And The Most Popular Guys In Namdaemun Market Are...

...definitely not the K-pop celebrities! Ha-ha-ha!

On my first venture to Namdaemun Market during my first weekend in Seoul as a tourist, I got lost. I think I got out on the wrong exit and ended up on the opposite side. I remember asking for help twice, but since both Korean women didn't speak English (and I couldn't speak survival Korean then!), I just had to find my way back to the correct exit. Fortunately, I was able to buy the souvenirs I had to bring back home: 'Korea' t-shirts, traditional Korean fans and of course, a poster of a popular Korean actor.

Since then, I return to Namdaemun Market every once in a while to buy a few more souvenirs and presents to bring home: ginseng tea and korean drama actor calendars.

But every time I'm in the area, I noticed that most tourists and shoppers don't flock at the souvenir shops or the bag shops or the clothes shops. They flock at the Korean food stalls!

Yes, the most popular guys in the Namdaemun Market are not your favorite K-pop stars or Korean actors and actresses! They are the Korean food vendors!

Just go to the Namdaemun Gate 2 and you will see a long queue of foreign tourists and locals waiting for their turn to get some hotteok or some bindaetteok.

And if you enter through Gate 2, that mandu stall on your left is also a favorite spot, where the Korean lady displays her mandu (Korean dumplings) of all sizes!

Next to that stall is a small bindae-tteok or bindae-duk restaurant, which is also popular to the local office employees during lunch time. The lines could be long during a weekday, but a couple of months ago, my friends Jenny, Sophie and I were lucky to enjoy a meal in this restaurant during a holiday. Bindae-tteok is a pan fried dish with veggies and mung beans inside. How I wanted to describe it, but doing it would just make me drool while I'm writing this. Ha-ha-ha! When eaten warm, it's really yummy, yummy, yummy! 

And on the other side of Namdaemun Market, near Exit 5 of the Hoehyeon Station (Namdaemun Station), another shop attended by a few Korean ajummas, sells hwang mandu (big-sized mandu). This shop also enjoys a long line of regular customers mixed with tourists. And whenever I am in the area, I usually buy a box of mandu (only KRW 6,000 of ten big pieces!) only when there's no long line!  

 But my favorite stall of all, since I have a sweet tooth, is that of the hotteok guys (with green aprons) on that alley leading to the Shinsegae Department store, or if I were coming from Gate 2 of Namdaemun Market, I turn left at the first alley and follow the wafting of the hotteok frying at the next mini-intersection. Hotteok is another pan fried delicacy which is filled with cinnamon, melted brown sugar and sliced nuts. I usually buy two because one is never enough! And it's only KRW 1,000 each! Happiness could be that cheap! Ha-ha-ha!

Sometimes, the lines in front of these guys are so long, the ajumma selling bags at the next stall complains because the hotteok customers cover her shop. Ha-ha-ha! Everyone has to re-align the line.

So, the next time you're walking through the alleys of the Namdaemun Market, observe where shoppers, locals and tourists actually flock, and you can immediately tell that K-pop stars and Korean celebrities are not the most popular people in Namdaemun Market.

The most popular guys are actually the ones who give everyone the most memorable experience of enjoying these Korean delicacies!

I will see you all there!

Namdaemun Market's Big, Yummy Mandu!

One is actually enough for snack. But for me, I always finish three as lunch!

Every time I visit the Metrobank branch at Namdaemun, I always make sure I take the subway so that I can pass by that small shop selling those big mandus (Korean dumplings). From Exit 5 of the Hoehyeon (Namdaemun) Station, I turn right and voila! That small shop with a white banner is always full of patrons. And I'm not talking about that shop selling discounted jackets and shirts next to it. Ha-ha-ha!

                        (My box full of ten yummy mandus)

A few times, I got unlucky because I didn't bother lining up before heading to Metrobank. But today, I decided to get a boxful even before heading to the bank. Outside, a couple of ajummas in their signature uniforms with aprons and caps, calling on passers-by to taste their mandu.  On some days, they don't even need to call out. Hungry passers-by (like me) and tourists (like those on the photos) just line up and clean up their display.

               (People lining up to secure their own stash of the 
                                    yummy mandu)

And they are good as its price! For ten pieces of these huge mandus, only KRW6,000! And that's one box! So, after a hurried trip to Metrobank, I usually arrive back at my desk happy and excited!  Yes, I am that ma-babaw (shallow)! Ha-ha-ha!

The shop's banner says 'hwang mandu', meaning 'king mandu'. And they're not kidding. Their mandus are both fit for the king's appetite, or that of a hungry passer-by.

Munching Mandu In Mapo!

It was my friend Ruth who told me about this popular mandu restaurant near the Hapjeong Station. She raved about it!

She and her family discovered this mandu place years ago. So, she has been eager to bring her friends there, too!

And one lunch time, I was able to find time to travel all the way to Hapjeong Station in Seoul's Mapu district to find out for myself.

So, I met up with Ruth at the station's Exit 2, and just walked for a few meters to find this popular eatery.

I have been always a fan of mandu, the Korean dumpling. With all my years in Seoul visiting mandu restaurants all over the city, I am lucky to have discovered some of the best tasting versions of this recipe! 

And this time, it's another chance to enjoy mandu from the Mapo-gu side of Seoul.

And looking at the menu, there was a lot to choose from. They also had other non-mandu dishes, actually. But I stuck my sights to a mandu plate. And their prices were reasonable, too!

As our tummies were reminding us that it was time to stuff ourselves, we ordered!

I had mandu with in a broth with tteok and rice!  And Ruth ordered meat mandu.  We both loved it! Burp!

Though it was far from home, travelling to Mapu-gu for its mandu was definitely worth the trip. Although I told Ruth there was also a very popular mandu place in her Insadong neighborhood. 

So, thanks to Ruth for introducing me to this place (and to the lunch treat!). If I find myself in this corner of the city again, I now know where to head to...

...and get myself to munch Mapo's mandu!