Korean BBQ & Nightlife: Seoul's Food Culture
4.9
190 Ratings
Singongdeok-dong

Experience Seoul’s food culture with a Korean BBQ, market, and pub tour. Learn about Korean BBQ etiquette, try traditional and trendy alcoholic drinks, and explore vibrant markets. Choose the ‘Three Stops’ option for an extra fried chicken pub experience.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • 정대포 갈매기전문 - Featured on “Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain,” this is a local Korean BBQ stop that specializes in a unique specialty, Mapo-style Galmegisal. It’s pork skirt steak grilled over charcoals with a moat of egg surrounding it.
  • Cheonghakdong Pancake - We load up on savory Korean pancakes and sit down at the market pub for a crash course in Korean alcohol.
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Dinner
  • Unlimited drinks (within reason)
  • Snacks
  • Alcoholic beverages
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Extracurricular activities (karaoke, fried chicken pub) are optional after the main part of the tour
Additional Information

Experience the dynamic food scene of Seoul with this engaging Korean BBQ and nightlife tour. Enjoy a meal at the renowned pork BBQ restaurant highlighted on “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” where succulent charcoal-grilled pork and aged kimchi are the stars. With guidance from a Korean food expert, discover BBQ and drinking customs while absorbing the…

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Location
56-75
Gongdeok Station, Gate 7, bottom of the escalator (Don't rely on the address. We use subway exits for locations in Seoul.)
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(190 Ratings)
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1 star
Richard_l
Feb 14, 2026
Sumptuous food and mouthwatering drinks. - Our food tour with Jeff was so much fun and filling. We learned Korean food culture and how to enjoy Soju. It felt like we knew Jeff for a long time as we didn’t feel he was our tour guide. He converses English so well and we understood everything from him. Food was fantastic and drinks were flowing nonstop. We had a great time doing this and would definitely come back and join him again in the future. This is a memory we would never forget.
Review provided by Viator
Brea_h
Dec 17, 2025
We were only in Seoul for... - We were only in Seoul for four days, and this tour was easily one of the highlights of our trip. The food was amazing - even better than we expected - and the real standout was being immersed in Seoul’s restaurant culture. Each place had its own atmosphere and character, and it was an experience we never would have had on our own. Our guide was a passionate foodie (though with a chef vibe - iykyk), which really added to the experience. Overall, it was a fantastic tour and one we’d highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Chris
Nov 13, 2025
Great time with great food! - Wow, what an amazing experience. Jeff, our guide, took us to the most local BBQ place for a truly authentic Korean BBQ dinner with plenty of soju and good laughs. We then went to a small hidden beer and fried chicken spot that only locals would know about. This is a definite must do tour when visiting South Korea!
Review provided by Viator
179guidov
Oct 7, 2025
K-BBQ rules! - Loved it! Tour guide Ron was very friendly and we went to some awesome places. Really enjoyed learning about Korean BBQ customs and the dishes were absolutely delicious. Would definitely go again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J8672nuvaleriet
Oct 6, 2025
Best Food Tour Ever! - We had the most amazing experience on this food tour with Jeff! He taught us a lot about the Korean culture when it came to food and we took in as much as we could. He made us feel so comfortable and at ease, conversation was great. I cannot recommend this enough!!! It was our first time visiting Korea and it was a night to remember!!! We’re already planning our next trip out and we hope to book another food tour with Jeff! We hope to impress with our newly learned Korean language skills lol. In all seriousness, Jeff was patient, kind and understanding and also made sure we made it home safely. These are the tour guides you want to have! 10/10!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cameronandjoanna
Sep 29, 2025
A fun evening - A fun and informative evening hosted by the enthusiastic and helpful Jeff. A great insight and introduction to Korean food culture.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cindym64
Sep 22, 2025
5 Star Food, Customer Service, and Fun! - What a great experience--Jeff was a fantastic guide and the food and drinks were excellent. I also really appreciate how Jeff and the company went above and beyond to help me out when I got lost. That took the evening from stressful to delightful in a flash, and it was a highlight of my visit to Seoul. Highly recommend the tour, the company, and Jeff!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dbowyer
Sep 16, 2025
Well worth doing as we wouldn’t have picked these places ourselves and the food was great. - Ron met us as arranged and was friendly. There was just us and another guy so very personal service. We had PLENTY of food and drink thank you 🙏 We went to three different food places. Ron sorted it all out with our personal choices. We really enjoyed our evening and the experience. Being a small group made it great to chat easily. Ron was really good fun and thank you for introducing the Korean food to us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bethany1017
Mar 1, 2026
Great experience! - What a nice surprise to spend dinner with Jeff at an authentic Korean BBQ restaurant very close to the meeting spot. We were lucky to have him all to ourselves. It was my partner and my daughter and Jeff. He gave us so much wonderful history and cultural knowledge of Seoul. The food was wonderful and we REALLY enjoyed the Soju and Makgeolli. After a long day it was nice to relax in one spot and enjoy dinner and laughter.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Trinh
Jan 1, 2026
Barely trying - This tour was super disappointing. Beyond identifying various seafoods (which you could easily do yourself with a web search or just with your own eyes), Joe imparted very little knowledge. He would talk about how he prefers to prepare different kinds of seafood but gave little to no context for how locals actually eat various things. Joe says he has 20+ years living in Korea and has worked with big names like Bourdain and Zimmern so we expected more. My husband and I kept prodding with questions which he answered in the most superficial way and kept telling us he was just hanging out and so tired from the previous tour he had lead the day before. He was also easily distracted and unfocused, sharing random observations having little to do with the fish market or Korea more generally. We heard too much about his ex girlfriend(s) and ex wife. He also took a video of us eating without first asking. We paid $640 for a 3 hour private tour that we could’ve done ourselves with a little help from Google Translate. Oh, I forgot to mention that he showed up a couple minutes late with no apology. You can do much better on your own or with a different tour operator. When I got home, I immediately cancelled the second tour that we had booked with his company. I couldn’t believe he texted me at 10:30 pm to tell me that he saw that I cancelled. He didn’t ask for feedback or why I might’ve cancelled. I experienced this as both unprofessional and borderline harassment.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).
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