Popular Korean Street Foods during the Winter

This is your guide to finding the most popular Korean street foods when visiting Korea in the winter. Street food is actually quite popular here in South Korea. Every day, South Koreans stop by street vendors for an evening snack or a pit stop after a night of drinking.

If our memory serves us well, Korean street food booths appear in almost every Korean drama and it sure makes us crave what they are eating. So if you ever wondered where these are located you have reached the right place!

This post will focus on winter Korean street foods, which are somewhat unique. They’re sweeter, and to be honest, they’re ideal for the hard winters we get here. Keep an eye out for these classic Korean street foods next time you are in town and let us know which one you liked the most.

Also if you are interested in winter activities in Seoul check out this blog post.

One last thing, all of these Korean street foods are super inexpensive. They are easy on the wallet!

Roasted Chestnuts (군밤)

To be honest everytime we walk around these stalls Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) just pops into my mind. The coldness of the day and seeing the elderly roasting them gives me a total Christmas feel. 

It’s a good korean street food for the winter so give it a try. 

PRICE: 1,000 – 2,000 KRW
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Seoul National University Station Exit 3

Side comment: Before you continue to read the rest of our suggestions, our preferred locations are not the only places where they sell them. We are pretty sure you will find these heart-warming snacks in just about every station outside. 

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Korean Sugar Cinnamon Pancakes (호떡)

Pronounced similar to the word Hot-Dog. This delicious treat is nowhere near the taste of a hot-dog. These cinnamon sugar filled pancakes are Christmas in a cup. When we first arrived here we couldn’t believe what we were tasting and if you are as big of a fan as we are of cinnamon this is your every-day go to snack when you are visiting. 

These sugar cinnamon filled pancakes are made with dough, sugar, cinnamon and a bit of honey. Each vendor has their own special recipe. If you are lucky to find it, we would highly recommend you to try out the Matcha Sugar Cinnamon Pancakes (made with green tea). We are sure you are going to love it. 

PRICE: 1,000 KRW (less than $1)
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Myeongdong Area

Check out this great video about the making of these pancakes.

Egg Bread (계란빵)

Although Myeongdong is not the area it used to be before the pandemic, they used to have some of the best street food stalls and especially the Egg bread stalls were the popular one. 

This is basically the Korean version of egg on toast but even better. 

PRICE: 1,000KRW (less than $1)
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Myeongdong Area

Red Bean Bread (붕어빵)

We consider this type of bread has a very peculiar taste. Us as latinos we are used to beans being more on the salty savory side. However, here in Korea they eat beans as something sweet and a type of dessert. 

That being said, this snack is actually one of the most popular snacks even among tourists. We believe it has to do with the cute presentation. I mean come on how cute is it to see a fish shaped bread and know it has a sweet filling inside. Give it a try or if you’ve tried it let us know what you think in the comments. 

PRICE: 1,000 KRW (less than $1)
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Gangnam

Sweet Potato (고구마)

We love sweet potatoes! Although we prefer to eat it as a part of a dish, maybe in a salad bowl, this is one heck of a snack in the winter. Not only can you smell them being roasted on the street stalls, but it’s one of those snacks that just makes you feel warm inside. 

The way they roast them and sell them is an experience. 

PRICE: 1,000- 2,000 KRW
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Seoul National University Station Exit 3

Fish Cake (오뎅)

If you love seafood or seafood soup this is the snack to try. We know it sounds weird to be eating a seafood soup as a snack but trust me it’s not what you think. Koreans put fish cakes on sticks and have them warmed up in this delicious soup. 

So when you go into the stall, just tell them you are going to be eating 오뎅 and the vendor will start taking count of the sticks you have accumulated. Be careful cause we promise you’ll be eating more than one. 

PRICE: 1,000 KRW (less than $1)
OUR PREFERRED LOCATION: Hongdae Exit 8