Sixty food experts select the capital’s top restaurants, cafes and bars ahead of Seoul Gourmet Week, triggering the largest outbreak of culinary outrage since the Great Fried Chicken Rankings
One Hundred Winners, Nine Million Critics
SEOUL. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has published its 2026 Gourmet 100 list, a guide to the capital’s best restaurants, cafes, bars and food spots, compiled by a panel of 60 Korean food experts, according to The Korea Times report on Seoul’s 2026 Gourmet 100. The list, first launched in 2020, spans seven categories: Korean, Western, Asian, grill, vegetarian, cafe and dessert, and bars and pubs. It includes 25 newcomers.
The announcement was immediately greeted by the traditional Korean response to any ranking of anything: the conviction, held by approximately nine million people simultaneously, that the best restaurant in the city had been left off, and that it belongs to their mother, aunt or a man in an alley who does not have a sign.
The Chosen Ones
Among the entries are Mingles in Gangnam and La Yeon in Jung District for fine dining, Wooraeok in Eulji-ro for Pyongyang-style cold noodles, and the cafes Nudake near Dosan Park and Onion in Seongsu-dong. Korean cuisine leads the list with 27 entries, followed by Western with 23, Asian with 15, grill with 10, cafe and dessert with nine, and vegetarian and bars and pubs with eight each.
The presence of eight vegetarian restaurants has been hailed as progress in a city where, until recently, many diners believed that a salad was something you ate while waiting for the barbecue.
The Outrage Begins
Within hours of publication, online forums filled with objections. A office worker from Mapo wrote a 4,000-word post explaining why his local gamjatang restaurant, which has no website, no sign and an owner who shouts at customers, should have been ranked first. The shouting is part of the flavour, he argued. You cannot get that kind of authenticity in Gangnam.
A grandmother in Eunpyeong, informed of the list by her grandson, said she had not been consulted and did not recognize the authority of 60 experts. Sixty experts, she said. I have been making kimchi for sixty years. That is one expert per year. Where is my invitation?
The Cold Noodle Question
The inclusion of Wooraeok for Pyongyang-style cold noodles has reignited one of the city’s most sensitive debates: which restaurant serves the correct naengmyeon. Cold noodle enthusiasts in Seoul are known for their devotion, their strong opinions about broth clarity and their willingness to queue in the summer heat, or, this year, in the October heat. Fans of rival restaurants have pointed out that their favourites were not included, and have begun preparing statements with the seriousness of diplomatic communiques.
Gourmet Week Approaches
The list launches ahead of Seoul Gourmet Week, which runs from October 23 to 29 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza and venues across the city. Programs include Seoul Restaurant Week, the Seoul Gourmet Market, gourmet tours and workshops. The city plans to turn the selected restaurants, cafes, markets and neighbourhoods into tourism content for residents and visitors.
Cho Seong-ho, director general of the city’s Tourism and Sports Bureau, said that Seoul’s cuisine is a top-tier travel experience created by the harmony of its neighbourhoods, alleys, people and culture. Residents agreed wholeheartedly, adding only that the harmony of the alleys would be better if their favourite alley had been included.
The Tourist Effect
Restaurant owners on the list are preparing for increased demand from visitors, many of whom will arrive with screenshots, translation apps and the determination to photograph every dish before eating it. A owner of a newly listed cafe in Seongsu-dong said she was delighted but nervous. Our pastries are already sold out by eleven, she said. After the list, they will be sold out before we bake them. We may have to start selling photographs of the pastries.
Delivery app companies have also responded, with several reportedly considering a Gourmet 100 filter so that users can order from listed restaurants without leaving their sofas. Restaurant owners on the list have expressed mixed feelings, noting that fine dining tasting menus do not travel well on the back of a motorbike in rush-hour traffic, and that an eleven-course meal arriving in a single plastic bag rather defeats the purpose.
Not to be outdone, convenience store chains are rumoured to be preparing their own rival rankings, featuring the city’s best triangle kimbap, instant ramen combinations and late-night microwave meals. Industry observers expect the list to be far more widely consulted than the official one, particularly after midnight.
A City That Eats Seriously
Seoul’s food culture is one of the most dynamic in the world, from Michelin-starred tasting menus to market stalls, convenience store creations and late-night chicken shops. A list of one hundred can only ever be a sample. The real food map of Seoul exists in the heads of its residents, each of whom has a secret place they will reveal only to close friends, and only after making them promise not to post it online.
As one long-time food writer put it while eating tteokbokki from a paper cup on a street corner in Jongno: Lists are useful for visitors. But the best restaurant in Seoul is always the one you discovered yourself, at two in the morning, after missing the last train. No panel of experts will ever find it. That is why it is the best.