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Hotteok in Seoul’s Markets: Namdaemun, Mangwon and Gwangjang Compared

Travel Analysts

📄204 reviews name the hotteok at Namdaemun Market, Mangwon Market and Gwangjang Market: which stall, how long the queue, what it cost and who liked it.

A fried hotteok pancake with a bite taken out, showing a filling of glass noodles, carrot and green onion, held in a paper napkin on a street

💡Quick Answer

Where is the best hotteok in Seoul’s markets? In our samples, hotteok is named in 6.8% of reviews of Namdaemun Market, 7.1% of Mangwon Market and 2.3% of Gwangjang Market. At Namdaemun Market the draw is a vegetable hotteok filled with glass noodles, sold near Gate 2, and twelve reviews describe the queue. At Mangwon Market it is Hunhun Hotteok, in the basement. Of 84 reviewers who say how theirs tasted, 76 call it good. We did not verify current prices or hours.

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Hotteok Belongs to Namdaemun Market and Mangwon Market

Hotteok is a filled pancake fried on a griddle and handed over hot. We searched our review samples of three Seoul markets for it, in every language in the samples, and read the 204 reviews that name it.

🥞 Hotteok in the reviews	Namdaemun Market (1,376)	Mangwon Market (1,089)	Gwangjang Market (1,458)
Reviews that name it	6.8% (93)	7.1% (77)	2.3% (34)
Say how theirs tasted	43 reviews	29 reviews	12 reviews
✅ Say it was good	41 of the 43	26 of the 29	9 of the 12
What reviewers come for	Vegetable hotteok with glass noodles	Hunhun Hotteok and its flavors	A stall beside the twisted donut queue

The dish sorts the markets. About one review in fourteen names hotteok at Namdaemun Market and at Mangwon Market. At Gwangjang Market it is one in forty-three. And each market is known for a different one.

Of the 204 reviews, 84 say how the hotteok tasted, and 76 of those say it was good. The other 120 recommend it, list it, ate it without comment or did not get to the front of the line.

The trade-off: the two markets where hotteok matters most are the two where reviewers describe waiting for it.

Namdaemun Market: The Vegetable Hotteok and Its Queue

At Namdaemun Market the hotteok people cross the city for is savory. Twenty-nine of the 93 reviews name the vegetable version, also called japchae hotteok: a fried shell filled with glass noodles and vegetables. Reviewers describe it as crisp outside and packed inside.

this is where you get the really good Hotteok — Google Maps review of Namdaemun Market, 5 stars, June 2026

Six reviews place the stall at Gate 2, and several more say simply at the entrance. One review from January 2025 names Gate 5. We did not verify where it stands today.

Twelve reviews describe the queue.

40 minute wait in mid- afternoon for savory vegetable hotteok — TripAdvisor review of Namdaemun Market, 4 stars, November 2019

This stall had a 20-30minute line up at every time we walked past. — TripAdvisor review of Namdaemun Market, 5 stars, June 2025

Both of those reviewers say it was worth it, and a third adds that the line moves fast. Two found a way around it:

Went here at 7AM, there was no line on the famous vegetable hotteok at the entrance. — Google Maps review of Namdaemun Market, 5 stars, October 2024

Forty-one of the 43 verdicts at Namdaemun Market are good. One reviewer found the hotteok oily and hard to eat, and one, who skipped the long queue and bought at another stall, got a cinnamon filling they do not like. Three reviews mention grease, including a fan of the dish who warns that it turns very oily once it cools.

Greasy but oh so tasty. — TripAdvisor review of Namdaemun Market, 4 stars, November 2019

The sweet versions are here too: honey and cinnamon, seeds, red bean, and in one review a gorgonzola filling. One Korean reviewer adds a warning of a different kind. Standing a few steps from the stall to eat, the reviewer and a sister were shouted at by a neighboring vendor to move away.

The trade-off: the hotteok that reviewers praise most is the one with the line, and it is best in the minutes after it is fried. Going at opening solves the first problem and not the second.

Mangwon Market: Hunhun Hotteok in the Basement

At Mangwon Market thirteen reviews name one stall: Hunhun Hotteok (훈훈호떡), which reviewers also write as Hoon Hoon and Hun Hun. Eight reviews say the popular hotteok is in the basement. What sets it apart is the flavors:

Hun Hun Hotteok has some contemporary hotteok flavours like injeolmi and bburinkle!! — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 5 stars, September 2023

Five reviews name flavors, among them injeolmi, Oreo, cheese and bburinkle. One reviewer who liked the cheese one found it rich and suggests sharing.

Five reviews describe a queue. A Korean reviewer waited 50 minutes in February 2023 and concluded that the hotteok is good for a short weekday wait and hard to justify for fifty minutes. Another went to buy one, saw the line and went home. The fix is the same as at Namdaemun Market:

go early in the morning, no Queues at all — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 4 stars, November 2025

Two practical reports: a visitor in July 2025 came on a Monday and found the stall closed, and one reviewer notes how it takes payment.

Also the hoddeok place (either cash or bank transfer). — Google Maps review of Mangwon Market, 4 stars, October 2024

It is not the only hotteok in the market. Two reviews point to a stall that cooks its hotteok on a griddle instead of deep-frying it, and one recommends it to people who do not like the fried kind. And a Korean reviewer says a third stall at Mangwon Market beats every hotteok sold at Namdaemun Market.

Twenty-six of the 29 verdicts are good. The one negative is a one-star review, in Korean, describing a vendor who was short with customers and a hotteok with too little filling.

The trade-off: the flavored hotteok is the reason for the queue. If you want a plain one, the reviews suggest you do not need to stand in it.

Gwangjang Market: A Stall Beside the Donut Queue

Gwangjang Market is known for other things, and only 34 of its 1,458 reviews name hotteok. Three place a hotteok stall next to the twisted donut stall at the north entrance, the one with the long line. One of them prefers it:

I think the hotteok stall nearby is much better and unique to Korea — Google Maps review of Gwangjang Market, 4 stars, October 2025

Nine of the twelve verdicts are good and three call it ordinary. No review describes a queue for it.

One one-star review from July 2026 is about the bill. The reviewer asked for a classic hotteok, expected to pay 2,000 won and was charged 2,500:

she added injeolmi powder without asking and handed it to me — Google Maps review of Gwangjang Market, 1 star, July 2026

And one unhappy reviewer of Gwangjang Market uses the review to send readers elsewhere, to Namdaemun Market for the vegetable hotteok.

The trade-off: at Gwangjang Market the hotteok is a good snack with no wait, and nobody in these reviews went there for it.

Queues and Prices, as Reviewers Dated Them

Reviews are dated, so what they say about waiting and paying can be lined up in time. None of this was verified by us, and prices in particular move.

Market	⏳ The queue, as reviewers dated it	💵 The price, as reviewers dated it
Namdaemun Market	12 reviews describe one. 40 minutes in November 2019; 20 to 30 minutes in June 2025. No line at 7 am or at the 9 am opening, in 2 reviews	1,000 won in 3 reviews from 2019 and 2020. 2,000 won in June 2024. 2,500 won in May and June 2025
Mangwon Market	5 reviews describe one. 50 minutes in February 2023. No queue early in the morning, in 1 review	2,000 won in February 2023. 1,500 won for the original in August 2026
Gwangjang Market	No review of the 34 describes a queue for hotteok	2,000 won in October 2025 and July 2026

The Namdaemun Market price reports rise steadily: 1,000 won in three reviews from late 2019 and early 2020, 2,000 won for the vegetable one in June 2024 and 2,500 won in two reviews from May and June 2025. A Japanese reviewer in December 2025 notes that hotteok there had gone up, to prices starting at 2,000 won.

The trade-off: even at the highest price a reviewer reports, hotteok is the cheapest thing in this comparison. What it costs is time, and the reviews agree on how to spend less of it: go when the stall opens.

Methodology

Figures come from the SeoulFoodTour research corpus. This article uses three samples of rated reviews from Google Maps and TripAdvisor, each collected without filtering by rating: 1,376 reviews of Namdaemun Market, 1,089 of Mangwon Market and 1,458 of Gwangjang Market.

What counts as naming the dish. A review is counted when it names hotteok in English, Korean, Japanese or Chinese, or describes a sweet, honey or filled pancake. That gives 204 reviews: 93, 77 and 34. They are dated November 2018 to September 2026, and 126 are from 2025 or 2026.

How they were sorted. All 204 were read in full, in the language they were written in. A review counts as a verdict only when the reviewer ate the hotteok and says how it was: 84 do. Queue, price, location and flavor reports are counted separately, and a review can carry several.

Stalls. We name Hunhun Hotteok because thirteen reviews do. Other stalls are named in one review each and are described here without their names.

The second set. A separate pass aimed at low ratings added reviews that we read and never count. None is quoted here.

Quotations. Every quotation is from a review written in English and is reproduced exactly as it appears in the original record, spelling included. Reviews in other languages are counted and described in our words, never quoted.

What this article does not do. It does not verify today’s prices, opening hours, closing days or where any stall stands. A review records what was true on the day it was written.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is hotteok?+

Hotteok is a filled pancake fried on a griddle and eaten hot. Reviewers describe sweet versions filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, honey, nuts or seeds, and a savory one at Namdaemun Market filled with vegetables and glass noodles. One reviewer calls it fried bread that is sweet and chewy.

Where is the famous vegetable hotteok at Namdaemun Market?+

Six reviews place it at Gate 2 of Namdaemun Market, and others say simply at the entrance. One review from January 2025 names Gate 5 instead. Twenty-nine of the 93 reviews that mention hotteok at this market name the vegetable or japchae version. We did not verify where the stall is today.

How long is the queue for hotteok at Namdaemun Market?+

Twelve reviews describe a queue. One waited 40 minutes in November 2019 and one saw a 20 to 30 minute line on every pass in June 2025. Two reviewers found no line early: at 7 am in October 2024 and at about 9 am, right at opening, in December 2019.

How much does hotteok cost in Seoul’s markets?+

Reviewers report 1,000 won at Namdaemun Market in 2019 and 2020, 2,000 won in June 2024 and 2,500 won in May and June 2025. At Mangwon Market, 2,000 won in February 2023 and 1,500 won for the original in August 2026. At Gwangjang Market, 2,000 won in 2025 and 2026. We did not verify current prices.

Where is Hunhun Hotteok at Mangwon Market?+

Eight reviews say the popular hotteok stall at Mangwon Market is in the basement, and thirteen name it as Hunhun Hotteok (훈훈호떡), also written Hoon Hoon or Hun Hun. One visitor found it closed on a Monday in July 2025, and one says it takes cash or bank transfer. We did not verify current hours.

Does Gwangjang Market have hotteok?+

Yes, though it is named far less often there: 34 of 1,458 reviews. Three reviews place a hotteok stall next to the twisted donut stall at the north entrance of Gwangjang Market. Nine of the twelve reviewers who say how it tasted call it good.

Is the vegetable hotteok vegetarian?+

We cannot confirm it. One reviewer of Namdaemun Market, writing in Japanese, describes the filling as meat, vegetables and glass noodles. Other reviewers mention only vegetables and noodles. Ask at the stall.