Korean Food Guide: 45 Dishes to Eat in Seoul, South Korea

I’ll never forget my first taste of ganjang gejang.

We were seated at Wonjo Masan Halmae Agujjim when our server came out with this splayed open raw crab steeped in soy sauce and glistening in bright orange roe. I picked up a segment and started sucking out the meat from its chambers. It was cold – almost shockingly cold – and incredibly rich, like crab butter. I’m a lifelong crab eater but this was the first time I had ever tried raw crab. I was surprised by how good it was and it showed me just how little I knew about Korean food.

I had ben going to Korean restaurants with friends and family since childhood but my experience was limited to the most popular dishes. Before our trips to Korea, all I knew about were bulgogi, galbi, and jap chae. That was it.

Visiting Seoul opened my eyes…