Top places to eat

Taste the best of Seoul. Here you can find my favourite foodie destinations in the city.

Seoul BBQ

Judy's Seoul Hotspots

June 14 2023

You can’t go to Seoul without having some Korean barbecue, and this alley in the eastern city is the perfect place to eat with the locals.

Read more at Food and Travel Magazine

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Chef Judy Joo shares Seoul's top dining experiences

May 21 2020

The restaurateur, TV chef and author shares her love of Korean cuisine, and her tips on where to eat in the buzzy capital of Seoul.

Read more at National Geographic

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Judy Joo’s ultimate food guide to the city of Seoul

December 16 2019

Korean food has well and truly mainstreamed now. And it’s not just seen with the prevalence of kimchi all around London.

Read more at City Matters

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Judy Joo's Seoul

December 1 2019

Judy Joo, chef-patron of Soho Korean restaurant Jinjuu, reveals her favourite spots in the Korean capital of Seoul.

Read more at Urban Junkies

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Judy Joo's Foodie Guide to Seoul

November 9 2019

The Korean-American celebrity chef and author Judy Joo is a regular on the Seoul culinary circuit.

Read more from The Club at ba.com

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48 Hours in Seoul

September 5 2017

“Seoul… amazing city,” my friend Patrick remarked. Then he chuckled. “If you go home before 4am, you’re a loser.” Now, I wouldn’t say that makes you a loser per se, but he has a point; Seoul is a city that truly never sleeps.

Read more at SquareMeal

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@judyjoochef Instagram profile imageAd. An authentic Korean meal is never complete without banchan: the colorful side dishes that bring every feast to life. 🇰🇷✨ The Korean table is usually laid edge to edge with these small little plates…and, if you’re out to impress, the more the better! @ocadouk’s Korean aisle makes it so easy for you to get all the ingredients you need for your banchan, delivered straight to your door.

The key is balance and the “rule of five”: every meal should have a mix of five flavours, textures, and colours. Here are some of the most common banchan you’ll find: 🥬 Kimchi — the must-have
🍚 Steamed short-grain rice
🍲 Soup (a staple of any Korean table)
🍳 Gyeran-jjim (fluffy egg souffle)
🌿 Fresh salads — scallion salad, green salad, crudités with ssamjang
🥒 Pickled veggies — radish, cucumber, lotus root & more
🥔 Korean potato salad (yes… it’s a thing!)
🐟 Grilled fish — croaker or mackerel are classics
🥞 Jeon — savoury pancakes
🥬 Seasoned vegetables — spinach, bean sprouts, etc.
🍖 Braised meats — soy-braised beef, and more
🐠 Dried fish & seafood And if you’re eating barbecue, you’ll also find lettuce leaves (ssam) for wrapping and our barbecue sauce, ssamjang on the table.  #KoreanREcipes #Bulgogi #Banchan #KoreanBBQ #KoreanCuisine20 hours ago via Instagram
@judyjoochef Instagram profile imageHappy Giving Tuesday! 💚🍐 
Proud to be partnering with @subarashiikudamono and @CityHarvestNYC to help nourish New Yorkers today and throughout the holiday season. City Harvest rescues more than 86 million pounds of nutritious food each year and delivers it directly to families who need it most — an extraordinary mission I’m honored to support. To help raise awareness, we shared boxes of Subarashii’s beautiful Asian Pears with chef friends, along with a small note about today’s campaign. This initiative will help Subarashii Kudamono nourish 2,300 New Yorkers for a day, a meaningful contribution to City Harvest’s work. I’m endlessly grateful for this community, for your friendship, generosity, and the joy you bring to the culinary world. Together, we nourish. Together, we give. 💚 
#AsianPearsXCityHarvest #WeAreCityHarvest1 day ago via Instagram
@judyjoochef Instagram profile imageAd. Crispy, cheesy, and a little bit sweet…this is Korean Street Toast, the ultimate breakfast of champions. 🍞✨ @ocadouk just launched a Korean aisle featuring some of my go-to ingredients, so I had to share this quick and comforting classic. 🇰🇷 A favourite grab-and-go breakfast in Korea since the 1980s, Korean Street Toast (gilgeori toast) began as a street-cart staple for students and commuters rushing to school or work. Cheap, fast, nourishing, and satisfying & still a nostalgic comfort food today, with long lines at Seoul cafés serving their own versions. 💛 Fluffy omelet, melted cheese, deli meats, and buttery milk bread & finished with a sprinkle of sugar to balance the savoury flavours. It sounds unusual, but that touch of sweetness is what makes it unforgettable. My secret weapon? Kewpie mayo, Japan’s iconic rich, tangy, and slightly sweet mayonnaise, and you can now find it on Ocado! Spread it on one slice, add ketchup on the other, and you’ve got the ultimate breakfast of champions. Quick to make, easy to love, and impossible to forget. 💛 60g packaged coleslaw mix or 40g white cabbage, thinly sliced and 20g carrot, peeled and julienned 2 spring onions, julienned 1 tbsp chopped parsley ½ tsp sea or kosher salt ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 large egg 3 tbsp salted butter, plus extra as needed 2 slices of white bread 1 tsp granulated sugar 1–2 slices mild Cheddar 2–4 slices cured ham 2–4 slices salami To Serve 1–2 tbsp ketchup 1–2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise 
✨ Full recipe in my book K-Quick (which you can also find on Ocado!) 
Watch the video for the method and tag me if you try it at home! #KoreanFood #BreakfastSandwich #KoreanRecipes1 week ago via Instagram
@judyjoochef Instagram profile image’Tis the season for culinary competition! 🎄✨ I had so much fun being a judge on Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas. The talent in this episode is exceptional and every chef brought their holiday best. Tune in this Wednesday at 8pm ET! @geoffreyzakarian & @susanfeniger  @FoodNetwork @GuyFieri #TournamentOfChampions #AllStarChristmas @HBOMax @DiscoveryPlus Dress: @jonathansimkhai1 week ago via Instagram
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