Lunch & Coffee in Seoul: Tong-in Market (Part 1)

The traditional markets in Seoul are the most interesting bunch. This is where you can feel the 'real Korea', where household items needed for Korean living are sold and bought, the best-cooked Korean dishes are served (except for restaurants in Namdaemun!), and the atmosphere of old traditions can still be experienced.

And there's the most popular of all, especially with tourists - Namdaemun Market! That's where you get the cheapest souvenirs tourists bring home.

There's the Gwangjang Market where you can get binddaetteok, a pancake made of ground mung beans.

And in my new neighborhood, right in the middle of the must-visit Cheongnyangni Fruit and Vegetable Market, there's the kamja-tang restaurant! 

(Tourists heading to Tong-in Market!

The Market is right behind them!)

But this day, for my friends' lunch and coffee, we headed to Tong-in Market to enjoy its yummy Korean dishes and experience the market's unique way of using tokens to buy lunch!

I have been to Tong-in Market several times already, and I find this place to be the most enjoyable in terms of the quality of Korean dishes and the uniqueness of experience! Now, I wanted my friends to have this experience as well!

This is the only place in Seoul where I can get all my favorite assortment of Korean viands in one place! For example, I like soondae; I also like that side dish, kyeran-mari; and that spicy fried pork, too! And add to that, chap-jjae! And I can have all that on my lunch plate at one time!

(Everyone's got their lunch box!)

After meeting up at Exit 3 of Gyeongbukgung Palace, we all walked towards Tong-in Market just about 500 meters away. 

And at the entrance of the market, we bought our tokens and were given empty, plastic lunch boxes. We then walked around and checked out the dishes we wanted to have for lunch!

The ajummas from whom we bought simply put the food on our lunch box. And once we were done, we went up to the lunch area where we bought rice, got our utensils, picked a seat, and enjoyed our yummy lunch!

My perfect lunch box with kyeran-mari 

(rolled egg omelet with veggies, soondae 

(spicy blood sausage), & spicy marinated 

pork! I'm ready to eat!

For KRW5,000 worth of tokens, my three viands cost me KRW3,000; my rice KRW 1,000; and my syeke, or sweet rice drink another KRW 1,000!

The yummiest and cheapest Korean lunch evah! 

(With tummies full, they're ready to have 

coffee at Sanmotoonge, a café made famous 
by the Korean drama, Coffee Prince!)

(That's Part 2 of this blog)
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TONG-IN MARKET is in the Jongno District in Seoul, along the Jahamun Road. It's about 518 meters from Exit 2 of Gyeongbukgung Station (Line 3, Orange Line).