What goes into the Hot Score
Every place and pop-up gets a Hot Score from 0 to about 100. We recalculate it every day.
- Social buzz (base): how often a place shows up on Instagram and in recent Korean coverage, judged by our editors from public posts, hashtags and news. This is the biggest part.
- Live signals (when available): counts of recent public Instagram posts under the hashtags we track through Instagram's official API, and changes in Naver search interest. We add these as they come online.
- Newness: places that opened in the last six months get a boost.
- Pop-up deadlines: pop-ups gain points as their last day approaches, and when they have just opened.
- Open today: places closed on today's weekday are left out of Today's Hot 10.
What we do not do
- We never accept payment for a better rank. Sponsored placements, if any, are clearly labeled and kept outside the ranking.
- We do not copy photos from Instagram. We link to official accounts and hashtags instead.
- We do not write fake reviews.
Facts and corrections
Addresses, hours and prices are checked by hand against official channels, maps and recent news. The date we last checked is shown on every page. Seoul changes fast, so please confirm before you go.