Korean food (or just K-food) is all the range right now and you can´t open any restaurant review site or go to a bookstore without stumbling across at least one new Korean place – whether it´s JoAnne Molinaro´s new book, The Korean Vegan homemade or the opening of a new H-Mart location (H Mart is a US grocery store chain which sells a huge range of Korean foods – and it is also part of the title of a great novel called “Crying in H-Mart”).

The first Korean dishes that come to people´s minds are probably Bulgogi and Korean BBQ – obviously, none of which are vegan.

Even the ubiquitous Kimchi is usually not vegan as it contains fish in one form or another. So, who in their right mind would take a group of vegans on a trip through South Korea?

Always up for a challenge, that is exactly what I did. This was my third time visiting the country, so I kind of knew what to expect, but I would lie if I told you that I left home without some doubts.

My doubts were – for the most part – not ungrounded. Happy Cow lists many vegan and vegan-friendly places across the country – mostly in the bigger cities like in most parts of the world, understandably. Most likely, you are already familiar with Happy Cow, if not, definitely add it to your go-to-travel apps (and it´s also useful at home) – please do contribute your own reviews to it as well, especially if it´s a new spot.

So, in mid-October, our group of adventurous vegans all met up in the capital city, Seoul, home to roughly 10 million souls.

Once our group met up in our hotel ready to head to dinner, I knew we were in for a treat: instead of heading to a simple restaurant, we got to dine on a multi course menu at a vegan-friendly spot a short walk away called “ A Flower Blossom on the Rice”. This Michelin bib gourmand recommended restaurant which uses 90% organic ingredients and focuses on locally produced foods, served us a wonderful tasting menu of pumpkin soup, a salad with homemade vegan cheese, Korean pancakes (Jeon), bao buns with mushrooms, a Goatsbeard (yes, it’s vegan, it’s a herb) bibimbap, a perilla stew (a herb that’s very common in Korean cooking, it tastes a bit minty and has hints of basil) and a dessert of rice crackers, oyster mushroom crackers with sugar (tastes great, actually) and a cold persimmon soup. While it was a multi course menu (and we would have many of those throughout our trip!), we left feeling nourished, rather than weighed down and very ready for bed.

The next morning, after enjoying breakfast at our hotel – which, thankfully, had clearly labeled vegan options – ones you might not find every day such as mushroom salad and seaweed salad but also fruit, we went out to explore Seoul.

In order to blend in (well, at least with the many visitors), we all got changed into traditional Korean Hanbok attire to look our part for our visit to Gyeongbokgung palace to witness the changing of the guards as well as visit the beautiful palace grounds. There are lots of places close to the palace that rent out Hanbok and you basically put it on over the clothes you are already wearing. What do you think of the outfits we chose?

Visiting the Bukchon Hanok cultural village is a must for anyone who´s visiting Seoul for the first time. While it does get busy these days, the beautiful traditional Korean houses are just too pretty to miss. Many have been converted to guesthouses, tea houses and little shops. If you can, come in the early evening and stroll the alleys – or stay in one of the hanoks!

While hanok and hanbok sound very similar, they are two very different things: hanok is the traditional Korean house, while a hanbok is the traditional dress. Speaking of hanok: if you are traveling alone or with a very small group, I highly recommend Soni guesthouse. 

Soni and her son run this small, traditional guesthouse in a very untouristy part of town (also, unfortunately, not very vegan friendly) and she made me one of the cutest breakfasts I have ever had.

I quickly realized that I am with a group of great eaters and everyone was excited to join local chef Jie on his Gwangjang market food tour – a vegan food tour through one of Seoul’s largest markets.

During our tour, we got to try loads of foods – ranging from Bibimbap (rice bowls) to Hotteok (crispy pancakes) as well as drinks such as Makgeolli and Soju. He knows many of the vendors and gets to skip the lines for super-popular, mochi donuts, too. I highly recommend adding his tour to your to-do-list in Seoul!

No visit to Seoul would be complete without a visit to the N Seoul tower, especially these days, when it was featured in Demon Hunters and other Korean tv shows. Be prepared to wait in line to get up the mountain and then, subsequently, the tower.

If you are looking for a fine dining experience, a visit to Legume (all vegan) should be added to your list. This Michelin-starred restaurant offers a roughly 10-course tasting menu in an intimate setting in Gangnam – it focuses on seasonal ingredients and aims to be zero waste. We truly enjoyed our meal there – even as a group, doing the bar seating is recommended to interact with the chefs and you will feel more “part of it” than just sitting at a table. Compared to Michelin starred restaurants in the US or parts of Europe, it is also great value for money (about 125$ for the tasting menu).

A few things to keep in mind about Seoul:

Seoul is a huge city of roughly 10 million people and it can take a while to travel from A to B – the very efficient subway system definitely comes in handy. Stations usually have multiple exits and entrances and using the right can safe you lots of walking!

You might expect South Korea to be highly digitized but some things, like paying for the subway, surprisingly, are not and it can, at times, be a bit confusing. Also, keep in mind that you will need cash, yes cash, to pay for your fare (i.e. to pay for your ticket). Here is a handy guide to getting around and obtaining subway tickets.

One thing that´s generally very important when traveling around in Korea is that Google Maps is not very useful. Their local equivalent, Naver, takes some getting used to but, once you are used to it, it is actually very precise and useful. Kakao is another useful app and both have English versions.

Traveling around South Korea is very safe and I am not aware of any neighborhoods of Seoul that should be avoided – so just head out and explore!

Looking to travel to South Korea with a group? We got you covered – join us this October! All info can be found here