Exploring the Side Streets of Jongno 5-ga: Beyond Gwangjang Market
After spending some time at Gwangjang Market, I ended up walking toward Jongno 5-ga just to get away from the crowds for a while.
Weirdly enough, I think I enjoyed the side streets more than the market itself.
Near Exit 8, I noticed a lot of locals heading into a random second-floor restaurant, so I decided to follow them.
It turned out to be a small seolleongtang place that felt completely different from the busy market outside.
Inside was quiet and relaxed, mostly office workers eating dinner after work.
Ordering was done through tablets at each table, and they even had English menus available, so it felt pretty easy for tourists to order. The photos on the screen also helped a lot, even without using a translator.
One thing I didn’t expect was that they also had vegan menu options.
For a seolleongtang restaurant, the menu was more varied than I expected, so it seemed like a good spot even if everyone in your group likes different kinds of food.
The self-serve side dishes were surprisingly good too.
Besides kimchi and kkakdugi, they also had salted squid, which went really well with the hot soup and rice.
And the self-serve side dishes were completely free, so no need to worry about extra charges.
In Korea, people often say that “rice gives you strength,” and honestly, sitting there eating rice soaked in hot ox bone broth felt incredibly comforting after walking around all day.
It reminded me again why soup dishes are such a big part of Korean food culture.
The owner also spoke a bit of English, so communicating wasn’t really a problem.
Just look at this milky broth. Doesn’t it make you hungry?
How to find these spots:
The seolleongtang place is near Exit 8 on the second floor. Just look for the pharmacy building.
The Chicken Noodle Alley Feels Better at Night
After dinner, I walked a little farther and ended up in the nearby chicken noodle alley.
During the daytime it honestly just looked like a normal alley, but once the lanterns turned on after sunset, the whole place felt completely different.
Compared to the main market streets, there were way more Koreans there, mostly people having dinner and drinks after work.
You could smell chicken broth before even entering the alley, and somehow that smell just made me hungry again.
Even late at night, there were long lines of locals waiting outside some of the restaurants.
If you want to experience a more local side of Seoul or just sit down somewhere noisy and casual for drinks, I’d definitely recommend coming here.
There’s also a Ssanghwa Tea street nearby, so after eating, it was nice to stop by a café and try some traditional Korean tea.
The atmosphere there felt completely different from the busy market area.
If you like taking photos, this area definitely looked better in the evening than during the daytime.
Right before it gets fully dark was probably the best time.
How to find these spots:
The fruit shop is right outside Exit 7, and the chicken noodle alley is about a 5-minute walk away.
The Fruit Shop I Ended Up Liking
One random place I ended up liking was the fruit shop near Exit 7.
While traveling around Seoul, I realized it’s actually not that easy to find large supermarkets in older neighborhoods.
So whenever you see a fruit shop like this, it’s honestly not a bad idea to just grab some fruit while passing by.
They had boxes of strawberries and Shine Muscat grapes stacked outside, and everything looked surprisingly fresh.
The prices also didn’t seem too bad considering how close it was to the market.
After eating pancakes, noodles, and fried food all day, eating fruit at the end somehow felt necessary.
Final Thoughts
Gwangjang Market itself was definitely worth visiting, but personally I think the quieter streets around Jongno 5-ga ended up being the part I remember most.
If you ever get tired of the crowds inside the market, I’d recommend walking a few minutes toward the station before leaving.
The atmosphere changes quite a bit once you step into the nearby alleys.
Before walking around Jongno 5-ga, I spent some time at Gwangjang Market first.
I wrote a separate post about the market itself here:
👉 [Stop Eating at Gwangjang Market! (Why I Liked the Streets Outside More)]