The first time I visited Myeongdong Night Market, it was at the end of my first day in Seoul. I’d been wandering the neighborhood for hours. The whole time, all I could think about was coming back in the evening to see what this exciting part of the Korean capital felt like after dark.
The smell of butter and gochujang slammed my nostrils before I’d even reached the first stall. The crowds were moving slowly enough that I could stop and look at all the food on offer. (Not that I recognized much of it.)
With vendors calling out in a mix of Korean and English and neon storefronts casting a faint glow to the food stalls in front, this was exactly the urban buzz I craved on my first weekend trip to Seoul, and wasn’t getting while living in sleepier Gangwon-do.
Like all the other Asian night markets I’ve visited since that first experience, I had no idea what half the food was at Myeongdong Night Market. I swallowed all my deepest hesitations and ate a lot of it anyway. And I loved it. (Well, most of it.)
Here’s my guide to making the most of your first visit to Myeongdong Night Market, including what to expect, what’s worth eating, what to skip, and how to avoid blowing your budget on things that don’t justify the price tag.
What to expect at Myeongdong Night Market
Myeongdong Night Market fills the two main pedestrian streets running through the district. Myeongdong 8-gil runs north from the station, and Myeongdong-gil cuts across it east to west, ending at Lotte Department Store on the western side.
Exit 6 from Myeongdong Station puts you right at the southern end of Myeongdong 8-gil. This is where I’d start exploring this popular Seoul night market and must-see Myeongdong attraction.
The whole stretch is pedestrianized after dark. (I’d keep an eye out for mopeds, though. They still cut through the pedestrian-only streets occasionally.)
Food stalls start appearing at Myeongdong Night Market at around 3-4 pm. But after exploring it on a few weekend trips to Seoul, I noticed that the market doesn’t hit its stride until after 5 pm, when the food vendors are fully set up, and the crowds build.
Most stalls wrap up between 9 and 10pm, which catches a lot of first-time visitors off guard. I’ve seen people show up at 10:30 pm expecting a full market and finding half the stalls already packed away.
I’d recommend getting there by 5-6 pm to end your first 24 hours in Myeongdong and enjoy the best of it.
Around 300 vendors are licensed to operate at Myeongdong Night Market. But on any given night, you’ll only see 100 to 150 of them. The stalls rotate, which means the market looks slightly different every time I visit.
Unsurprisingly, weekends and Fridays draw more vendors than earlier in the week, so those nights offer the widest variety.
If you’d rather have more breathing room, I’d suggest going on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening. The difference in crowd density is significant.
(I personally find the whole experience more enjoyable when I’m not shoulder-to-shoulder dodging other tourists while trying to eat a lobster tail on a stick.)
Beyond the street food, there’s a mix of non-food vendors selling K-pop merchandise, phone cases, clothing, and souvenirs.
Whenever I visit, I tend to walk the full length before buying anything, as the variety changes and the stalls rotate.
(Committing to the first tteokbokki you see before you’ve clocked what else is on offer—and being too stuffed to appreciate anything else—is a mistake I’ve made more than once in Korea!)
The prices at Myeongdong Night Market are geared toward tourists rather than locals. (Hey, this is just the reality of Myeongdong. Not much we can do.)
Sure, the food costs more than at Namdaemun or Gwangjang. Nobody is pretending otherwise. What you’re paying for is convenience, variety, and one of the most accessible street food experiences in Seoul.
Most people I’ve watched come through here don’t seem to mind once the food is in their hands.
(And, honestly, neither do I.)
What street food is worth searching out here?
Yeah, this recommendation is gonna sound super weird, but the grilled lobster with cheese is the one thing I’d tell every first-time visitor to hunt down around Myeongdong Night Market.
A vendor grills whole lobster tails to order, stuffs them with melted cheese, and hands them over on a stick. It’s the kind of street food that sounds like little more than a cheesy (pun intended) tourist gimmick.
That is, right up until the moment you take that juicy first bite.
At ₩15,000 to ₩18,000, grilled lobster cheese is the priciest thing I’ve seen while hunting down food on the street. (But let’s not forget: you’re getting a whole lobster tail here!)
Look for the bright red shells and the permanent crowd flocking around the stall near the Myeongdong Theatre to stake your claim.
Dakgangjeong is the other food I’d snag on a first visit to Myeongdong Night Market. These boneless chicken pieces are tossed in a sweet and spicy glaze and finished with peanuts and sesame seeds.
(Honestly, I’m kinda drooling while writing this.)
The version at Star Chicken, a stall whose logo is a barely disguised Starbucks rip-off that I found funnier than it had any right to be, is one of the better dakgangjeong I’ve tried at the market.
Keep in mind that stalls rotate, so Star Chicken isn’t always there, but dakgangjeong in some form usually is.
As with any Seoul night market, tteokbokki is everywhere, and the quality varies more than you’d expect from stall to stall. The sauce’s spice level, sweetness, and consistency depend on who’s making it.
I’d recommend trying a small portion from one stall before committing to a full serve. It’s one of those dishes where finding the right version makes all the difference.
(I’ve seen tteokbokki range from almost life-changing to totally meh all in a 5-minute walk.)
Hotteok is one of the more accessible Korean street foods for first-timers, and a personal favorite that I was constantly on the hunt for when I lived in South Korea.
The sweet version of hotteok filled with brown sugar, honey, and nuts is the most common on the streets of Seoul. The savory version filled with japchae glass noodles is harder to find but worth the effort. It’s pan-fried until the outside is golden and the inside is soft and slightly sticky.
(Most tourists will reach for the sweet version first, so naturally, I’m gonna push you toward trying the savory one while exploring Myeongdong.)
Gyerangbbang (Korean egg bread) is one of the cheapest street foods here, at around ₩2,000. It’s a small, sweet bread with an egg baked on top. Gyerangbbang is both sweet and savory, and the egg stays soft in the middle while the bread around it has a slight chew to it.
(I think it’s a particularly good snack in winter when anything warm feels like a better idea than usual.)
The current trendiest item at Myeongdong Night Market is tanghulu. Also known as ddalgi satang, these tasty little treats are fresh strawberries or grapes skewered and coated in a hard sugar glaze that shatters when you bite through it.
It’s more refreshing than sweet. (I’d use it as a palate cleanser between heavier items.)
The tornado potato (hweori gamja) gets a lot of attention for its photogenic appeal. And after seeing one in the wild, I totally get it. This spiral-cut potato, deep-fried on a stick and dusted with your choice of toppings, is hard to walk past.
At around ₩4,000 it’s decent value for what you get. I wouldn’t call it the tastiest thing on the street (nope, not even close), but it’s a fun snack.
(For the record, I’d go for the cheese-topped version. I think it’s the tastiest of the bunch.)
The old-fashioned sugar candy that Squid Game turned into a global sensation, ppopgi, is worth trying for the novelty if nothing else. The vendor makes each one from just baking soda and sugar. The challenge is eating around the pressed shape without breaking it.
(Back in the day, kids who managed it got a free one. I don’t think I’d have qualified then. Or now.)
Odeng is the cheapest and most underrated thing at the market. These fish cake skewers, served in a cup of hot broth, cost next to nothing. They taste exactly like what you want after an hour of eating richer things.
I’m not even a huge fan of fishy flavors, but I still ended up finishing with odeng almost by accident out of pure curiosity.
Okay, so this next one’s not for everyone, but it’s about as famous as Seoul street food comes. If you want to slip into the weirder side of things, sundae (Korean blood sausage stuffed with glass noodles) is a good primer.
Sundae is popular across South Korea, and is one street food I reliably saw in markets all over the country. The texture is a bit confrontational if you’re not used to it, so I’d suggest easing yourself into it.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the world’s biggest fan of sundae, but it actually tastes a tad better than I would have expected. (I’d take it over English blood sausage any day.)
In winter, keep an eye out for bungeoppang, which are fish-shaped pastries filled with red bean, chocolate, or sweet potato. These tasty treats start at around ₩4,000 and are a seasonal item that makes a cold evening at the market feel like a completely different experience.
(The red bean version would be my pick.)
Is Myeongdong Night Market worth the price?
The short answer is: Yes, but with conditions.
Myeongdong Night Market is more expensive than Namdaemun or Gwangjang, and Korean classics like tteokbokki and mandu are a better value at those markets.
If your goal is to eat traditional Korean street food as cheaply and authentically as possible, Myeongdong is the wrong place for that.
What I think justifies the premium is on the items you can’t easily find elsewhere. The grilled lobster with cheese, the dakgangjeong, the tanghulu: these are Myeongdong specialties, not traditional Seoul night market staples.
Budget around ₩20,000 to ₩30,000 for a proper eat-through and you’ll come out satisfied without feeling too stung.
A few practical tips before you go
Myeongdong Night Market is one of the easier Seoul night markets to navigate as a first-timer, but here are a few things I think are worth knowing before showing up to chow down:
- Getting there: Take Line 4 to Myeongdong Station and use Exit 6. You’ll be at the southern end of Myeongdong 8-gil, right where the stalls start.
- Cash: Most vendors prefer cash, and some will give you a small discount for paying with it. I’d bring at least ₩30,000 to ₩40,000 if you plan on eating properly.
- Bins: When I visited, I didn’t spot many public garbage bins along the street. (The vendors have trash bins, of course, but they’re generally only for their own customers, and they can be sticklers about it.) I’d suggest bringing along a small bag to collect your wrappers and sticks rather than endlessly hunting for somewhere to throw them.
- Language: Most vendors speak enough English to take your order, and many have English menus on display. Of all the Seoul night markets I’ve visited, Myeongdong is the easiest to navigate as a non-Korean speaker.
- Allergies: There’s no ingredient labeling on street food stalls. If you have dietary restrictions or allergies, ask vendors directly before ordering. Most will do their best to help. (A translation app might come in handy here.)
