동대문 Dongdaemun 東大門 @Seoul, South Korea

After our palace visit, we decided to pop by 동대문 Dongdaemun 東大門 for an early dinner, and to explore the area.

We took the subway to 동대문역 Dongdaemun Station  東大門站 (Subway Line 1 or 4 Station No. 128 or 421) and saw the famous 흥인지문 Heunginjimun Gate 興仁之門, before having a simple 치즈 라면 (Chijeu Ramyeon) Cheese Ramen 奶酪方便麵 (₩3,500) and 고기만두 (Gogi Mandu) Meat Dumplings 肉馅饺子 (₩3,000), at a local eatery, which appeared to call itself as 興仁之門 (since it was located just in front of the gate). The food was simple but satisfying.

After that we strolled around the shopping area, checking out a few malls and stalls. Gotta say, this place was really quite lively in the evening, with performances on-going.

When it was about time, we made our way to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), where the 서울 밤도깨비 야시장 Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market 首爾夜貓子夜市 was held every Friday and Saturday. Boy, was it packed! Every food truck had a snaking queue, and we had a quick stroll to check out what food was available (mostly western), and other merchandise that was on sale.

The Bamdokkaebi Night Market is held at a few places, with a different theme at each location. For more details and directions, please refer to their website.

As we would prefer to try out more Korean food, we decided to move on to to check out 생선구이 골목 (Saengseon-Gui Golmok) Grilled Fish Alley 烤魚街 and 닭한마리 골목 (Dakhanmari Golmok) Alley 一隻雞胡同.

These two 멐자골목 (Meokja-Golmok) food alleys were lined with eateries selling grilled fish, and restaurants specialising in selling whole chickens.

The aroma from the grilled 고등어 (Godeungeo) mackerel 鯖魚 was too tempting for us, and we got one for takeaway (₩7,000). It appeared to be fixed price, as a few vendors was saying the same price when we walked by. We stood by the street to finish it before continuing our exploration, and it was yummy!

We were too full to try the chicken, but judging from the huge crowds, this must be a popular dinner option.

Our final destination was 광장시장 Gwangjang Market 廣藏市場.