where to eat and stay in Seoul

Ten years ago, a one who walked right into a restaurant in Seoul and asked for “han myung-i” – a table for one – may very well be refused service.

That’s because South Korean restaurants are likely to favor groups of two or more, as a consequence of a posh mixture of local social dynamics, profit margins, and easy logistics – in any case, a table grill must be cleaned, whether it’s serving a single customer, or 4.

Solo rejections were common at family-owned restaurants and grills, two quintessential places to sample a few of one of the best food within the country. People who dined alone could get around this in two ways: by placing an order for 2 or by agreeing to a minimum spend.

However, with the rise of single-person households in South Korea, increasingly more individuals are selecting to eat, drink and travel alone – including “honjok” lifestyle trend. which has clearly taken root within the country.

Hongojib different from most bbq places in Seoul.

Located within the bustling Yeonnam-dong district, the restaurant – and its predecessors corresponding to Sinssi Express AND Hongo they modified traditional communal meals for the growing trend of honbap, or eating alone.

Guests eat at counters, not round tables. And dishes will not be served family style – each guest receives their very own personal spice and cutlery set together with their very own grill.

Orders are placed and paid for with tablets. And the food – together with a set of classic banchans or appetizers – is served in minutes.

Marianne Lee, a Korean education consultant, said this variety of eating is a change from the times when “everyone has to eat in teams, everyone has to drink together, everyone has to decide on the identical menu.”

“If you desired to have a Chinese meal but your manager says we must always go for Japanese noodles, you’d don’t have any alternative but to go,” she said. “But lately people respect having their very own time.”

With over 40,000 followers on TikTok, Lee – who has said she has spent equal parts of her life within the UK and South Korea – is popular for her movies about Korean culturefrom bus etiquette to one of the best time to go to the country.

In his videos, he recommends solo travelers to check out restaurants corresponding to labap for fantastic dining or Gimbap Cheongu AND Potato for his or her wide variety of Korean food.

The latter two “are open 24/7 and sell tteokbokki, rice dishes, soups and other hot cooked meals,” she said, referring to Korean savory rice cakes.

Lee suggests first visiting popular tourist spots like Namsan, Myeong Dong, Insadong and Itaewon, where people often speak just a little English. She said multilingual tour guides wearing red coats and hats are also available to assist with travellers’ questions.

“It also helps so as to add just a few Korean words like hoksi (possibly) before asking a matter in English,” he adds. Koreans listen higher than they speak, so she believes it helps to “soften the approach and we actually appreciate that.”

South Korea is popular with visitors from Asia, especially China and Japan, but there may be a growing number of tourists from Western countries, namely the United States. American Travelers was the fourth largest source market by 2019, but catapulted to the demographic lead in 2022, based on Tourgo, a research initiative of the Korea Institute for Culture and Tourism Research.

Earlier this 12 months, South Korea announced latest visa for digital nomads is within the pipeline. A visa that may allow foreigners to remain in Korea while working remotely for an employer abroad is ready to go live later this 12 months, based on The Korea Herald.

Fortunately, it’s now much easier to search out a spot to remain than up to now.

New co-living corporations, e.g Episode AND Mangrovecreated in response to a rise within the variety of one-person households on the lookout for inexpensive places live in Seoul. Some apartment buildings offer short-term accommodation that may be booked by solo travelers.

I stayed at Mangrove Dongdaemun for a month in a clean and compact room with work station, private bathroom and think about of Namsan Mountain.

Unlike hotels, there are communal kitchens and co-working spaces, in addition to a gym, yoga rooms, a library, and even a free laundromat. The app connects residents to talk boards and activities corresponding to “New Joiner Nights”.

The concept is popular, said Mangrove staff member Kim Serin, who added that the constructing is full a lot of the 12 months. She said applications for brief stays are on the rise and that the corporate is working to fulfill that need with latest projects in two other popular destinations, Busan and Jeju.

Celib Soonra is one other residence designed for single residents and travelers. Stays under three months may be booked through Airbnb, which is how I booked my stay.

My room was less of a cookie cutter and had local touches like a conventional tea room and there may be a panoramic view from the rooftop Changdeokgung Jongmyo Palace and Temple.

The area, Gwonnong-dong, can also be more intimate, and the Hanok village of Ikseon-dong, stuffed with trendy cafes, is simply a 10-minute walk away.

Business hotels corresponding to Accor branded hotels are also working to create hybrid living spaces where travelers and locals can “live, work and play”, based on its website.

Accor Ibis the brand offers an example of this. On Ibis Styles Ambassador in Seoul GangnamI could see how small changes could make an enormous difference, corresponding to the communal garden on the fifteenth floor of the hotel where I worked on days after I had tight deadlines.

I also slept in an ondol room within the hotel which had a heated floor and traditional bedding, something often only present in traditional houses and hanoks that cater to groups. Close to Gangnam’s Coex Mall, this was also a bargain at lower than $55 an evening.