, attracting many young and trend-conscious people in the Hongdae area and foreign residents of Seoul. Shim's Tapas serves Spanish cuisine cooked with natural ingredients and spices. The bread, including baguettes, rye bread, and olive bread, are baked in the restaurant kitchen. Along with 30 different kinds of tapas, other items that are available include rice dishes, spaghetti, pizza, wine, beer, cocktails, and coffee.

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is an international restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza.Boasting its 20 yerars of history, the casual dining restaruant expanded from California to more than 250 locations in more than 30 states and 11 countries.The CPK - Gangnam Branch is located in the famous Gangnam district of Seoul.

This Jokbal Street restaurant has a history of over 50 years, and the elderly white-haired proprietor has been running the business the entire time. Basketball players who play a game at the Jangchung Gymnasium visit the restaurant. When it first opened, the price of jokbal (steamed pork hock) was 150 won and the bindaetteok (mung-bean pancake), 10 won. Back then, the food was a luxury that students couldn’t even dream of buying, but now everyone can afford it. The taste of jokbal here is special: firstly because the trotters are transported to the restaurant immediately, and also because of the restaurant’s unique broth. The meat is extremely chewy and the delicately flavored fat melts in your mouth like ice cream. For a treat that cannot be enjoyed anywhere else, the owner hints that the large serving is much more delicious than the small one.

Asosan offers quality Japanese dishes cooked by a professional chef who has years of experience working as a chef at such noted places as Hyatt Hotel, Walkerhill Hotel, and famous sushi restaurants in Tokyo. In addition to traditional Japanese dishes like sushi, sashimi, udong (hot noodle soup), the restaurant also offers a wide range of delicacies that uses ingredients such as puffer fish, eel, pine mushroom, crab, etc.

It is a shabu-shabu-style handmade dumpling restaurant with handmade dumplings and various vegetables.

Even before the mad cow disease crisis, Yumyeong Hoegwan has only been serving locally-bred hanu beef. The fresh meat, sirloin, and prime ribs are delicious and they also use rice and kimchi made in Korea. The restaurant has a lot of business and group customers, but it is also good for family occasions, wedding receptions, and other social gatherings.

Seochon Traditional Sundae Soup House is considered a must-visit destination. It was shown in the Korean drama series, “Doctors, as a restaurant owned by the father of the main character, Yoo Hye Jung (actress: Park Shin Hye). It is known for its special deep-tasting beef broth, which they brew with marrowbone for 24 hours. Its old-fashioned, traditional style Hanok architecture and its neat interior evokes the Korean traditional castle: Gyeongbokgung and its surroundings. Not only is the Sundae Soup first in its class, the in-house Kimchi is one of the best in its category as well. After the meal, don’t forget to take a photo where the “Doctors” couple, Jiho-Hyejung, enjoyed rice soup.  

Among the many Thai restaurants in Itaewon, you’ll experience the most authentic Thai cuisine here. Run by the Baiyoke Hotel of Thailand, the mouth-watering food and wonderful service bring customers back often. Most of the cooks and employees have come from Thailand to work here. A typical Thai dish is tom yam kung (spicy shrimp soup). Various spices are added to give this dish its remarkably unique flavor. People who have tried the cuisine for the first time might need some time to get accustomed to the taste, but once they do, they’ll want more. Delicately spiced noodles, which are sautéed with various vegetables as well as beef or chicken, go well with tom yam kung. TIP: Since the restaurant is managed by Itaewon Hotel, there is a surtax of 10% and a service fee of 10% which are added to the bill.