The Best Kept Secrets of Seoul

If you’re thinking that this sounds like a strange name for a rooftop bar, you’d be right. Technically, the 10th Floor isn’t a rooftop bar at all, but rather an unofficial gathering place for trendy young Seoulites during warm city nights. The 10th floor of the Express Bus Terminal hosts two Korean BBQ restaurants, from which guests can buy drinks or even food with which to enjoy their view, but the true attraction is the gorgeous view of Seoul and the unexpected garden that wraps around the building. Random plots of grass are sprinkled with benches and seating areas from which patrons can enjoy a casual drink or two while ten storeys above the city of Seoul. As it is not an officially owned business, there are no real hours, but elevators operate only until midnight.
194, Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Hidden away at the end of a dark, dull street, Gangnam Gjoya is run by a chef who left a 30-year career at a famous Myeongdong kalguksu restaurant in order to open this tiny yet authentic kalguksu house. With only four options on the menu, each of the items (kalguksu, a noodle soup; mandu, dumplings; bibimguksu, cold buckwheat noodles; and kongguksu, a light summer noodle soup) is crafted with utmost care and authenticity. The restaurant offers unlimited noodles and rice, as well as a small plate of kimchi and a piece of mint chewing gum. The gum is for after the meal, in order to negate the deliciously strong and fresh garlic flavour of the kimchi.
1308-1 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea; +82 2 536 4133

This tiny, bookish café is hugely popular among the Soongsil University students in the know, but with no official website or travel guide listing, it’s almost impossible to find for the casual tourist. A simple café that offers just a few different types of teas and Americano and espresso brews, the Sahara is easy on the pocket. Almost everything on its concise menu is under 5,000 won. Beautifully yet minimalistically designed, the café is lined with hundreds upon hundreds of books, any of which can be taken down and read at the patron’s discretion. With pillowed chairs, long tables lit by study lamps, and a quiet, dreamy atmosphere, the Sahara Café is perfect for the book-loving tourist.
501-2Beonji Sangdo-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea; +82 2 822 0111

Koreans have perfected the art of side dishes, or, as they call them, banchan. Any restaurant you go to will offer a dizzying array of small portions of side dishes to complement your meal. At Sigol Bapsang, however, the restaurateurs have taken it one step further and made the banchan the focus of their simple yet genius meal. You can buy at least 20 different kinds of banchan, supplemented with a steaming hot bowl of rice and soup. With just five tables, the place is the definition of hole-in-the-wall, and its atmosphere matches its quirky menu. One wall is even laminated with pages from a book or newspaper, and chopped firewood is stacked alongside the front wall. Open 24 hours and seven days a week, this is the perfect place to pop in if you’re jet lagged or late-night festivities have you wandering Seoul hungry at unusal hours.
738-17 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea; +82 2 793 5390