Eating Hanwoo in Seoul’s Majang-dong: Choose Your Meat at the Market, Then Grill It at the Table

Make choosing hanwoo at Majang Meat Market part of the pleasure of your meal. Browse the counters, pick the meat you want, and take your time grilling it with your companions at a table-setting restaurant that accepts the meat you have bought.

Eating Hanwoo in Seoul’s Majang-dong: Choose Your Meat at the Market, Then Grill It at the Table

A hanwoo meal photographed in Majang-dong in 2019.

On a visit to Majang-dong, leave time to choose your meat as well as eat it. Browsing the hanwoo at the counters, deciding which cuts to share, and sitting down to grill them are all part of the meal. Rather than ordering from names on a restaurant menu, you can talk over the choices with your companions while the meat is right in front of you. Take your time choosing what you feel like eating instead of buying a large amount at the outset.

A Meal That Begins at the Market Counters

Majang Meat Market, in Seoul’s Seongdong-gu district, is a market where meat is bought and sold. It does not sell only hanwoo: the Korea Tourism Organization’s guide says it handles both domestic livestock products and imported meat. If you have come for hanwoo, look at the country-of-origin and hanwoo labels as you browse. Different counters may catch your interest, so there is no need to decide at the first shop.

The wholesale and retail shops beneath the market’s roof, and the people working with the meat, are also part of what makes the place interesting to explore. Seoul’s introduction to the market describes the bustle of moving goods and opening shops. Look at the meat that interests you from in front of the displays, while leaving the paths used to carry goods clear. Reading the cut names at the counters as you look for somewhere to eat can help you decide what you would like on the table.

Choose What You Want to Eat, Not a List of Cut Names to Memorize

You do not need to know every unfamiliar name, such as salchisal or saeusal, to place an order. Point to meat that appeals to you and explain that you are choosing it for grilling. “We’d like to grill some meat here today. Which cuts would go well together?” is enough to start the conversation. Listen to the seller’s explanation of the cuts and combinations, then decide together what you would like to eat.

If you want to try several cuts, ask whether you can buy a little of each rather than a large amount of one. If there is an assortment, look at which cuts it contains rather than choosing by its name alone. Remembering the names as you grill the cuts one by one gives you something to talk about at the table as everyone finds their favorites. When deciding what and how much to buy, think about whether you will have rice or other dishes as well as how many people are eating.

Read the price and weight together on the labels. Hearing both the amount of meat you have chosen and its total price makes ordering easier. Look at the grade labels too, alongside the cuts you want and your budget. Telling the seller which cuts and how much you would like helps narrow the choices. If the price does not suit you or the quantity is too large, you can change the selection before confirming the order.

Hanwoo on a plate, photographed in Hoengseong in 2013.

Think About Where to Buy and Where to Eat

In Majang-dong, you can use a restaurant that provides a table setting and lets you bring in meat bought at the market to grill. Seoul’s September 2022 introduction describes restaurants that provide charcoal or a grill and basic side dishes. The posted instructions at the cooperative’s restaurant, Gogiikneunmaeul (고기익는마을), also describe buying meat at the market and bringing it in. Buying at a counter and eating at a restaurant become two parts of the same meal.

Before choosing your meat, though, decide where you will eat it. Find out whether the restaurant accepts the meat you plan to bring and whether there is room for your group. Even if a meat shop directs you to a restaurant, hear what its table setting includes and what the conditions are for additional orders before choosing it. Once you have decided on a shop and a restaurant, choose meat that you can take to that restaurant.

Treat the table-setting fee as separate from the cost of the meat. Gogiikneunmaeul’s posted notice lists the basic table setting, additional dishes, and alcoholic drinks as separate items. If you would like rice or a stew as well, look at those menu prices too. A short question—“What comes with the table setting?”—helps you know what will be served. Follow your chosen restaurant’s instructions on whether staff grill the meat or you cook it yourself.

Share the Meat You Chose at the Table

Once you are seated, look over the cuts and quantities you bought with your companions. Deciding what to eat first can be another enjoyable part of having chosen the meat together. At a restaurant where you grill it yourself, ask how to use an unfamiliar grill at the start rather than trying to work it out alone. Allow plenty of time to cook and eat according to the restaurant’s guidance instead of rushing through everything at once.

Share the meat and see which cuts you like. You can decide together whether to have another cut or add rice. As you recall the names you saw at the market and talk about everyone’s favorites, the time spent choosing becomes part of the meal. You do not have to try a great many cuts. Choosing one or two that appeal to you and enjoying them at your own pace works just as well.

Beef grilling over charcoal, photographed in Apgujeong in 2018.

Before You Go, Check the Place Where You Will Eat

Search your map for “마장축산물시장” (Majang Meat Market). The Korea Tourism Organization’s Korean-language guide lists the market’s main address as 53, Majang-ro 33-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Look up the location of the shop where you will actually eat separately from the address used to find the market, and check both your chosen meat shop’s and restaurant’s hours for the day of your visit. The tourism guide also notes that opening hours and days off vary by shop. It is better not to leave the meal until late simply because the market’s overall opening hours are broad.

On a day in Majang-dong, give yourself time for this meal rather than lining up several other food stops. Leave room to browse without hurrying and to enjoy the meat you chose together.

Sources

• Korea Tourism Organization: Majang Meat Market information and shop-specific opening guidance

• Korea Tourism Organization: meat, country-of-origin labels, and price displays at Majang Meat Market

• Seoul’s Seoul Love: Majang Meat Market and table-setting restaurants, September 2022

Photo Credits

• Cover photo · IMG_8793 · Ruo Xuan Goh · CC BY 2.0 · Unchanged; original watermark retained

• Grilling beef · sopoong · lazy fri13th · CC BY 2.0 · Proportionally resized and re-encoded

• Hoengseong hanwoo · 한우, by 김영화 · 김영화 · CC BY 2.0 · Proportionally resized and re-encoded