Myeongdong street food gets memed on for being 'touristy' but honestly some of it slaps. After way too many hungover Saturday nights walking through there, here's my working ranking.
1. Tornado potato (회오리감자) — the spiral fried potato on a stick. Get the cheese powder. Yes it's basic. It's also delicious.
2. Egg bread (계란빵) — small oval bread with a whole egg baked into it. Cheap (2500–3000₩), warm, weirdly filling. Best cold-weather snack.
3. Hotteok (호떡) — pancake stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon syrup. Get the seeds-and-nuts version if they have it. Burn your mouth once and you'll be more careful the next time. You won't be.
4. Grilled cheese lobster — I know, sounds fake, they broil half a lobster tail with cheese on top. Overpriced (15,000₩) but it's a moment.
5. Ttoekbokki (떡볶이) in a cup — the classic. Don't overthink it. Get the one at whatever stall has the longest local line, not the tourist queue.
Skip: the '32cm long ice cream'. It's a photo prop. It tastes like ice.
Best time to go: 8pm on a weekday. Stalls are all open, tourist crowd hasn't fully swarmed yet. Weekends after 9 = chaos.
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