7 Places for Must Eat Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki) in Seoul – Seoulistic

7 Places for Must Eat Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki) in Seoul

(click images for sources)

Tteokbokki, ddukbokki, dukbokki – one of the hardest to spell Korean street foods is also one of the most popular. But walk the streets, and you’ll find everyone and their grandma’s selling the stuff. Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a go-to list for the most famous places to eat spicy rice cake in Seoul by tapping Korean bloggers. Read on!

 

Eat, Rest, Money, Leave (먹쉬돈나)

Tteokbokki Kings

If you’re a tteokbokki fan, Meokswidonna is pretty much the most famous place in Seoul to go for spicy rice cakes. This often Korean-television-featured tteokbokki restaurant is a popular tteokbokki spot hidden away in some back alley of Samcheong-dong. But even though this place isn’t located in the most ideal spot, you’ll often find lines out the door for some of the best tteokbokki in Seoul. It’s awesome because you can add all kinds of toppings like cheese, seafood, noodles, and more. But do just like the name of the restaurant tells you to… eat, rest, give me your money and get out… foo! “Next customer!” (No but really, there’s kinda long lines so… :P)

Check out reviews by Seouleats, 10Mag, and fatmanseoul.

Tip 1: At the end of your meal when all you have left is the sauce, they’ll top it off by mixing up some rice in that bad boy. Yea!

Address: 서울 종로구 안국동 17-18 (original restaurant)
(Seoul, Jongno-gu Anguk-dong 17-18)
Maps: Original restaurant here (Click here for branches in ShinchonMyeongdong, Apgujeong, Wangsimni, Geondae)
Closest Subway Station: Anguk Station
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.



Apple House (애플하우스)

Tteokbokki love notes

Tteokbokki is considered snack food for Korean kids, and the smarties at Apple House located their spicy rice cake restaurant in front of a Korean high school. If you make your way to this famous tteokbokki restaurant, you’ll soon find out that you’re in a local Korean high school hang out spot when you see “aww-that’s-cute” messages like “love you forever and ever!” scribbled all over the walls. Admire these Korean love notes as you eat their most famous dishes – their sweet tasting tteokbokki, dumplings in tteokbokki sauce (무침만두) and fried blood sausage (순대볶음). Tteokbokki + local Korean high school hangout spot = awesome!

Tip 1: This restaurant is pre-pay, so don’t forget to pay before you eat!
Tip 2: This blogger says you can’t just order tteokbokki and must order something else (i.e. fried dumplings). But you might enjoy it more than the actual tteokbokki 😉

Address: 서울 서초구 반포동 978
(Seoul, Seocho-gu, Banpo-dong 978)
Maps: Google
Closest Subway Stations: Gubanpo Station (Line 9)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.

 

Elephant Street Food (코끼리 분식)

Cheap and Good – Boo-yah!

Elephant tteokbokki is one of those gems that you can find only once in a blue moon. First, the name is really random and seemingly has no relation at all to the restaurant or food. But more importantly, you’ll be hard pressed to find a tteokbokki restaurant that’s this cheap with the high quality of spicy rice cakes. You can order 2 servings of spicy rice cake, add a few toppings here and there, have them mix up some rice in the sauce when your done, and you’ll only be out around 10,000 won. They’re even super efficient as they take your orders while you wait on line so you can be served when you sit. Insta-service and cheap? Boo-yah!

Address: 서울 마포구 도화동 345-4
(Seoul, Mapo-gu Dohwa-dong 354-4)
Maps: Google
Closest Subway Stations: Mapo Station (Line 5)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.

 

Dongdaemun Sassy Tteokbokki (동대문엽기떡볶이)

Spicy rice cakes for sadists

When Korean people say something is spicy, you best believe it. And sadistic Korean bloggers head over to this chain tteokbokki restaurant specifically for its ultra spicy tteokbokki. It’s so spicy that they even have a little panel at each table explaining how you should eat their ridiculously spicy rice cake dish. They recommend eating the steamed eggs to prep your stomach for some butt kicking. If you can’t handle the heat, add some cheese and mix well. And if you still can’t handle it, then deal with it! (No seriously… that’s what they say).

Tip 1: A bit expensive at 14,000 won a serving. But it is large and serves 3-4 people.
Tip 2: Delivery available in many parts of the country. See official website for more details.
Tip 3: They also serve other spicy dishes (i.e. chicken feet, dalkdoritang, etc.)

Address: 서울시 중구 흥인동 117-9 (Original restaurant)
(Seoul, Jung-gu, Hongin-dong 117-9)
Maps: Google
Closest Subway Stations: Shindang Station (Line 2 & 6)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.
Locations all over the country. See official website for details (http://www.동대문엽떡.com/)

 

Gangster Tteokbokki (조폭떡볶이)

Gangsters make everything cool

Korean gangsters are glorified in Korean movies and dramas because they just make everything seem cooler. So what else could be better than being served some butt kicking tteokbokki by some mean ol’ gangsters? Well… maybe they’re not real gangsters (unclear if they actually are), but they sure are pretty scary. And scary people serving good food is always cool! This tteokbokki restaurant in Seoul is a fantastic place to get some good street food in Korea. They started out as a regular street food truck a few years ago, but got popular enough to open two restaurants. Now you can get their famous tteokbokki, fried snacks (튀김), and blood sausage (순대) all while enjoying the oh-so-fun experience of being around gangsters!

Check out the Seouleats review of when they used to be a truck.

Address: 서울 마포구 서교동 407-21 (Original)
(Seoul, Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong 407-21)
Maps: Google (Nonhyeon branch is here)
Closest Subway Stations: Hongdae Station (line 2) & Sangsu Station (line 6)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.

 

Mimi’s Tteokbokki (미미네떡볶이)

Awesome tteokbokki ghetto style

You know a restaurant is good when they only have two things on the menu, and they’re still blowing up the Korean blogosphere. Here at Mimi’s Tteokbokki, they only serve soup tteokbokki and fried shrimp. That’s it. But still mad good. You’re supposed to eat the tteokbokki and the fried shrimp, and after you’re done, take the fried batter and just dump it into the leftover tteokbokki soup. Can’t get enough fried goods? Don’t worry. Being ghetto is encouraged! You can ask the store to give you some fried batter crumbs, and they’ll fill up your tteokbokki soup with the little pieces that were never meant to be. You can order beer here too and be the ultimate ghetto street food connoisseur! (Just playing with the ghetto part. The restaurant is actually pretty clean ;))

Check out 10Mag’s review.

Address: 서울 마포구 서교동 404-29, 2층
(Seoul, Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong 404-29, 2nd floor
Maps: Google
Closest Subway Stations: Sangsu Station (line 6)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.

 

Hyeonseon’s Tteokbokki (현선이네 떡볶이)

Hadouken in your mouth tteokbokki

All of these famous tteokbokki restaurants on this list are brick and mortar restaurants serving Korean street food. But Hyeonseon’s Tteokbokki has stayed true to serving Korean street food and continues to serve their food from a tent. (Well, kinda–they recently opened a store, but they’re still keeping it real with the first one out on the streets!) They offer your typical street food menu items of fried snacks (튀김), blood sausages (순대) and baby gimbap (고마김밥). But what’s really kept the troves of Seoulites coming back to this tent on a corner is their super mega ultra spicy tteokbokki. If you’re a fan of spicy food, give this famous tteokbokki stand a try, and see if you can handle the fireball of spices that will come. They also have another tray of less spicy tteokbokki for those who can’t handle the spices. Hadouken!!

Address: The original is a tent, so no address! (They do have 2nd one in a store, but can’t find an address :()
Maps: Naver (Original)
Closest Subway Stations: Shinyongsan Station (line 4)
See food porn from Korean Blogger 1 and Korean Blogger 2.

Have any other famous tteokbokki recommendations? Share with us in the comments!

Keith
Keith
Keith Kim is a Korean-American who has been living in Korea for almost a decade. Being in a unique position as both a Korean and a non-Korean, he's put all his experience and knowledge for surviving in Korea in Survival Korean . Read it to learn how you can survive in Korea. Follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

16 Comments

  1. Waegook Tom says:

    Are any of these in the Shindangdong Ddeokbokki Town 신당동?? The ddeokbokki there is AMAZING and well worth a look – it’s just a whole street lined with restaurants serving delicious ddeokbokki! Love the stuff, probably my favourite street food, and I love dipping kimbap and sundae/soondae (순대) in the sauce. Om nom nom!

  2. Liza says:

    I have always wanted to try Tteokbokki it looks so delicious!*-*

  3. Cindy says:

    Wow, this makes me so hungry! I love tteokbokki with sundae bokkeum.

  4. olivia kim says:

    if you can’t eat out, make korean food at home.
    visit and learn korean recipes http://www.oliviajasonkim.com ^^

  5. Mohammed says:

    is there meat with the dokboki cause as a muslim i cant eat meat which hasnt been killed according to the islamic law i know that you can get extras but is there any meat that comes in the dish(fish is ok)

  6. Keith Kim says:

    No meat 🙂 its all rice and fish cake

  7. Jamie says:

    Can I have the address of Hyeonseon’s Tteokbokki (현선이네 떡볶이)? Will the locals know?

  8. Hazel Le says:

    The founders of the “Gangster Tteokbokki” restaurant used to be real gangsters, but they then left the gang as they no longer wanted to act bad. Then they opened the restaurant which attracts lots of people ^^

  9. Fei says:

    I’m making a list for Tteokbokki restaurant in Seoul that does not serve meat at all – seafood is ok. Something like Mimi Tteokbokki. Pls make some recommendations. Thank you.

  10. kody says:

    How can you forget Red Pepper in ApuJung? Are you serious? I’ve been 2 a couple of these places and they’re no where nears any good compare to the hot spot in Gangnam. Fail list

  11. Howdy, I hopped over to your website page via Digg. Not an item I typically read, yet I enjoy your opinions nevertheless. Thanks for writing some thing worthy of reading through!

  12. Oh delicious tteokbokki… Nice list Keith. I’m curious about the Dongdaemun Sassy Tteokbokki. On the pic it looks fine… and creamy

  13. Anonymous says:

    I think you mean “masochistic”, not “sadistic”.

  14. Emeline says:

    For those living near 회기역(Hoegi station, line 1), you can find the best tteokbokki at 무우떡볶이 ! They are de-li-cious and cheap. The best combination is to mix them with 튀김/fried vegetables. I coulnd’t get enough of these !

  15. Nyasha says:

    I’m not gonna deny, Ddukbokki is my third favourite food in the world and reading your content post on it, makes me want to cook it or go back to Korea and eat it hahaha

    I especially loved going to Sindang Ddukbokki Town last year, the fact that you could add and customise to your Ddukbokki dish is a joy!

    It’s such a simple street food but also so delicious, don’t you agree? If you have time, please read and comment on my post for the love of ddukbokki: http://nyamwithny.com/almighty-taste-of-ddukbokki-%eb%96%a1%eb%b3%b6%ec%9d%b4/

  16. ARMYSLOT88 says:

    Renee, I’m actually sharing your pork on my Favebook page today!

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