What to eat in Seoul
Seoul eats around the clock: a table of banchan, samgyeopsal on the grill, kimchi stew, cold noodles in summer, tteokbokki from a tent and soju with fried chicken.

[ ] Understand banchan
    The set of small side dishes that arrive free with any order: kimchi, sprouts, braised roots, rolled omelette. They are refilled on request and never charged for.
[ ] Grill samgyeopsal
    Thick slices of pork belly grilled by you on the burner in the middle of the table, cut with scissors and wrapped in a lettuce leaf with garlic, ssamjang paste and rice.
[ ] Try kimchi jjigae
    A bubbling stew of over-fermented kimchi with pork and tofu, served in a stone pot straight from the flame. It is made with old kimchi; fresh kimchi will not do.
[ ] Eat bibimbap
    Rice with vegetables, meat, egg and gochujang, mixed thoroughly in the bowl before eating. In the stone dolsot version the rice sticks to the bottom and turns into a crisp crust.
[ ] Try naengmyeon in summer
    Buckwheat noodles in an icy broth with shards of ice, cucumber, pear and half an egg. A summer dish, traditionally eaten after fatty barbecue.
[ ] Eat tteokbokki
    Cylinders of rice cake in a thick sweet-hot gochujang sauce with fish cake and a boiled egg. The country's leading street food, eaten standing at a tent stall.
[ ] Try chimaek
    Korean fried chicken with beer, the national evening ritual. The chicken is fried twice, so the crust stays crisp even under the sweet-hot yangnyeom glaze.
[ ] Grab gimbap
    A seaweed roll of rice with fillings, cut into rounds. It differs from sushi in that the rice is dressed with sesame oil and salt rather than vinegar, and the fillings are always cooked.
[ ] Try sundubu jjigae
    A spicy stew of uncurdled silken tofu with seafood and a raw egg cracked into the boiling pot at the table. The tofu has almost the texture of custard.
[ ] Try jokbal
    Pork trotters braised in soy sauce with ginger and spices, sliced and served with lettuce and salted shrimp sauce. Evening food with soju rather than a lunch.
[ ] Eat hotteok
    A fried pancake filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts that turns to hot syrup inside. Winter street food, eaten from a paper cup.
[ ] Try bingsu
    A mountain of shaved milk ice with red bean, rice cake pieces and condensed milk, or with mango and strawberry. The portion is enormous and built for sharing.
[ ] Get hodu gwaja
    Small walnut-shaped cakes filled with red bean paste and a piece of real walnut. Baked in moulds in front of passers-by.
[ ] Drink sikhye
    A sweet rice drink with grains of rice floating in it, drunk cold after a meal. Bathhouses sell it in cans, and it is part of the bathing ritual.
[ ] Try yuja-cha
    Not an infusion but a thick citrus marmalade of yuja and sugar, stirred into hot water. A winter cold remedy that is also simply good.
[ ] Drink soju
    The clear spirit in the green bottle, drunk in small shots with food rather than on its own. By volume it is the best-selling spirit in the world.
[ ] Try makgeolli
    A cloudy, milk-coloured rice wine: low in alcohol, faintly fizzy and sour. The bottle is turned over before pouring to lift the sediment, and it is served in ceramic bowls.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-seoul