despite living only a few minutes away by bus from this magnificent market, it was my first time here in 2 years. or just, ever.

it has never hit me that market food can be so enjoyable. it is just simple food. every store selling the same thing, but then there are the “pioneers” and also the fakes. so as lucky as I was, I had a Korean to bring me around eating the 3 must eats in Gwangjang Market.

so the main eatery street is like above. it sells a variety of stuff and food but you come here for the food. not the stuff. unless you want to buy quilt. I heard it’s pretty reasonably priced here.

and look!!! makgeolli advertisement above! call me an alcoholic but I love my makgeolli. a lot.

a crazy amount of different types of fried vege, fish etc. and all types of jeons.

look at that pig nose!!! this place is definitely not halal. those long sausage looking things are actually sundae. in Seoul, it is hard to find authentic sundaes (glass noodles drenched in pork blood inserted into pork intestines) as most places do not use pork intestines as it is more expensive, but this place does.

and more.

and more. look at those gigantic bowls of vege. madness.

not to mention, this place is always super CROWDED.

okay so first stop on the list! #1 DRUG KIMBAB.

drug kimbab, or mayak kimbab is possibly the most famous out of them all. they are made by really simple ingredients but what made it get so addictive like drugs?

well, the rice.

believe it or not but they do not cook it there. they cook it at home and bring their special rice to the shop to wrap. it has very simple ingredients wrapped inside. just carrots and danmuji (yellow thingy made out of.. white carrots?? not a fan but this is awesome.) wrapped in gim (seaweed). and they give you a small pack of wasabi to go with it. so after lining up outside, you need to line up to get a table inside as well. it is ALL SELF SERVICE.

2500won per portion.

so it started off like this. their pictures are much nicer so..

I hope I can take pictures a nice as that pfft.

there are many shops selling this sort of kimbab and they ALL call it drug kimbab but you should really know that this is the place that came out with it and the rest are just.. copy cats.

there are plenty of seafood here too! and jeons (those pancake-like things).

this is how packed is it. that guy stared at my camera in such a scary way T_T.

another uncle stared at my camera.

#2 Bindaeddeok or Nokdujeon or green bean pancake. at this place called Sun Hee Ne. you need to read Korean. hahaha. 순희네.

apparently it is so popular that Tim Burton came here. his face wasn’t pleased in those pictures though. hmm.

but the Nokdujeon is so………… fluffy. I prefer the more compact ones but this is like a total different Bindaeddeok compared to the rests as it is filled with bean sprouts. they have delicious kimchi by the way.

and that Makgeolli. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

always opt for Jangsu Makgeolli (Roy Kim’s dad owns the company. buy buy buy! but it is the best). Daebak isn’t bad too.

happy girl with her Jangsu Makgeolli <3.

and the Meat Jeon was really good. loved it.

this is how it look like from the outside. filled with advertisements and all. a lot of people waiting as well.

I think this phenomenal orange is very very very underrated. because not many foreigners know about it. this weird shaped orange/tangerine is called Hallabang. do you know the Halla Mountain of Jeju Island? it is said that this fruit is from the mountains so it costs really much. 3 for 5 dollars and this is supposed to be a cheap(er) market. it wasn’t a very huge one. the huge ones can cost a lot more.

but what is so special about this fruit is the taste. it is ABSOLUTELY SWEET. it makes me crave for more. I mean, I love CNY tangerines but these are like luxurious. it tastes luxurious. it is like.. putting drops of heaven in your mouth. ah.

don’t blame me if you bought a disgusting hallabang you may be cheated sometimes/given a cheap one eehehehe.

#3 YUKHOE 육회 pronounced as Yuk- Hu – Eeh.

believe it or not but this is raw beef.

I know it sounds disgusting. I found it disgusting when I ate Yukhoe Bibimbap at a posh place in Jeonju (said to serve the best bibimbap of all Korea). but this was absolute bliss.

you got to take a number from the counter and wait for your number to be called.

I waited for half an hour.

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA another Jangsu Makgeolli!!! <3. and that gorgeous looking yukhoe.

I think the freshness of the beef is really important. this plate of generous Yukhoe costs 12 dollars. little price to pay for so much happiness.

uhhh. well you get what I mean.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM <3. MMMMMMM. MM MMM MMMMMMMMM. <3. <3.

no words can express how good it was.

you eat it with sweet Korean pear and a raw egg. sounds disgusting but it is really really really good.

TAKE MY WORDS FOR THAT!

the other part of the market. selling all sorts of stuff.

this store looked pretty damn good. their sundae looks so delish. MUST TRY THIS NEXT TIME RAWR!!!