Seoul: Anthony Bourdain-Inspired BBQ and Pub Experience
Description
Dive into Seoul’s vibrant food culture with this immersive Korean BBQ and nightlife tour. Dine at the legendary pork BBQ restaurant featured on "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," where juicy charcoal-grilled pork and aged kimchi steal the show. Guided by a Korean food expert, you’ll learn BBQ and drinking etiquette while soaking in the lively atmosphere of this iconic spot. Explore a bustling pigs' feet market and a colorful pancake market brimming with savory treats and photo-worthy moments. End the night in a classic Korean pub, sharing drinks with locals from all walks of life. Upgrade to the “Three Stops” option for the ultimate experience, featuring a final stop at an old-school fried chicken pub with crispy chicken and cold beer. ✅ Solo traveler-friendly ✅ Female traveler-friendly ✅ LGBTQ+ traveler-friendly This unforgettable night out is your ticket to authentic Korean flavors and vibrant nightlife. All food and drink are included in the price. Book now!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Featured on "Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain," this is a local Korean BBQ stop that specializes in a unique specialty, Mapo-style Galmegisal. It's pork skirt steak grilled over charcoals with a moat of egg surrounding it.
We load up on savory Korean pancakes and sit down at the market pub for a crash course in Korean alcohol.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Minimum drinking age is 19 years
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking.
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Not recommended for unadventurous eaters
- Pork is the only BBQ option. The restaurant has no substitutions.
- Subway is the best way to arrive at the meeting point. Taxis tend to get stuck in traffic.
- If you’re landing after 3 p.m., you may not make it in time. Please anticipate bottlenecks and traffic. Unfortunately, this has happened a lot.
- Tour includes pork and alcohol
Reviews(192)
Jeff met me and my family and was incredibly friendly meeting us as we introduced ourselves. He opted to take us to a BBQ spot that he knew personally and talked about the ettiquette of eating as a family; he was incredibly funny with talking to each of us while he assisted in managing our meal. Afterward, he took us to a chicken & beer spot that had craft beer after we told him that we enjoy craft beer, which was very nice of him to adapt for us. We also drank somaek together as a final point before concluding our time together. The tour was approximately 3 hours in length, but he was not afraid to spend more time with us to have us get home safe. Jeff is a great tour guide, highly recommend him to all who are interested
Thanks for the kind words. One of the advantages of a small-group evening like this is being able to adjust the route and venues to the people at the table, whether that's craft beer, somaek, or just finding the right atmosphere for the night. I'll make sure Jeff sees your comments, especially the part about getting everyone home safely at the end of the evening.
FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE! Best tour I have ever taken! Joe takes you to 3 amazing local Korean dining experiences - each different and each amazing. Places I would never be able to find on my own and would be somewhat intimidated venturing onto on my own. We met Joe as our tour guide and feel like we left the evening with a friend! Highly highly recommend!
Thanks, Jill. Part of the fun of Korean dining culture is pushing past that initial intimidation and realizing half these places are full of regulars just unwinding after work. Really happy the night felt less like a formal tour and more like being shown around by a friend who knows where to eat.
MUST DO!!!! 100/100, Jeff was beyond incredible and the food was fantastic! It was the highlight of our trip to Korea.
Glad it ended up being a highlight. Jeff knows how to turn a night of BBQ into something that feels like a proper evening out rather than just a meal.
Have an empty stomach because you will be offered so much delicious food. Joe was very interesting and easy to talk to. He gave us great insights about Korean food and culture.
That’s the right strategy. Glad you came hungry. Happy to hear the food and conversation both landed.
What a nice surprise to spend dinner with Jeff at an authentic Korean BBQ restaurant very close to the meeting spot. We were lucky to have him all to ourselves. It was my partner and my daughter and Jeff. He gave us so much wonderful history and cultural knowledge of Seoul. The food was wonderful and we REALLY enjoyed the Soju and Makgeolli. After a long day it was nice to relax in one spot and enjoy dinner and laughter.
That sounds like a lovely evening. When the group is small it really does turn into more of a relaxed dinner than a tour, and Jeff is great at weaving the food with stories about Seoul and its drinking culture. Glad it became a fun way to wind down the day.
Our food tour with Jeff was so much fun and filling. We learned Korean food culture and how to enjoy Soju. It felt like we knew Jeff for a long time as we didn’t feel he was our tour guide. He converses English so well and we understood everything from him. Food was fantastic and drinks were flowing nonstop. We had a great time doing this and would definitely come back and join him again in the future. This is a memory we would never forget.
Sumptuous food and mouthwatering drinks. Viator review: Seoul: Anthony Bourdain-Inspired BBQ and Pub Experience Our food tour with Jeff was so much fun and filling. We learned Korean food culture and how to enjoy Soju. It felt like we knew Jeff for a long time as we didn’t feel he was our tour guide. He converses English so well and we understood everything from him. Food was fantastic and drinks were flowing nonstop. We had a great time doing this and would definitely come back and join him again in the future. This is a memory we would never forget.
This tour was super disappointing. Beyond identifying various seafoods (which you could easily do yourself with a web search or just with your own eyes), Joe imparted very little knowledge. He would talk about how he prefers to prepare different kinds of seafood but gave little to no context for how locals actually eat various things. Joe says he has 20+ years living in Korea and has worked with big names like Bourdain and Zimmern so we expected more. My husband and I kept prodding with questions which he answered in the most superficial way and kept telling us he was just hanging out and so tired from the previous tour he had lead the day before. He was also easily distracted and unfocused, sharing random observations having little to do with the fish market or Korea more generally. We heard too much about his ex girlfriend(s) and ex wife. He also took a video of us eating without first asking. We paid $640 for a 3 hour private tour that we could’ve done ourselves with a little help from Google Translate. Oh, I forgot to mention that he showed up a couple minutes late with no apology. You can do much better on your own or with a different tour operator. When I got home, I immediately cancelled the second tour that we had booked with his company. I couldn’t believe he texted me at 10:30 pm to tell me that he saw that I cancelled. He didn’t ask for feedback or why I might’ve cancelled. I experienced this as both unprofessional and borderline harassment.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. First, for clarity, this review describes our private Noryangjin Fish Market experience, not the BBQ and pub tour it’s currently attached to. I’ll also say upfront that this feedback came as a surprise. During the tour itself, the atmosphere was positive and engaged, and none of these concerns were raised at the time. A bit of context for future guests: the Noryangjin experience is intentionally hands-on and conversational. We do cover the history of the market, seasonal seafood, and traditional preparation methods, but the core of the tour is navigating the market itself. That includes choosing seafood, negotiating with vendors, handling the logistics of where food is taken and why, and communicating clearly with the restaurant kitchen about how each item should be cooked. All of this can be done with Google Translate, but it’s slower, more confusing, and easy to misunderstand if you don’t know how the market actually works. As for pacing and energy, it’s true this is a lively environment and I enjoy it a lot. That enthusiasm may come across as informal, but the intent is always to make the experience approachable and comfortable rather than rigid or lecture-style. Personal conversation did come up naturally as part of back-and-forth discussion, and in hindsight I agree that some boundaries could have been tighter. Regarding timing, I did arrive a couple of minutes after the official start time that day due to an unexpected train schedule change. I informed the guests in advance and apologized when we met. On pricing, I want to clarify for future readers that the figure quoted here includes the King Crab add-on, which significantly increases the total cost due to market prices and restaurant preparation fees. That option is typically chosen by larger groups, and for a party of two it can understandably feel steep. Finally, the late message mentioned here was not personal outreach from me. It came from another guide handling a different tour, checking whether a booking change was intentional so schedules could be adjusted accordingly. I appreciate the time you took to write this. While I’m sorry the experience didn’t land the way you hoped, I hope this response helps future guests better understand what this particular market tour is designed to offer.
We were only in Seoul for four days, and this tour was easily one of the highlights of our trip. The food was amazing - even better than we expected - and the real standout was being immersed in Seoul’s restaurant culture. Each place had its own atmosphere and character, and it was an experience we never would have had on our own. Our guide was a passionate foodie (though with a chef vibe - iykyk), which really added to the experience. Overall, it was a fantastic tour and one we’d highly recommend.
Glad you made time for this one during a short stay. That mix of great food and real restaurant culture is hard to stumble into on your own, and having a guide with serious kitchen instincts does make a difference.
Wow, what an amazing experience. Jeff, our guide, took us to the most local BBQ place for a truly authentic Korean BBQ dinner with plenty of soju and good laughs. We then went to a small hidden beer and fried chicken spot that only locals would know about. This is a definite must do tour when visiting South Korea!
Love hearing that Jeff showed you the real local side of things. That mix of smoky BBQ, soju, and a tucked-away chicken spot is exactly what makes this night feel so Seoul.
Loved it! Tour guide Ron was very friendly and we went to some awesome places. Really enjoyed learning about Korean BBQ customs and the dishes were absolutely delicious. Would definitely go again.
The pleasure was all mine. Really hoped you enjoyed the tour, got enough to eat and drink. Come back again soon :)
