It? all hustle and bustle on Dongdaemun Street. The chattering of passersby and the vendors hawking their wares mix together and create an animated atmosphere. The food courts attract passersby through sight and smell. The sweet and greasy aromas make people salivate.
Street vendors sell delicious food which is simple to eat. Some sell alcohol. It? easy to find the orange or blue tents which sell soju, a clear alchohol made of grain. Marinated octopus and cuttlefish are popularly accompanied with soju. In Dongdaemon these food are advertised in Japanese and Chinese because the area attracts a lot of foreign tourists. Street vendors which don? sell soju offer food on skewers and other finger foods. The Western-type snacks include hotdogs and marinated chicken, while tteokbokki, a seasoned rice cake, or odeng, a skewered fish cake, are the typical Korean foods. There is even a ?teokbokki town?near Dongdaemun Station called Sindang-dong Street.
The food at indoor snack bars is similar to street vendors, but there is more variety. It? a good choice if the food on the street didn? satisfy your hunger or if you need a shelter from the cold. Koreans especially like broth, so the snack bars sell many kinds, including soups with udong or Japanese noodles. The food in the snack bars is a bit more expensive than at the street stands, because they mainly sell meals.
A visit to Korea definitely needs to include Dongdaemun, not just for the big shopping malls, but for the unparralled experience of its food culture.?ingling with busy people on the street, and munching on traditional snacks, sounds and smells of this area is a must-not-miss cultural experience.