Travel with Maddie MacRae

Content Creator @maddy_macrae_

In Korea, food rarely stays confined to the table. With @maddy_macrae_, it spills into bustling markets, hidden laneways, family-run restaurants and late-night streets glowing with neon signs. One meal might be centred around smoky Korean BBQ, the next around handmade dumplings, comforting noodle dishes or street food served fresh from a sizzling cart. It is a culture built on sharing, flavour and discovery, where every neighbourhood has its own specialties and every meal feels like an invitation to stay a little longer. These are the tastes that draw you deeper into Korea, helping you find your endless fascination, one market, meal and memorable bite at a time.

Unlock your food trance

Korea’s food culture runs deep, wide and regional - but even if you only make it to Seoul, the city can keep even the keenest appetites busy. While filming in Korea, Maddy MacRae did not set out with an in-depth foodie checklist. She followed what was convenient, hyped, or too good-looking to ignore: a tower of soft serve in trendy Hongdae, bubbling cheese dakgalbi, full-table Korean barbecue and delicate tea house sweets in Bukchon Hanok Village. Not every mouthwatering food moment needs meticulous research. In Seoul, good food has a way of finding you. And while Maddy might not call herself a hardcore foodie, she is very much up for trying anything once - especially in Korea, where “once” has a habit of turning into “we have to go back before our last day.”

01. Soft serve ice cream at 32 Parfait, Hongdae, Seoul

Soft serve goes hard at 32 Parfait in trendy Hongdae. Maddy’s pick was the classic vanilla: a 32cm-high spiral tower that turns a quick ice cream stop into a small logistical event. It is sweet, creamy, and proudly unsubtle - the kind of treat you’ll be determined to photograph, then need to eat fast, especially in Seoul’s summer heat. And as you get down to the last bit you’ll find yourself wondering, why is regular soft serve not always this tall? Maddy’s rating: 32/32. 

02. Cheese Dakgalbi at Shin Migyeong in Hongdae, Seoul

Dakgalbi is already a good idea: spicy stir-fried chicken. Add melted cheese and ramyeoun noodles, and suddenly it becomes the kind of meal that demands full focus. Maddy’s next pick in Hongdae brings the heat, the oozy stretch, the steam and the comfort - a bubbling cast iron griddle of spicy, cheesy indulgence made for sharing, scooping and going back in for more. 

03. Korean Barbecue

In Seoul, Korean barbecue is everywhere - from high-end restaurants with premium cuts to casual neighbourhood spots where the table still does all the work. Maddy’s K-BBQ spread brought out the classics: marbled beef, thick-cut pork belly, tasty sauces and banchan - the small side dishes traditionally included with Korean meals (ask for refills). Even a simple barbecue stop can become a whole event: sizzling meat, lettuce wraps, and the sudden realisation that you may have just eaten more in one sitting than was physically sensible.

04. Tea sweets at Jamyung Seo-sil in Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul

After the smoke, spice and soft serve, Bukchon Hanok Village offers a slower kind of food moment. At this traditional-style teahouse, Maddy paused to enjoy delicate lemon jelly, syrupy yakgwa, sweet rice cake and beautifully brewed omija tea (omija translates to ‘five flavour berry’ - sought after for its mix of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and gently spicy notes). Pair that with a peaceful view of hanok courtyards and it’s easy to understand why Maddy was already planning her return before the tea was finished.